Deployment Overview of Nextcloud on Server¶

Prerequisites and Basic Requirements¶

To ensure a successful deployment, the following requirements must be met:

Operating System: Compatible Linux distribution (e.g., CentOS, Rocky Linux, or AlmaLinux).
Privileges: Root or sudo access is required for installation and configuration.
Domain: A valid FQDN is required for SSL encryption via Certbot.
Ports: The following ports must be open and accessible:
80/tcp (HTTP)
443/tcp (HTTPS)
22/tcp (SSH)

The application is accessed via a subdomain generated based on the server ID and the configured zone.

Parameter	Value
Prefix	`nextcloud`
Domain	`hostkey.in`
Full template	`nextcloud{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in`

The application uses the following directory structure for configuration and data persistence:

/opt/nextcloud/: Main application directory containing the Docker Compose file, installation scripts, and PHP configurations (php.ini, fpm.conf, etc.).
/opt/nginx/: Nginx configuration files and SSL certificate management environment files.
/var/www/html: The web root for Nextcloud (mapped via Docker volumes).

The installation is performed using a combination of Docker Compose and specialized setup scripts:

Environment Preparation: Directories are created with specific permissions (0640 for configs, 0755 for data) to ensure security.
Docker Deployment: The application stack is launched using docker compose. This includes the web server, database, and document processing services.
SSL Provisioning: A Certbot process is executed within a container to obtain SSL certificates via the webroot method for the configured domain.
Automated Configuration: An installation script (set_configuration.sh) is executed to perform the following:
Initial Nextcloud setup (database connection, admin credentials).
Configuring trusted domains.
Optimizing performance by configuring Redis and APCu for memory caching and file locking.
Installing and integrating the OnlyOffice application.
System Optimization: The system runs occ commands to add missing database indices/columns and sets a maintenance window.

Security is maintained through several layers:

Firewall: Rules are configured via firewalld or ufw to allow only necessary traffic (80, 443, and 22).
Permissions: Configuration files in /opt/nextcloud and /opt/nginx are owned by root with restricted read permissions.
SSL/TLS: All web traffic is redirected from HTTP to HTTPS using Nginx.

The application utilizes a PostgreSQL database for high-performance data management.

Component	Details
Engine	`postgres:16-alpine`
Database Name	`nextcloud`
Storage Location	Managed via Docker volume `db_data`
Connection Method	Internal Docker network (host: `db`)

The deployment consists of several interconnected containers:

Container Name	Image	Ports	Volumes	Environment Variables / Notes
`app-server`	`nextcloud:fpm`	`80`, `9000` (internal)	`app_data` or custom path, `/opt/nextcloud/php.ini`	Configures DB, Redis, and Overwrite URLs
`db`	`postgres:16-alpine`	`5432` (internal)	`db_data`	Sets PostgreSQL credentials
`redis`	`redis:alpine`	N/A (internal)	N/A	Configured for memory caching and locking
`onlyoffice-document-server`	`onlyoffice/documentserver:latest`	`80`, `443` (internal)	`document_data`, `document_log`	JWT disabled; used for document editing
`nginx-certbot`	`jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest`	`80`, `443`	`nginx_secrets`, `/opt/nginx/user_conf.d`, `/opt/nginx/nginx.conf`	Handles SSL via Certbot and proxies requests to the app

The following scripts are used for post-deployment configuration:

/opt/nextcloud/set_configuration.sh: An installation script that automates the occ command-line interface to configure the Nextcloud instance, set up Redis caching, and install the OnlyOffice integration.
Database Optimization: Post-installation commands are executed via docker exec to ensure database indices and columns are correctly aligned with the application version.

To update the main application, use the following command in the /opt/nextcloud directory:

docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

Nextcloud Web Files: Managed via Docker volumes (app_data) or a custom path defined during installation.
Database Data: Stored in the db_data Docker volume.
OnlyOffice Data: Stored in the document_data Docker volume.
Nginx Configurations: Located in /opt/nginx/user_conf.d/.