NextCloud Step By Step

Reworking

# Wipe Disk
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress

#Parted
parted /dev/sdx (replace x with correct drive)

#Set partition table
mklabel gpt

# Create and format partitions (assuming disk is /dev/sdX, adjust accordingly)
parted /dev/sdX mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary fat32 1MiB 513MiB
parted /dev/sdX set 1 boot on
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdX1

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 513MiB 2GiB
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 2GiB 100%
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX3

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary linux-swap 100% 116GiB
mkswap /dev/sdX4
swapon /dev/sdX4

# Mount partitions
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot/efi

mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/boot

mount /dev/sdX3 /mnt

Install AlmaLinux

• Boot into the AlmaLinux installer and ensure the partitions and mount points match exactly.

1. Remove Existing Installations

• Your command list for cleanup is comprehensive. Run these to completely remove the old setup:

sudo systemctl stop mariadb httpd
sudo dnf remove -y mariadb-server httpd php*
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mysql /var/www/html/nextcloud /var/www/html/dbtest.php
sudo rm -rf /etc/my.cnf /etc/my.cnf.d

• Verify Clean State:

ls -ld /var/lib/mysql /var/www/html

2. SELinux and /tmp

• Since SELinux is already disabled, verify it remains disabled before proceeding:

sestatus

# if still enabled
#sudo setenforce 0
#sudo nano /etc/selinux/config
#SELINUX=disabled
#then REBOOT!!!

• Ensure /tmp permissions:

ls -ld /tmp
sudo chmod 1777 /tmp
sudo chown root:root /tmp

3. Install Essential Packages

Install the base system packages and PHP modules. Install these before configuring anything:

sudo dnf install -y mariadb-server httpd php \
php-ctype php-curl php-dom php-fileinfo php-filter php-gd php-hash php-json php-libxml \
php-mbstring php-openssl php-posix php-session php-simplexml php-xmlreader php-xmlwriter \
php-zip php-zlib php-pdo php-pdo_mysql

4. Update PHP

Set the PHP version before starting Apache or MariaDB:

sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-9.rpm
sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module enable php:8.1 -y
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Verify PHP setup:

php -v
php -m

5. After Base System Setup: Once you’ve installed the base packages (like mariadb-server, httpd), confirm the base system is functional and updated:

sudo dnf update -y

6. Set the PHP Version Immediately: Before touching MariaDB or downloading Nextcloud, install the compatible PHP version and extensions:

sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-9.rpm
sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module enable php:8.1 -y
sudo dnf install -y php php-mysqlnd php-gd php-mbstring php-intl php-xml php-zip
sudo systemctl restart httpd

7. . Install Recommended Modules**

For enhanced performance and compatibility:

sudo dnf install -y php-intl php-sodium php-ldap php-smbclient php-ftp php-imap php-bcmath php-gmp php-exif
sudo dnf install -y php-apcu php-memcached php-redis
sudo dnf install -y php-imagick ffmpeg php-pcntl php-phar

If there are issues with PDF previews:

Adjust the ImageMagick policy file:

sudo nano /etc/ImageMagick-*/policy.xml

Find and comment out or adjust:

<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="PDF" />

12. Update php.ini for Optimal Settings

Edit the PHP configuration file(s):

sudo nano /etc/php.ini

Ensure these settings are updated:

memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 3600
opcache.enable = 1
opcache.interned_strings_buffer = 16
opcache.max_accelerated_files = 10000
opcache.memory_consumption = 128
opcache.save_comments = 1
opcache.revalidate_freq = 1
upload_tmp_dir = /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp

13. Validate Installed Modules

Run the following command to confirm all required modules are installed:

php -m | grep -E 'ctype|curl|dom|fileinfo|filter|gd|hash|json|libxml|mbstring|openssl|posix|session|simplexml|xmlreader|xmlwriter|zip|zlib|pdo|pdo_mysql|intl|sodium'

This ensures all modules Nextcloud needs are available.

14. Test PHP Configuration: Create a PHP info file to confirm the correct version and required extensions:

echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php

Open the file in a browser (e.g., http://<server-ip>/info.php) and check the PHP version and loaded extensions.

15. Verify

php -v
php -m

5. make the new directories

   
   sudo mkdir /var/www/html/nextcloud/data
   sudo mkdir /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp
   
   #upload_tmp_dir = /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp - this is in the config file but would not exist yet?
   
   # do permission only if asked to
   #sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud/data
   #sudo chmod 750 /var/www/html/nextcloud/data
   

6. I WANT TO CHECK on what the permissions are for our prblems

   ls -ld /var/www/html
   ls -ld /var/www/html/nextcloud
   ls -ld /var/www/html/nextcloud
   ls -ld /var/lib/mysql
   ls -ld /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp
   

5. Set Up MariaDB**

Initialize MariaDB with secure settings:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Log in as root:

mysql -u root -p

Create a new database and user:

CREATE DATABASE nxtclouddb2 CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER 'nxtcldusr2'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'H0m02smp3fag';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nxtclouddb2.* TO 'nxtcldusr2'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Test access:

mysql -u nxtcldusr2 -p
USE nxtclouddb2;
SHOW TABLES;

get and extract nextcloud

cd /tmp
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2
tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/html/

#permissions only if asked
#sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud
#sudo chmod -R 750 /var/www/html/nextcloud

this is the nextcloud/config/config

$CONFIG = array (
  'passwordsalt' => 'IBBzJ7Go086CPa41aS+YtGtICaQcu3',
  'secret' => 'QP/z7OgA577Z9F8lpImyHqCPCz1FK9urlekwKG6L7UYnSkrp',
  'trusted_domains' =>
  array (
    0 => 'localhost',
  ),
  'datadirectory' => '/var/www/html/nextcloud/data',
  'dbtype' => 'mysql',
  'version' => '30.0.4.1',
  'overwrite.cli.url' => 'http://localhost',
  'dbname' => 'nxtclouddb2',
  'dbhost' => 'localhost',
  'dbport' => '',
  'dbtableprefix' => 'oc_',
);

Run the installer:

sudo -u apache php /var/www/html/nextcloud/occ maintenance:install \
  --database "mysql" \
  --database-name "nxtclouddb2" \
  --database-user "nxtcldusr2" \
  --database-pass "H0m02smp3fag" \
  --admin-user "spiffy" \
  --admin-pass "H0m0-smp-fag"

re-check the nextcloud/config/config

sudo nano /var/www/html/nextcloud/config/config?.whatever

7. Logs and Troubleshooting

• Monitor these logs closely:

  • Apache Logs: /var/log/httpd/error_log
  • MariaDB Logs: /var/log/mariadb/mariadb.log
  • Nextcloud Logs: /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/nextcloud.log

Use tail for live monitoring:

sudo tail -f /var/log/httpd/error_log
sudo tail -f /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/nextcloud.log

Notes:

1. Firewall Rules: Only apply them once everything else works.
2. Testing PHP: Ensure no missing modules before touching the Nextcloud installer.
3. Data Directory: Verify /var/www/html/nextcloud/data exists after extraction.

Partitioning and Filesystem Setup

# Wipe Disk
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress

#Parted
parted /dev/sdx (replace x with correct drive)

#Set partition table
mklabel gpt

# Create and format partitions (assuming disk is /dev/sdX, adjust accordingly)
parted /dev/sdX mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary fat32 1MiB 513MiB
parted /dev/sdX set 1 boot on
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdX1

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 513MiB 2GiB
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 2GiB 100%
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX3

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary linux-swap 100% 116GiB
mkswap /dev/sdX4
swapon /dev/sdX4

# Mount partitions
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot/efi

mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/boot

mount /dev/sdX3 /mnt

Install AlmaLinux

• Boot into the AlmaLinux installer and ensure the partitions and mount points match exactly.

Post-Installation Updates

# Update and install essential packages
sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y vim nano wget curl git htop net-tools epel-release
sudo dnf install httpd mariadb-server php php-mysqlnd php-dom php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip unzip -y

# Enable and start services
sudo systemctl enable --now httpd mariadb
sudo systemctl start httpd mariadb

# Configure firewall
sudo systemctl enable firewalld
sudo systemctl start firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=https --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Add a user
sudo adduser yourusername
sudo passwd yourusername
sudo usermod -aG wheel yourusername

Nextcloud Installation

# Download and extract Nextcloud
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2
tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/html/

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/nextcloud

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart httpd

MariaDB Configuration

# Secure MariaDB installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Create Nextcloud database and user
sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;
CREATE USER 'nxtcloudspiffy'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nxtcloudspiffy'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Testing Nextcloud

1. Access Nextcloud in the browser (http://your-ip/nextcloud).

2. Enter the database credentials:

   • Database User: nxtcloudspiffy
   • Database Password: password
   • Database Name: nextcloud
   • Host: localhost

2. NEXT PostInstallUpdates

   1. sudo dnf update -y

   2. sudo dnf install -y vim nano wget curl git htop net-tools epel-release

   3. sudo dnf install httpd mariadb-server php php-mysqlnd php-dom php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip unzip -y

   4. sudo systemctl enable –now httpd

   5. sudo dnf install php php-mysqlnd php-dom php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-cli php-json php-pdo -y

   6. sudo dnf install tar bzip2 unzip -y

   7. sudo dnf groupinstall -y "Development Tools"

   8. ip addr show

   9. sudo systemctl enable firewalld
      sudo systemctl start firewalld
      sudo firewall-cmd –add-service=http –permanent
      sudo firewall-cmd –add-service=https –permanent
      sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=ssh
      sudo firewall-cmd –reload

      check rules: sudo firewall-cmd –list-all
      ssh specific port: sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-port=2222/tcp

   10. sudo adduser yourusername
       sudo passwd yourusername
       sudo usermod -aG wheel yourusername

   11. sudo swapon /dev/sdX

   12. swapon –show

   13. sudo dnf install openssh-server -y

   14. sudo systemctl status sshd

   15. sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=ssh
       sudo firewall-cmd –reload

   16. Download and Configure Nextcloud:

   17. Download: wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2

       • Extract: tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/html/
       • Set Permissions:sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud
         sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/nextcloud
       • Enable Apache modules:sudo systemctl enable –now httpd
         sudo systemctl restart httpd

       DISABLE SELIUX:sudo nano /etc/selinux/config

       SELINUX=disabled

18. What else does ti need to start?

2. no keys for ssh
3. no failtoban
4. no automatic updates
5. no disable root access
6. no