ownCloud

A Quick Start Guide

This project is maintained by joelouthan

Quick Start for ownCloud Server

Introduction

This is a quick start installation guide for ownCloud Server on a single server and single database setup.

Additional installation options are covered with the ownCloud Administration Guide.

For mid-sized and enterprise scaling and high availability options, see Deployment Considerations and Deployment Recommendations.

Let’s get started.

System Requirements

We officially recommend and support:

Platform Options
Operating System Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Database MariaDB 10+
Web server Apache 2.4 with prefork and mod_php
PHP Runtime 7.3

Recommendation: To install in this environment, please see Recommended Standard: Ubuntu 18.04 Installation Guide.

Official Supported Environments

Server

Operating System (64bit)

Database

Web server

PHP Runtime

Note for Linux distributions: We support two latest plus the current Long Term Support (LTS) versions.

Hypervisors

Desktop Sync Client

We recommend using the latest version of the Desktop Sync Client. The latest stable client supports the platforms listed below:

Web Browser

Mobile Apps

We recommend using the latest version of the Mobile App. The latest stable mobile apps support the platforms listed below:

Tip: For more information on changes within version updates, please visit our changlogs.

Database Requirements

mySQL/MariaDB requirements:

Memory Requirements

For a single server setup:

Minimum requirement: 128GB

Recommended: 512GB

Installation

Download and Extraction

On other HTTP servers, it is recommended to install ownCloud outside of the document root.

Configuring Webserver

There are two ways to configure Apache.

Configure Apache

1. Create a /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf file with the following lines:

Alias /owncloud "/var/www/owncloud/"

<Directory /var/www/owncloud/>
  Options +FollowSymlinks
  AllowOverride All

 <IfModule mod_dav.c>
  Dav off
 </IfModule>
</Directory>

2. Then create a symlink to /etc/apache2/sites-enabled:

ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/owncloud.conf

Note: For additional Apache configurations including mod_unique_id, enabling SSL and Multi-Processing Module (MPM) considerations, please see Additional Apache Configuration.

3. Restart Apache

Configure Apache to listen on a different port

You can run ownCloud on its own port in Apache. For example: 8080.

1. In /etc/apache2/ports.conf, add the additional line right below Listen 80

Listen 8080

2. Edit the /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf file by changing the top line to:

<VirtualHost *: 8080>

3. Restart Apache.

Before you install

Change the owncloud directory ownership to your HTTP user:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/owncloud/

Note: For additional Prerequisites including Apache, PHP, or Database, please refer to: Running the Installation Wizard

Now, you have three ways to complete the installation:

Note: To install with Docker, please see Installing with Docker.

The Installation Wizard

Introduction

Recommendation: If you are planning to use the installation wizard, we recommend that you protect it by enabling password authentication or through network access control.

Web Access

  1. In your web browser, go to http://localhost/owncloud
  2. Create an admin account with your desired username and password
  3. Click [Finish setup]

Data Directory

At the top drop down menu, select ‘Storage & Database’ to specify data folder and to configure the database.

Note: The directory must be already created and must be owned by the HTTP user.

image

Important: The data folder and content must be exclusive to ownCloud server. No other process or user can alter the directory’s contents.

mySQL/MariaDB Database

MariaDB is the ownCloud recommended database server. You can use it for either Server or Enterprise editions. To install the recommend MariaDB database server, use the following command (for Debian/Ubuntu servers):

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server

Note: will need to use a user login with permissions to create and modify databases.

  1. Choose “Storage & Database.”
  2. Enter in DB user and password
  3. Enter in your own database name

You can setup a temporary database administrator account with the following steps:

sudo mysql --user=root mysql
CREATE USER 'dbadmin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'APASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'dbadmin'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

For more detailed information, see MySQL/MariaDB Configuration.

For SQLite, PostgreSQL, and Oracle 11g database configuration, see Database Choices.

Post-Installation

After install, we recommend taking extra hardened security measures. See Post-Installation Guide for step-by-step instructions.

Command Line Installation

For scripted and automated operations, use command line installation.

Five steps for command line installation:

  1. Ensure your server meets the ownCloud prerequisites
  2. Download and unpack the source
  3. Install using the occ command
  4. Set the correct owner and permissions
  5. Optional post-installation considerations

Let’s get started.

1. Download and unpack the source into an directory (e.g. /var/www/owncloud)

2. Change the owner for your unpacked owncloud directory with your HTTP user:

$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/owncloud/

3. Use occ command to perform the installation:

# Assuming you’ve unpacked the source to /var/www/owncloud/
$ cd /var/www/owncloud/
$ sudo -u www-data php occ maintenance:install \
   --database "mysql" --database-name "owncloud" \
   --database-user "root" --database-pass "password" \
   --admin-user "admin" --admin-pass "password"

Note: You must run occ as your HTTP user.

If you want to use a different data directory, supply the --data-dir switch.

When the command completes, apply the correct permissions to your ownCloud files and directories.

Important: Applying the correct permissions will protect your install.

If you intend to run our recommended standard, see Install ownCloud on Ubuntu 18.04.

Administration

How do I add another user?

1. Click on ≡ the upper-left corner of the web interface and click on ‘Users’

2. At the top-middle of the page, fill in the following information:

How do I install and connect with the Desktop Synchronization Client?

1. See our Desktop Sync guide for installation instructions.

2. When prompted, fill in the following information:

How do I install and connect with a Mobile app?

Choose your guide and follow the installation and configuration directions: