Getting Started

Nextcloud is a self-hosted productivity platform that provides file storage and sharing, calendar, contacts, document editing, and team collaboration — all under your own control. Available as an open web service in Eyevinn Open Source Cloud, you can deploy a full Nextcloud instance backed by a MariaDB database in just a few minutes.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create a MariaDB database

Nextcloud uses MariaDB to store user accounts, file metadata, and application data. Navigate to the MariaDB service in the OSC web console. Click Create mariadb, enter:

  • Name: e.g. nextclouddb
  • RootPassword: a strong root password
  • Database: e.g. nextcloud
  • User: e.g. nextcloud
  • Password: a strong user password

Click Create and wait for the instance to turn green. Note the IP address and port. The connection URL will be:

mysql://nextcloud:<password>@<IP>:<PORT>/nextcloud

Step 2: Store the connection URL as a secret

Navigate to the Nextcloud service page, go to the Service Secrets tab, and click New Secret. Enter a name such as dburl and paste the full MariaDB connection URL as the value.

Step 3: Create a Nextcloud instance

Go to the My servers tab and click Create server. Fill in:

  • Name: a unique name for your instance (alphanumeric only, e.g. mycloud)
  • AdminUser: the admin username you want to use (e.g. admin)
  • AdminPassword: a strong admin password
  • DatabaseUrl: {{secrets.dburl}} (references the secret created in Step 2)

Click Create and wait for the status indicator to turn green.

Step 4: Log in to Nextcloud

Click the instance URL to open Nextcloud in your browser. Log in with the AdminUser and AdminPassword you set in Step 3.

You will land on the Nextcloud dashboard where you can upload files, install apps, and invite users.

Step 5: Add users and install apps

  • Go to Settings > Users to create additional user accounts.
  • Go to Apps to install extensions such as Nextcloud Office (Collabora), Talk (video calls), Calendar, and Contacts.

CLI usage

osc create nextcloud-server mycloud \
  -o AdminUser="admin" \
  -o AdminPassword="mysecretpassword" \
  -o DatabaseUrl="mysql://nextcloud:mypassword@172.232.131.169:10520/nextcloud"

Resources