right now I use a managed NextCloud, which is terrible slow. Thus I set up a home server successfully. The problem I’m facing now is how to transfer all the data from the managed NextCloud server to my home server. On the managed server I only have access to the NextCloud front-end, so no access to the command line, or the database running in the background. I need to transfer at least my main account with all it’s photos, files, contacts, tasks and calenders. At best I would also like to do a backup before the migration. I did not find a solution to this problem in the documentation, that’s applicable without access to the command line on the managed server.
a backup and migration of a server consists of two parts: files and database. in the database Nextcloud stores data like user rights, group memberships, shares and so on… if you can live without this data you can
create all you users on the local server
copy the files from old server to the new server (into corresponding user directory)
after a while all files should appear in the web UI/client/WebDAV.
If you need database content as well, there is no way as to request a database backup from your current hoster and perform a restore into your local server…
Addition:
If you want to download all data (not structure) i think the best tool is the nextcloud client on Windows, MacOS and/or Linux. https://nextcloud.com/install/# (klick Download for Desktop).
Then you can add a new nextcloud server (e.g. at home) and re-upload.
You can buy a VPS or a Managed Nextcloud with shell access, more performance and backup.
How much do you pay? Which country?
Does the migration method via desktop app also work for contacts, tasks and calender? Or only files and photos?
I have used Cloudamo for around 3 or 4€ per month.
I’m still a bit unsure whether home server is the best solution, since this is the first time for me. Especially security wise, I don’t want my home network or data to get compromised.
The home server uses Proxmox as a hypervisor with TurnkeyLinux Nextcloud LXC and a SSL certificate from lets encrypt. I did port forwarding only for ports 80 and 443 on my router to the NextCloud server container and got a A+ rating on the NextCloud test page.
But since I’m no expert in self hosting, I am not sure if this is enough, or if there still could be hidden security problems. I have so many questions and find sometimes contradicting answers to my questions. Just to mention a few:
Are there additional test pages or programs to check the safety of my solution?
Are there other things I could do to harden this setup?
Is using a VM instead of a LXC significantly more secure?
I have no Selinux enabled. How much more secure does enabling it make it?
Another consideration is creating backups. I don’t have a automatic solution in place right now for the home server. Maybe I should use another LXC container running on the same home server with a backup software and backing up the NextCloud instance two times a week to a different hard drive. But what happens if there was a fire in my apartment?
The third point is money, since energy prices in Germany are the highest of all developed countries for private use. I use a passively cooled low energy 4 core + 8 GB RAM solution, but it may still be more expensive than using a VPS or managed NextCloud.
Originally, I also imagined running a media server container on that server and something like Adguard Home or Pihole. But since setting up the NextCloud container was more difficult than expected and I realized, that I know some things about desktop computers, but very little about servers and networks, I am not sure if I will go that route.
I don’t have an answer for all your questions, but no, the desktop client does not work for syncing tasks/events/contacts to a different nextcloud instance. The client is files only. It provides notifications for other applications, but does not sync any data.
My preferred migration method is to sync the tasks/events/contacts to a different client that supports CalDAV (like MacOS Reminders/Calendar/AddressBook), then setup your new instance and update your client account information to sync your tasks/events/contacts to your new instance. Be sure to take a backup of your local Tasks/Events/Contacts before syncing to the new instance because it has happened on more than one occasion where all my local items are erased during the sync! A safer option may be to just download the events/tasks/contacts from your old nextcloud instance and then import to your new one (i think all the apps provide export options).
I am really stuck on this one. I JUST signed up for managed hosting with Ionos, however am already regretting it. They are using unsupported version with strict limitations on apps other than the ones in their list. (eg no onlyoffice).
The cost of a VPS of 1TB space is going to be very out of budget, but I don’t want all of my stuff/staff to be on the managed cloud only to lose everything when I try to migrate a dedicated server or VPS.
Has there been any changes since this post? It isn’t that old and i didn’t want to create a new one.
edit: I am 99% sure Ionos will not help me one bit to do this, so far they have been useless.
You JUST signed up and already have a setup that complex, that you can’t simply download your stuff and upload it somewhere else like you JUST did on Ionos?
Please ask specific questions about what data you need to migrate away and where to, and I’m sure somebody will be able to help with this.
A few tips:
Files:
Files shouldn’t be an issue at all. If you already using the Desktop Client, just rename the local folder on your computer or move it to another location, then remove the account in the settings of the Desktop Client. Done. If you don’t have the Desktop Client installed just Download the Files via WebUI.
After you signed up with another provider or if you have setup your new server, just add the new account to the Desktop Client. It will create a new folder to which you then can move or copy the files of your current renamed folder. Or you can of course upload the files via WebUI.
Calendar / Contacts:
The Calendar and Contacts apps do both provide an export respective a download button for each calendar or contact list. Via these buttons you can export your calendars and address books as ics respective vcs files, which you then can import on your new instance.
This may not help if you can’t get your Ionos instance updated to a recent version, but nextcloud 24 has a user-level Data Migration feature that allows you to export all of your nextcloud data at once and import into a new instance:
hahaha, no, dont think i explained myself in that huffy rant.
I’m stuck in a year contract, and if you guys recommend I cut and run before putting anything on that server, I just wasted money better spent elsewhere.
I just thought managed meant tension free.
I havn’t used it at all yet, I was going to roll it out to my team but most of what I wanted was the integrated chat and file sharing. If the chats and records are lost then tracking the whole thread of our work will be impossible. I really like the ‘project’ feature.
This is what I was hoping and praying to hear. If they update to the latest, then I can stay with them tension free until I am ready to move over to a more expensive server.
If you are going to use this for business purposes I would contact them in order to be sure that you can use all the features you need and expand storage as needed. Otherwise it’s going to be a lottery. And a migration of a hole team to a new server will always be a hassle. Don’t expect that you can do two clicks in a migration tool and everything will run right away without issues. Just setting up the new server address on all the client computers and phones of your team will keep you busy for a week
@k.mudassar
I do not the services from Inonos and also i do not know your Nextcloud package there.
But if you buy an own Nextcloud instance there is the possibilty for the provider (if he wants it) to export the data, config and database so you can (if you also own the domain name) use another hoster (no Vendor lock-in). I think this is not possible e.g. at Microsoft 365. But at Microsoft, Google, Apple, … maybe all works fine and Vendor-lock-in is ok.
Ask your next nextcloud hoster about vendor-lock-in. Ask him how you can migrate to another Nextcloud hoster if he fails. Maybe he’ll want to be more reliable, so you’ll commit to him for the long term.
when will you update from the unsupported 22.2.8 version?
i have an issue where I get a 404 message repeatedly when trying to open chats.
can you do the steps (oauth?) so I can integrate one drive?
Their reply:
we don’t know, probably not for a while. Deal with it. Get VPS and host it yourself.
"
it seems to be caused by our caching methods on our managed solution. Again, my advice for this would be to use Nextcloud in a self-managed environment so you get total control over the caching"
No. Use our VPS hosting.
So basically i think they sold me this under false pretences to be honest. Very dissapointed.
First it’s about money, it’s always about money. How much money are you paying and what do you think you can expect in return? With Microsoft 365, you or your company are just one user out of millions. Individuality costs. With Microsoft, it is not even possible due to the hosting at Microsoft. You can host Nextcloud yourself or use an individual hosting. But it costs money.
I think you have to distinguish between normal users and your requirements. Many users will not even notice that the version is outdated and that certain features are missing. Be glad that you don’t know the versions of proprietary software.
Hopefully there are no security issues. Software versions that are no longer supported also exist in other environments.
Another example. Magentacloud use Nextcloud 22.2.0.2 . Upgrading from Magentacloud may be difficult. On the one hand many users and on the other hand a big change in the Nextcloud software. For the user, this is not so much a Nextcloud with many functions, but rather a pure storage and sharing platform for data.
