Installing on "shared hosting"

[janvl]

Hi,
i need to install nextcloud on a server with “shared hosting” where MC will be the (almost) only install.
I would like it to install like a webapp which i have with a version 19 install.

I have full access to the os (ubuntu server 20.04).

I have searched the nextcloud websites but there is a load of dead links where the documentation is supposed to be for the “latest” version.

Could someone point me to a documentationpage for 25 or 24 so i can install, please?

Regards,
Jan

[Scott_Kirkpatrick]

https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/latest/admin_manual/

[janvl]

Hi Scott_Kirkpatrick
it is
https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/24/admin_manual/
i get an error with latest.
Never mind, i found the installschript and Nextcloud 25 is installed.
Now i have to finetune, load php-modules for php 8.0 and adjust php.ini and the apache-directives.

Thanks anyway.

Regards,
Jan

[devnull]

@janvl

I have full access to the os (ubuntu server 20.04).

@janvl

load php-modules for php 8.0

Maybe you can better use Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with the newer PHP in the standard repository.

PHP 7.4 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
PHP 8.1 on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

[janvl]

Thanks devnull,

the server was installed already with ispconfig (open source control panel) that does not support 22.04 yet.
For the next 3 years this will do.

Regards,
Jan

[Kerasit]

So there is an already running webserver and you will have to do with the shared? Can it be used as a reverse proxy? If so, setup either as a LXC and get full control, or use the docker solution. If not, then you will need to install quiet a few modules, and tweak the performance of the webserver in such a way (plus installing redis and OPCache) that you might interfere with the other service. Your best option is a container.

[janvl]

Thanks Kerasit,

I choose for a webapp, no container, because the user has some smaller webapps that can coexist with NC. I know how to tune a server.
I do consider “a container” not the best option, it is an extra layer one has to service in case of problems.

Regards,
Jan

[devnull]

@janvl

I do consider “a container” not the best option, it is an extra layer one has to service in case of problems.

That may be ok. But please start thinking about updates, backups, restores and migration of Nextcloud in the next years.

[christianlupus]

Especially keep in mind that your version of PHP is outdated and no longer gets updates: PHP: Supported Versions

You should consider updating very soon then if your data is more than test and dummy data.

[devnull]

@christianlupus
That is not fully true. While Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Debian 11 you can use PHP 7.4 from their repositories. But maybe Nextcloud 26 stops support PHP 7.4.

On the roadmap: deprecation of PHP 7.4

We would like to warn you that PHP 7.4 will be dropped for Nextcloud 26. We would like you to understand why we made this decision and gather information for you about how to upgrade. Why? PHP communicated that support for security fixes for 7.4 will be stopped by end of November, 2022. This means that running PHP 7.4 will come with considerate security risks. Continuing to support PHP 7.4 means we cannot introduce new security measures that PHP 8.1 comes with. The syntax that we are allowed …

It’s a bit of the Windows XP approach. Perhaps former windows users.
A completely outdated operating system with always the latest software.
Works for many users for a decade.

You can better move to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with PHP 8.1 than use the old Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with a newer PHP version from another source.

[janvl]

“old Ubuntu 20.04 LTS”
if a system that is 2 years old, is considered “old” one might ask himself if such a system is stable enough for production.

I support even php 5.6 on my servers because software does not get adjusted to the latest versions of php that fast.

Seems that in the past (where i come from, vaxvms ) we cared more for stability.

Regards,
Jan

[devnull]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. Software is developed much faster today. Nextcloud 26 may not support PHP 7.4 anymore. Yet Ubuntu 20.04 LTS will still be supported for many years and at the time of Nextcloud 26 probably Debian 11 Bullseye Stable with PHP 7.4 is still the official, productive stable release of Debian GNU/Linux. This means that everyone with Debian Stable will have to delay the update to Nextcloud 26 or obtain PHP 8.1 from a third-party source. php at packages.debian.org

[bb77]

@janvl

“old Ubuntu 20.04 LTS”

Ubuntu 20.04 isn’t old and will still be supported by Canonical for another three years. But, PHP 7.4 ist deprecated and while Canonical will still backport security fixes, Nextcloud will probably not gonna wait three years, until they stop supporting PHP7.4. Nextcloud is a fast moving project.

@janvl

I support even php 5.6 on my servers because software does not get adjusted to the latest versions of php that fast.

Well that’s your decision, whether you want to do that. Nextcloud does not. However, if you sign up for an Enterprise Subscription with Nextcloud, you get access to Nextcloud releases with longer support periods, but most likely not that long.

@janvl

Seems that in the past (where i come from, vaxvms ) we cared more for stability.

Yea the 80s are long gone. But there is obviously a middle ground. I already mentioned Enterprise subscriptions, if you are using Nextcloud commercially. But even without subscription, you don’t need to update everything immediately to the latest version, but on average Nextcloud needs to be updated at least once per year.

You also wrote something along the lines, that you know how to tune and manage servers. Why do you use such tools like ISP config then, which lead you into unnecessary dependencies? Setup a barebones Ubuntu in a VM and install the LAMP stack manually. Then you can update, PHP, Database etc. independently from the Ubuntu version.

[janvl]

Hi,

thanks for the comments.

I will have a look at the enterprise version at first.

I have just moved an install to another server that was easier then expected, so probably we will plan to use 25 with php 7.4 for 1 year and then move to a newer server and a newer version of NC.

But as you might guess, although i am still pretty capable to manupulate with servers the clock tics for me too, one cannot stop aging. Living healthy may lengthen the time i can anjoy this kind of work. My customers certainly wish me to work many years to come.

Regards,
Jan

[devnull]

@janvl

for me too, one cannot stop aging.

The best thing is always to stay curious. Maybe install a few Nextcloud test instances on different operating systems and operating system versions. Maybe do without techniques like ispconfig on a test system, look at Docker, etc. You can use 10+ years old hardware for test systems. It’s not about large data volumes or high availability, but about learning.

[janvl]

Ok the status now.

I have run owncloud updates through the commandline from 10.0.0.1 - 10.2 - 10.3 - 10.4 - 10.5.
Then i ran the migration-script that went all pretty good and ended up with Nextcloud 20.0.4.
I did 1 Update to Nextcloud 20.0.14 where i had to add some indices and tables. Still running on PHP 7.3.

So now we have Nextcloud.

In the install i have a problem with the use of the recoverykey. For about 60 users “RecoveryEnabled” is set. For about 30 the one managing owncloud did not set the Recoverykey enabled.

My Question:
Can one set the use of the recoverykey afterwards for those 30 users?

I want to disable serverside encryption in general, the users that use this install are not very ICT-minded.

In the end i want to get to an install with Ubuntu 20.04 - PHP 7.4 that must last for about 3/4 to one year, then i will move it all to a newer server with Ubuntu 22.04 with PHP 8 (latest if possible) so we can update to newer versions.

Regards,
Jan