NextCloud Deployment Guide on RamNode VPS | Self-Hosted Cloud Storage

Prerequisites & Requirements

Before starting, ensure you have:

VPS Requirements

• RamNode VPS (2GB+ RAM recommended)
• 20GB+ SSD Storage
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• Root or sudo access

→ View Cloud VPS Plans

Additional Requirements

• Domain name (e.g., cloud.yourdomain.com)
• DNS A record pointing to VPS IP
• SSH client
• Basic Linux command knowledge

Initial Server Setup

Connect to your RamNode VPS and perform initial setup:

Connect via SSH

ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Update System Packages

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install -y curl wget unzip software-properties-common apt-transport-https

Create a non-root user:

Create User

adduser nextcloud
usermod -aG sudo nextcloud

Configure SSH key authentication (Recommended):

Generate and Copy SSH Key

# On your local machine
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

# Copy public key to server
ssh-copy-id nextcloud@YOUR_VPS_IP

💡 Tip: Replace "YOUR_VPS_IP" with your actual RamNode VPS IP address throughout this guide.

Security Hardening

Configure firewall and secure SSH access:

Configure UFW Firewall

ufw default deny incoming
ufw default allow outgoing
ufw allow ssh
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw --force enable

Secure SSH configuration:

Edit SSH Config

nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

SSH Configuration Changes

# Recommended SSH security settings:
Port 2222
PermitRootLogin no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PasswordAuthentication no

Restart SSH and Update Firewall

systemctl restart sshd
ufw delete allow ssh
ufw allow 2222/tcp

Install Fail2Ban for additional protection:

Install Fail2Ban

apt install -y fail2ban
systemctl enable fail2ban
systemctl start fail2ban

⚠️ Warning: Make sure you can connect via SSH on the new port before closing your current session!

LEMP Stack Installation

Install NGINX, MariaDB, and PHP 8.1:

Install NGINX

apt install -y nginx
systemctl enable nginx
systemctl start nginx

Install MariaDB

apt install -y mariadb-server mariadb-client
systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl start mariadb

# Secure MariaDB installation
mysql_secure_installation

🔐 Security: When running mysql_secure_installation, answer 'Y' to all questions and set a strong root password.

Install PHP 8.1 and Extensions

apt install -y php8.1-fpm php8.1-mysql php8.1-xml php8.1-curl php8.1-gd \
php8.1-intl php8.1-mbstring php8.1-zip php8.1-bcmath php8.1-gmp \
php8.1-imagick php8.1-redis php8.1-apcu php8.1-opcache php8.1-cli

Configure PHP settings:

Edit PHP Configuration

nano /etc/php/8.1/fpm/php.ini

Important PHP Settings

memory_limit = 512M
upload_max_filesize = 2G
post_max_size = 2G
max_execution_time = 300
date.timezone = America/New_York  # Adjust to your timezone

Restart PHP-FPM

systemctl restart php8.1-fpm

SSL Certificate Setup

Install Certbot and obtain SSL certificate:

Install Certbot

apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Create basic NGINX configuration:

Create NGINX Config

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/nextcloud

Basic NGINX Configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name cloud.yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
    }
}

Enable Site and Test

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nextcloud /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx

Obtain SSL Certificate

certbot --nginx -d cloud.yourdomain.com

✅ Certbot will automatically configure NGINX for HTTPS and set up auto-renewal.

Database Configuration

Create NextCloud database and user:

Access MySQL

mysql -u root -p

Create Database and User

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;
CREATE USER 'nextcloud'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password_here';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nextcloud'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

🔐 Security Note: Replace 'secure_password_here' with a strong, unique password. Save this password securely as you'll need it during installation.

NextCloud Installation

Download and install NextCloud:

Download NextCloud

cd /tmp
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2.sha256

# Verify download integrity
sha256sum -c latest.tar.bz2.sha256 < latest.tar.bz2

Extract and Install

# Extract NextCloud
tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2

# Move to web directory
sudo cp -R nextcloud /var/www/
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/nextcloud

Create Data Directory

sudo mkdir /var/www/nextcloud-data
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud-data
sudo chmod -R 750 /var/www/nextcloud-data

NGINX Configuration

Configure NGINX for NextCloud:

Generate DH Parameters

openssl dhparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 2048

Edit NGINX Configuration

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/nextcloud

Complete NGINX Configuration

upstream php-handler {
    server unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name cloud.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    server_name cloud.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloud.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/cloud.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_session_timeout 1d;
    ssl_session_cache shared:MozSSL:10m;
    ssl_session_tickets off;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem;

    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;

    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000" always;
    add_header Referrer-Policy "no-referrer" always;
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;

    client_max_body_size 2G;
    fastcgi_buffers 64 4K;

    gzip on;
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_comp_level 4;
    gzip_min_length 256;
    gzip_types application/atom+xml application/javascript text/css text/plain;

    root /var/www/nextcloud;
    index index.php index.html;

    location = /robots.txt {
        allow all;
        log_not_found off;
        access_log off;
    }

    location = /.well-known/carddav {
        return 301 $scheme://$host/remote.php/dav;
    }

    location = /.well-known/caldav {
        return 301 $scheme://$host/remote.php/dav;
    }

    location / {
        rewrite ^ /index.php;
    }

    location ~ ^/(?:build|tests|config|lib|3rdparty|templates|data)/ {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~ \.php(?:$|/) {
        rewrite ^/(?!index|remote|public|cron|core/ajax/update|status|ocs/v[12]|updater/.+|oc[ms]-provider/.+|.+/richdocumentscode/proxy) /index.php;

        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+?\.php)(/.*)$;
        set $path_info $fastcgi_path_info;

        try_files $fastcgi_script_name =404;

        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $path_info;
        fastcgi_param HTTPS on;

        fastcgi_param modHeadersAvailable true;
        fastcgi_param front_controller_active true;
        fastcgi_pass php-handler;

        fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
        fastcgi_request_buffering off;
    }

    location ~ \.(?:css|js|woff2?|svg|gif|map)$ {
        try_files $uri /index.php$request_uri;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=15778463";
        access_log off;
    }

    location ~ \.(?:png|html|ttf|ico|jpg|jpeg|bcmap|mp4|webm)$ {
        try_files $uri /index.php$request_uri;
        access_log off;
    }
}

Test and Reload NGINX

nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx

NextCloud Final Setup

Complete the installation via web interface or command line:

Web-based Installation

Navigate to https://cloud.yourdomain.com in your browser and fill in:

• Admin Username: Choose a secure username
• Admin Password: Use a strong password
• Data Folder: /var/www/nextcloud-data
• Database: MySQL/MariaDB
• Database User: nextcloud
• Database Password: Your database password
• Database Name: nextcloud
• Database Host: localhost

Command Line Installation (Alternative):

CLI Installation

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:install \
  --database="mysql" \
  --database-name="nextcloud" \
  --database-user="nextcloud" \
  --database-pass="your_password" \
  --admin-user="admin" \
  --admin-pass="admin_password" \
  --data-dir="/var/www/nextcloud-data"

Configure trusted domains:

Set Trusted Domain

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set \
  trusted_domains 0 --value=cloud.yourdomain.com

Performance Optimization

Optimize NextCloud for better performance:

Install and Configure Redis

apt install -y redis-server
systemctl enable redis-server
systemctl start redis-server

Configure NextCloud to Use Redis

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set memcache.local --value='\OC\Memcache\APCu'
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set memcache.distributed --value='\OC\Memcache\Redis'
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set memcache.locking --value='\OC\Memcache\Redis'
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set redis host --value=localhost
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set redis port --value=6379

Configure background jobs:

Setup Cron Job

crontab -u www-data -e

# Add this line:
*/5 * * * * php /var/www/nextcloud/occ system:cron

Enable Cron Mode

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ background:cron

Enable PHP OPcache:

Configure OPcache

nano /etc/php/8.1/fpm/conf.d/10-opcache.ini

OPcache Settings

opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=256
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.revalidate_freq=1
opcache.save_comments=1

Restart PHP-FPM

systemctl restart php8.1-fpm

Maintenance & Backups

Set up automated backups:

Create Backup Directory

mkdir -p /var/backups

Create Backup Script

nano /usr/local/bin/nextcloud-backup.sh

Backup Script Content

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

# Database backup
mysqldump -u nextcloud -p'your_password' nextcloud > \
  "$BACKUP_DIR/nextcloud-db-$DATE.sql"

# Files backup
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/nextcloud-files-$DATE.tar.gz" \
  /var/www/nextcloud /var/www/nextcloud-data

# Clean up old backups (keep 30 days)
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "nextcloud-*" -type f -mtime +30 -delete

echo "Backup completed: $DATE"

Make Script Executable and Schedule

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/nextcloud-backup.sh

# Schedule daily backups
crontab -e
# Add: 0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/nextcloud-backup.sh >> /var/log/nextcloud-backup.log 2>&1

💾 Backup Tip: Consider storing backups off-site using RamNode's Object Storage or another backup solution.

Troubleshooting

Common issues and their solutions:

Issue: Data directory not writable

Fix Permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud-data
sudo chmod -R 750 /var/www/nextcloud-data

Issue: PHP module not enabled

Install Missing Module

sudo apt install php8.1-imagick
sudo systemctl restart php8.1-fpm

Issue: SSL certificate renewal fails

Test Renewal

sudo certbot renew --dry-run
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Useful log file locations:

View Logs

# NextCloud logs
tail -f /var/www/nextcloud/data/nextcloud.log

# NGINX logs
tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log

# PHP-FPM logs
tail -f /var/log/php8.1-fpm.log

# System logs
journalctl -u nginx -f
journalctl -u php8.1-fpm -f

Maintenance commands:

NextCloud Maintenance

# Check status
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ status

# Run system check
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ check

# Add missing database indices
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ db:add-missing-indices

# Scan files
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ files:scan --all

🎉 Congratulations!

Your NextCloud instance is now successfully deployed on your RamNode VPS. You have a fully functional, secure, and optimized personal cloud storage solution.

NextCloud Documentation Upgrade Storage

Next Steps

• Configure additional apps and features in the NextCloud admin panel
• Set up client applications on your desktop and mobile devices
• Configure email settings for notifications and password resets
• Consider setting up external storage integration
• Enable two-factor authentication for enhanced security
• Regularly monitor and maintain your installation
• Review and implement additional security measures

Security Reminder

Regularly update your system, NextCloud, and monitor security advisories. Keep your installation secure by maintaining current versions, reviewing access logs, and implementing additional security measures like two-factor authentication and regular security scans.

NextCloud Deployment on RamNode VPS

📋 Guide Contents