How to Install Nextcloud on a CentOS 7 Server at centron

Nextcloud, true to its name, is a strong alternative to the open-source file hosting platform ownCloud.

In this guide, you will learn how to deploy Nextcloud on a centron CentOS 7 server instance.

Prerequisites

• A freshly provisioned centron CentOS 7 server instance.
• A sudo-enabled user account for logging in.

Step 1: Update the System

Sign in to your CentOS 7 machine using your sudo user, then bring the system up to the latest stable packages:

sudo yum install epel-release -y

sudo yum update -y

sudo shutdown -r now

Once the server has rebooted, log in again with the same sudo user.

Step 2: Install Apache

Set up Apache as the web server that will run Nextcloud:

sudo yum install httpd -y

Turn off the default Apache welcome page:

sudo sed -i 's/^/#&/g' /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf

For better security, stop Apache from listing directory contents under the web root /var/www/html:

sudo sed -i "s/Options Indexes FollowSymLinks/Options FollowSymLinks/" /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

As required by Nextcloud, block Apache from loading WebDAV modules:

sudo sed -i 's/^/#&/g' /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/00-dav.conf

Start Apache now and enable it to launch automatically after boot:

sudo systemctl start httpd.service

sudo systemctl enable httpd.service

Step 3: Install PHP and Required PHP Extensions

Nextcloud recommends PHP 5.6. You can install PHP 5.6 and the needed extensions by using the IUS YUM repository.

First, add the IUS YUM repository:

cd

wget https://centos7.iuscommunity.org/ius-release.rpm

sudo rpm -Uvh ius-release.rpm

Next, install PHP 5.6 along with all required extensions from IUS:

sudo yum install php56u php56u-common php56u-xml php56u-gd php56u-mbstring php56u-process php56u-mysqlnd php56u-intl php56u-mcrypt php56u-imap php56u-cli -y

Raise the PHP upload limits to a suitable value, for example 50 MB:

sudo cp /etc/php.ini /etc/php.ini.bak

sudo sed -i "s/post_max_size = 8M/post_max_size = 50M/" /etc/php.ini

sudo sed -i "s/upload_max_filesize = 2M/upload_max_filesize = 50M/" /etc/php.ini

Restart Apache so these settings take effect:

sudo systemctl restart httpd.service

Step 4: Install MariaDB and Create a Nextcloud Database

Install MariaDB:

sudo yum install mariadb mariadb-server -y

Start MariaDB and configure it to run on boot:

sudo systemctl start mariadb.service

sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

Harden the MariaDB installation:

sudo /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation

When prompted, respond as follows:

• Enter current password for root (enter for none): Enter
• Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
• New password: <your-password>
• Re-enter new password: <your-password>
• Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
• Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
• Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Y
• Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Y

Now create a dedicated database for Nextcloud:

mysql -u root -p

Type the MariaDB root password you just set to enter the MySQL shell.

Inside the shell, create the database and user, then grant permissions. Replace the database name nextcloud, username nextclouduser, and password yourpassword everywhere with your own choices:

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;

CREATE USER 'nextclouduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nextclouduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword' WITH GRANT OPTION;

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

EXIT;

Step 5: Install Nextcloud

Fetch the latest stable Nextcloud release from the official site. At the time this was written, the newest stable version was 9.0.53.

cd

wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-9.0.53.zip

Unpack the Nextcloud archive:

sudo yum install unzip -y

unzip nextcloud-9.0.53.zip

Move Nextcloud into the web root and assign correct ownership:

sudo mv nextcloud/* /var/www/html && sudo chown apache:apache -R /var/www/html

Install Nextcloud using the command line with the sample values below. Be sure to substitute your real settings.

• database-name: nextcloud
• database-user: nextclouduser
• database-pass: yourpassword
• admin-user: admin
• admin-pass nextcloudadminpassword

Run:

cd /var/www/html/

sudo -u apache php occ maintenance:install --database "mysql" --database-name "nextcloud" --database-user "nextclouduser" --database-pass "yourpassword" --admin-user "admin" --admin-pass "nextcloudadminpassword"

If the installation completes successfully, you will see output like:

Nextcloud is not installed - only a limited number of commands are available

ownCloud was successfully installed

Add your server IP (for example 203.0.113.1) and domain (for example www.example.com) to the trusted domains list:

sudo vi /var/www/html/config/config.php

Locate this line:

0 => 'localhost',

Directly beneath it, add these two lines:

1 => '203.0.113.1',

2 => 'www.example.com',

Save and exit the editor:

:wq!

After installation, apply strong permissions to Nextcloud files and folders to avoid unauthorized access:

sudo find /var/www/html -type f -print0 | sudo xargs -0 chmod 0640

sudo find /var/www/html -type d -print0 | sudo xargs -0 chmod 0750

sudo chown -R root:apache /var/www/html

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/apps

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/config

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/data

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/themes

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/updater

sudo chmod 0644 /var/www/html/.htaccess

sudo chown root:apache /var/www/html/.htaccess

sudo chmod 0644 /var/www/html/data/.htaccess

sudo chown root:apache /var/www/html/data/.htaccess

Also note that the directory /var/www/html/assets does not exist yet. If you create it later, run:

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/assets

These permission rules help protect Nextcloud from unauthorized access.

Note: When you update Nextcloud later, you may temporarily relax permissions with:

sudo chown apache:apache -R /var/www/html

After updating, reapply the strong permissions listed above.

Restart Apache to enable all changes:

sudo systemctl restart httpd.service

Adjust firewall settings to permit HTTP and HTTPS traffic:

sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=http

sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=https

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Done. You can now open your browser to http://203.0.113.1 and sign in using the Nextcloud admin credentials you created.