How to Install Nextcloud on Ubuntu

1. Update Your Server

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Apache, MariaDB & PHP (Required Modules)

Official docs recommend installing all required PHP extensions.

sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php \

php-gd php-mysql php-curl php-mbstring php-intl php-gmp \

php-xml php-imagick php-zip php-bz2 php-fpm php-cli -y

Enable Apache modules:

sudo a2enmod rewrite headers env dir mime ssl

sudo systemctl restart apache2

3. Create the Nextcloud Database

Enter MariaDB:

sudo mysql

Run:

CREATE USER 'nextcloud'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword';

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nextcloud'@'localhost';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

QUIT;

(These steps match official documentation.) Nextcloud

4. Download Nextcloud

Get the latest version:

cd /tmp

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

tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2

Move it to the web directory:

sudo mv nextcloud /var/www/

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

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/nextcloud

5. Create Apache Virtual Host

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/nextcloud.conf

Paste:

<VirtualHost *:80>

    ServerName cloud.example.com

    DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud/

    <Directory /var/www/nextcloud/>

        Require all granted

        AllowOverride All

        Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews

    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nextcloud_error.log

    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nextcloud_access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Enable site:

sudo a2ensite nextcloud.conf

sudo systemctl reload apache2

6. Enable HTTPS (Let’s Encrypt SSL)

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

sudo certbot --apache -d cloud.example.com

7. Configure Cron (Recommended by Nextcloud)

sudo -u www-data crontab -e

Add:

*/5 * * * * php -f /var/www/nextcloud/cron.php

8. (Optional but Recommended) Enable Redis Caching

Redis improves performance significantly.
This is recommended in modern Nextcloud guides. YouStable

Install Redis:

sudo apt install redis-server php-redis -y

sudo systemctl enable redis-server --now

Edit config:

sudo nano /var/www/nextcloud/config/config.php

Add:

'memcache.local' => '\\OC\\Memcache\\APCu',

'memcache.locking' => '\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis',

'redis' => [

    'host' => 'localhost',

    'port' => 6379,

],

9. Complete Web Installer

Open browser:

http://cloud.example.com

Enter:

• Admin username & password
• Database: nextcloud
• DB user: nextcloud
• DB password
• Host: localhost

Nextcloud will auto‑create tables. Nextcloud