Nextcloud - ubuntu appliance

Spent half the day trying to setup the appliance.
I really feel itā€™s a bad jokeā€¦
Very few info/howtos on the subject matter. Are there users out there?
Install on an intel NUC (reference listed in ubuntuā€™s compatibility list).
First time, mysql crash.
Reinstall.
Waiting for PHP.
Reinstall : the same.
Log :
2022-02-12T17:34:46Z nextcloud.mdns-publisher[7276]: 2022/02/12 17:34:46 gmx: unable to open local socket: listen unix /tmp/.gmx.7292.0: bind: operation not permitted
2022-02-12T17:34:46Z nextcloud.mdns-publisher[7276]: 2022/02/12 17:34:46 Failed to listen 224.0.0.251:5353: listen udp4 224.0.0.251:5353: socket: permission denied
2022-02-12T17:34:56Z systemd[1]: snap.nextcloud.mdns-publisher.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2022-02-12T17:34:56Z systemd[1]: snap.nextcloud.mdns-publisher.service: Failed with result ā€˜exit-codeā€™.
2022-02-12T17:34:57Z systemd[1]: snap.nextcloud.mdns-publisher.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
2022-02-12T17:34:57Z systemd[1]: snap.nextcloud.mdns-publisher.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 23.
2022-02-12T17:34:57Z systemd[1]: Stopped Service for snap application nextcloud.mdns-publisher.
2022-02-12T17:34:57Z systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application nextcloud.mdns-publisher.
2022-02-12T17:34:57Z nextcloud.mdns-publisher[7349]: 2022/02/12 17:34:57 gmx: unable to open local socket: listen unix /tmp/.gmx.7366.0: bind: operation not permitted
2022-02-12T17:34:57Z nextcloud.mdns-publisher[7349]: 2022/02/12 17:34:57 Failed to listen 224.0.0.251:5353: listen udp4 224.0.0.251:5353: socket: permission denied

Afaik, nextcloud.redis-server is down and canā€™t be restarted.

I expected some OOB solution and wonder if itā€™s indeed maintained/tested.
Such things should never happen form the very start.

Iā€™m giving up.

I would avoid the appliance entirely if I were you, I donā€™t think anyone maintains it. You can just install normal Ubuntu and install the snap there if you like, which is maintained. Still gives you a fairly good OOB experience (since itā€™s what the appliance relies on).

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Hello!
Thks for your answer.
I successfully installed alpine linux standard base + their nextcloud .apk (good wiki). ā€ŒThat amounts for a mere 1,2G installā€¦
Will need further testing but thatā€™s impressive!
Might also test clear linux + docker-compose but the alpine build seems closer to my goal which is limited maintenance for a one purpose server.
Have a nice week!

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Sorry i do not like Snap. Perhaps it is better to not use it. I was not able to set two Nextcloud DNS names and two Lets Encrypt certificates without nginx to one Nextcloud (need it for migration to another name). On normal systems this is no problem.

Please post your hardware and your operating system.

Glad you settled on a setup that you like, @lemascaret!

You donā€™t need to apologize, itā€™s not for everyone. However, please stop trolling on every thread that asks a snap-related question to share that you donā€™t like it. It doesnā€™t help the discussion at all.

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It is not really trolling.
But perhaps you can solve my trivial problem with two simultaneous Nextcloud server names. But perhaps no Snap user need it for soft migrations like me for changing the Nextcloud server name. I think this must be a standard feature like on other Nextcloud installations. And yes i can use a reverse proxy like nginx. But i do not want use it. I also do not need nginx on other installations.

Hello!
Thks for your answer.
I successfully installed alpine linux standard base + their nextcloud .apk (good wiki). ā€ŒThat amounts for a mere 1,2G installā€¦
Will need further testing but thatā€™s impressive!
Might also test clear linux + docker-compose but the alpine build seems closer to my goal which is limited maintenance for a one purpose server.
Have a nice week!

@kyrofa

Really? Oh dear
I thought you maintained it (sorry if I am wrong)
Mine is still working perfectly,
but for when it doesnt, what would you recommend for a RPi3?

You could try this as well (also very well maintained):

2 Likes

@leigh there are two aspects to consider, here:

  1. The OS youā€™re using
  2. The Nextcloud installation method youā€™re using

I maintain the Nextcloud snap, which covers (2). The Ubuntu appliance uses Ubuntu Core, which covers (1), and it happens to include the Nextcloud snap, so it also covers (2). If it works for you, excellent, please donā€™t sweat. Ubuntu Core is entirely snap-based and will update itself. But if you run into issues, you will have trouble finding help because of a few things:

  1. Ubuntu Core is very different from standard Ubuntu, and has a learning curve. This means that the community of users youā€™d normally have giving you advice doesnā€™t exist there.
  2. In reality, Ubuntu Core is barely supported by Canonical, much less images that build on top of it. Theyā€™ve lost a huge percentage of the engineers working on it, including the people bootstrapping the Appliance story. Itā€™s possible more people have picked it up, but it would surprise me.
    • Again, if youā€™re running Ubuntu Core/the Appliance image, I donā€™t say this to worry you. The snaps youā€™re using are well-maintained as far as Iā€™m aware. Itā€™s just the tech behind Ubuntu Core itself and the Appliance images themselves that Iā€™m talking about, here.

As far as what I would recommend instead: a standard Ubuntu Server install. SSH in there, run sudo snap install nextcloud, and you have exactly what the Ubuntu Appliance gives you without any of the hassle. I could even put together a cloud-init script that would do this for you if you wanted to use a cloud image. Then the OOTB experience would be more or less identical. Let me know if that sounds interesting.

1 Like

Thanks, and Sorry for late reply - life etc!
It says, 'The Nextcloud VM (virtual machine appliance), Home/SME Server and scripts for RPi (4). Community developed and maintained. ā€™
My box only has a RPi 3 and I have as much chance of buying a RPi4 as I do Rocking horse Poo at the moment :slight_smile:

Again, Thanks, and Sorry for late reply - life etc!
That looks interesting, I will look into a standard ubuntu appliance server install
EDIT: doesnt lookvery hard https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-your-raspberry-pi#1-overview

On another note - I have now moved to ArchLabs from Manjaro and after regenerating the key for Archlabs and adding it to my Ubuntu account, the RPi box is still asking me for a password when I try to SSH from AL (on Manjaro it still works). Any ideas on this? is it something to do with the passkey?

Welcome to a good example of why I recommend avoiding Ubuntu Core these days. Thatā€™s an issue thatā€™s been known and unfixed since 2016. Use your Manjaro box to add your Arch key (probably into /home/<username>/.ssh/authorized_keys).

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Not sure what you mean by still having my old key? I still have the one for Manjaro and that still works when I boot into Manjaro - I can access via ssh that way

Sorry, I re-read your post and updated mine just as you were replying :slight_smile: .

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So I boot into AL on laptop and run
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Then copy paste the result somewhere and reboot laptop into Manjaro and then ssh into RPi and copy paste that result into /home/<username>/.ssh/authorized_keys(probably :slight_smile: )?

Yes. /home/<username>/.ssh/authorized_keys contains one public key per line. Add a new line for the new key, paste it in, and you should be able to SSH from both places.

1 Like

Thanks!
Now my key works in AL :+1:

I forgot I had use vi in Ubuntu Core, so it took me ages to do that simple addition of one line - I find that such a non-intuitive editor, and always end up swearing :rofl:

Hi @kyrofa
After more problems I am moving to Ubuntu Server as you recommended
I downloaded the iso from here
Its a RPi 3 so I used the 64 bit version

I then used gnome disks to flash the iso to the SD card, as always

I then booted the SD card in the RPi

Its a LAN connection

I sshā€™ed into the RPi from my lappy
I had to first do the following - it was the same IP as before in case this is relevant)

ssh-keygen -R [RPi IP address]

Then I was in :slight_smile:

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes

However, the default ā€˜ubuntuā€™ password is not working

Any ideas, please?

Edit: I just noticed that the password prompt on this new ubuntu server version on a different SD card is using my Ubuntu SSO account name - how is this possible? My Ubuntu SSO account password doesnt work tho

I have no idea what I was doing wrong before but I just installed the Ubuntu Server then the Nextcloud snap and all is working great :smiley:

Install Ubuntu Server on SD Card:

This guide is helpful:

But since I am not on Ubuntu and because I like to do it using the gnome disks app I diverged from that guide in getting the image onto the SD card:

Get Ubuntu Server for Raspberry Pi from here

Use gnome-disks to restore image to SD card on my lappy

Log in to Raspberry Pi 3 running Ubuntu Server via ssh.

ssh ubuntu@192.168.1.XX

NB:
Default password is ā€˜ubuntuā€™

Once in, will be told to change password

Install Nextcloud Snap

sudo snap install nextcloud