schoeffm/rpi-nextcloud repository overview

Based on this image you can create a ready-to-be-used nextcloud-installation on your RaspberryPi (backed by a MySQL-Database).

I did a lot of rework to the original images, to ensure support for letsencrypt-certificates as well as the self-signed default-certificates this setup will come with initially. So, you can consider this a version 2.

You can find the Dockerfile, all companion scripts as well as the docker-compose.yml-file in this BitBucket-Repo⁠

For a cut'n'paste able Screencast see the sections below.

⁠How's it all setup

In order to keep things separated and to support a smooth update-process for future nextcloud releases the whole installation consists of three different container.

rpi-nextcloud  --+							// actual installation
                 |
                 +---> rpi-nextcloud-db		// mysql database-backend
                 |
                 +---> rpi-nextcloud-data	// volumes for uploaded files, configs 
                                            // and tls-certificates

This installation uses a mysql database as backend. The database is encapsulated in a dedicated container (rpi-nextcloud-db) which in turn is linked to the actual nextcloud-container (rpi-nextcloud).

I also thought it would be benificial to separate the uploaded data, the configuration as well as the used tls-certificates from the actual nextcloud installation to make upgrades much easier. That's the reason for the rpi-nextcloud-data container which just provides volumes to store these data (so it's not a running container but just acts as data-store - it will immediately stop after starting, don't be confused).

⁠Usage / Installation

⁠Use docker-compose - (recommended)

To get the complete setup up and running with one command you should use docker-compose which pulls, creates and starts all necessary things.

So check out the repo, adjust the settings defined in docker-compose.yml to suit your needs and run sudo docker-compose up -d - that's it.

Notice: don't forget to change the passwords in the YAML-file

⁠Or ... you could start everything by hand

So, how to get started. If you'd like to start everything manually you can do it this way:

⁠1. create a dedicated network

To make sure that the nextcloud-container can access your mysql-container you should link 'em via a dedicated network

sudo docker network create nextcloud-network

This makes communication between (and only between the attached container) possible.

⁠2. create a data-container

sudo docker run -d --name data schoeffm/rpi-nextcloud-data

After the containers creation it will immediately stop running since its only purpose is to provide a bunch of volumes for our actual nextcloud-container - and for that it mustn't be running. As mentioned before, this should make updates of your nextcloud-container much easier since you don't have to worry about your uploaded files, your config.php or your tls-certificates.

⁠3. start a MySQL-container

sudo docker run -d -p 3306:3306 --name mysql \
    --net=nextcloud-network \
    -e NEXTCLOUD_DB_USER=nextcloud \
    -e NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD=mycloud \
    -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=foo \
    schoeffm/rpi-nextcloud-mysql

This will start a mysql deamonized container. In order to be useful for our purposes we have to provide a password for the root-user as well as a username and password for the technical nextcloud user. The running container provides a nextcloud-schema which is accessible by the given user.

⁠4. combine everything

sudo docker run -d --name nextcloud -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
    --net=nextcloud-network \
    --volumes-from data \
    -e NEXTCLOUD_DB_USER=nextcloud \
    -e NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD=mycloud \
    -e NEXTCLOUD_SERVERNAME=my.domain.org \
    schoeffm/rpi-nextcloud

This starts the acutal nextcloud container which is accessible via port 80 and 443 (whereas 80 just redirects to 443 - we won't accept unsecured communication).

Notice: don't forget to change the passwords to match those of your mysql-setup Notice: be sure to provide a valid domain-name your installation will be accessible through

⁠Configuration and means to adjust it

The overall setup is based on the very good tutorials of Jan Karres⁠. Some of the more important things include:

• nginx⁠ as web-server (smaller footprint, good performance)
• only secured communication over SSL (port 80 will be redirected to 443)
• thus, on first start a self-signed certificate will be created (be sure you provide a valid NEXTCLOUD_SERVERNAME)
• extended file-upload limits in your php.ini (2048M)
• preconfigured UTF-8 support
• ... (see here⁠ and here⁠ for more details)

⁠Environment-Variables

The Dockerfile defines/uses the following environment variables to control the behaviour of our installation:

⁠Replace self-signed certs with letsencrypt certs

By default, when started for the first time, the rpi-nextcloud-container will generate a self-signed certificate (places it in a mounted volume and checks on every subsequent restart for its existance to ensure it's done only once). Because it's self-signed, browsers will consider this certificate as non-trustworthy.

Therefore, you should consider to provide a trustworthy certificate - like the ones letsencrypt⁠ will issue. As luck would have it, we also have a proper dehydrated⁠-image right at your disposal.

Provided with a proper config-file you should be able to generate (and keep up to date) a set of valid certificates (the rpi-nextcloud-repo already contains a suitable configuration as well as a trigger-shell script). It should be easy to define a cron-job repeatedly updating these certs for you.

In combination with the nginx configuration contained in this image you should get a level A rating⁠ for your setup.

⁠How does an upgrade look like

Nextcloud provide different ways to upgrade an installation. Our approach is pretty much compareable with the maunal upgrade⁠ - which you still should read through!

1. it is always wise to backup your data before you start to change your current setup

   • dump the database-content (i.e. by using the mysql-workbench⁠)

   • dump the data contained in our volume

       sudo docker run --rm --volumes-from nextcloud-data \
           -v $(pwd):/backup resin/rpi-raspbian \
           tar cvf /backup/nextcloud-data-backup.tar /srv
     

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2. now, turn on maintenance mode

    sudo docker exec -u www-data -d nextcloud \
        php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:mode --on
   

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3. stop the currently running instance:

    sudo docker stop nextcloud
   

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4. start the new version by creating a new container (as we've described above - don't forget to give it a new name or remove the old one first)

5. now, execute the upgrade script (within the new, running container)

    sudo docker exec -u www-data -d nextcloud \
        php /var/www/nextcloud/occ upgrade
   

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6. finally, turn off the maintenance mode again

    sudo docker exec -u www-data -d nextcloud \
        php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:mode --off
   

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That's it!