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Part 4 – Nextcloud

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Nextcloud is a self-hosted file sync and collaboration platform — your own Google Drive, running on your own hardware. Files sync between all your devices, never leaving your network.

What you get:

  • File sync across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows
  • Calendar and contacts sync (CalDAV/CardDAV)
  • Photo backup
  • Document editing via OnlyOffice or Collabora (optional)
  • Mobile apps for iOS and Android

Prerequisites

  • ✅ Docker and the wcp-network network in place
  • ✅ Caddy running with nextcloud.wcp configured
  • ✅ /opt partition with plenty of space for files

→ Follow Part 2 and Part 3 first.

Step 1 – Create the Nextcloud folder 

mkdir -p /opt/docker/nextcloud
cd /opt/docker/nextcloud

Step 2 – Create the compose.yml 

nano compose.yml
services:
  nextcloud-db:
    image: mariadb:11
    container_name: nextcloud-db
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      MYSQL_DATABASE: nextcloud
      MYSQL_USER: nextcloud
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - nextcloud-db:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - wcp-network
    restart: unless-stopped

  nextcloud-redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    container_name: nextcloud-redis
    networks:
      - wcp-network
    restart: unless-stopped

  nextcloud:
    image: nextcloud:latest
    container_name: nextcloud
    depends_on:
      - nextcloud-db
      - nextcloud-redis
    environment:
      MYSQL_HOST: nextcloud-db
      MYSQL_DATABASE: nextcloud
      MYSQL_USER: nextcloud
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      REDIS_HOST: nextcloud-redis
      NEXTCLOUD_TRUSTED_DOMAINS: nextcloud.wcp
      NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_USER: ${ADMIN_USER}
      NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_PASSWORD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - nextcloud-data:/var/www/html
      - /opt/nextcloud-files:/var/www/html/data
    networks:
      - wcp-network
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  nextcloud-db:
  nextcloud-data:

networks:
  wcp-network:
    external: true

Step 3 – Create the .env file 

nano .env
DB_ROOT_PASSWORD=change-this-root-password
DB_PASSWORD=change-this-db-password
ADMIN_USER=admin
ADMIN_PASSWORD=change-this-admin-password
Use strong, unique passwords. Add .env to .gitignore if you version control your Docker configs — never commit passwords to a repository.

Step 4 – Create the data directory

Nextcloud files are stored outside the container for easy backup:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/nextcloud-files
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /opt/nextcloud-files

Step 5 – Start Nextcloud 

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f

The first start takes a minute while Nextcloud initialises. When you see Nextcloud is ready in the logs, press CTRL+C.

Step 6 – Access Nextcloud

Open your browser and go to:

http://nextcloud.wcp

Log in with the admin username and password from your .env file.

Step 7 – Performance tuning

Run these one-time setup commands inside the container:

# Enable background jobs via cron
docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ background:cron

# Add missing indices (speeds up the database)
docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ db:add-missing-indices

# Convert columns for better performance
docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ db:convert-filecache-bigint

Add a cron job on the host for background tasks:

crontab -e

Add:

*/5 * * * * docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php -f /var/www/html/cron.php

Step 8 – Install the Nextcloud client

Install the desktop sync client on your Mac:

brew install --cask nextcloud

Open the app, connect to http://nextcloud.wcp and log in. Your files will sync automatically.

Mobile apps are available on the App Store and Google Play.

Keeping Nextcloud updated 

cd /opt/docker/nextcloud
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

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