# Problem with Nextcloud **URL:** \ **Category:** ℹ️ Support\ **Tags:** baremetal, mariadb, php83\ **Created:** [July 3, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998 "2025-07-03T14:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Berto](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/berto/32/72957_2.png) [@Berto](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Berto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998/1 "2025-07-03T14:55:00Z")
Hello everyone, I’m getting into Nextcloud for the first time and have installed it on my server with an Ubuntu VM. I followed these instructions (see commands below). I did the following differently than described in the instructions: 1. I entered my IP address for the server name. I only use it locally. 2. My data is located under /mnt/nextcloud and not under /var. Everything worked and I was able to use Nextcloud. However, after restarting the VM machine, I get the following error message (see unter) and therefore cannot use Nextcloud. **The data directory is invalid** **Please ensure that a “.ncdata” file exists in the root directory of the data directory. It should have the following content: “# Nextcloud data directory”** **The data directory is write-protected.** **Permissions can usually be corrected by granting the web server write access to the root directory. See also [Introduction — Nextcloud latest Administration Manual latest documentation](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/31/go.php?to=admin-dir_permissions.)** What do I have to do or which commands do I have to execute to get information that will help you? Commands: updating apt update && apt upgrade -y Installing apache apt install apache2 -y Install PHP 8.3 apt install software-properties-common add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php apt update Install PHP 8.3 & Moduls apt install php8.3 libapache2-mod-php8.3 php8.3-zip php8.3-xml php8.3-mbstring php8.3-gd php8.3-curl php8.3-imagick libmagickcore-6.q16-6-extra php8.3-intl php8.3-bcmath php8.3-gmp php8.3-cli php8.3-mysql php8.3-zip php8.3-gd php8.3-mbstring php8.3-curl php8.3-xml php-pear unzip nano php8.3-apcu redis-server ufw php8.3-redis php8.3-smbclient php8.3-ldap php8.3-bz2 php8.3-sqlite3 adjust PHP.ini file nano /etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini memory\_limit = 4096M upload\_max\_filesize = 20G post\_max\_size = 20G date.timezone = Europe/Berlin output\_buffering = Off opcache.enable=1 opcache.enable\_cli=1 opcache.interned\_strings\_buffer=8 opcache.max\_accelerated\_files=10000 opcache.memory\_consumption=128 opcache.save\_comments=1 opcache.revalidate\_freq=1 Install Databse Server apt install mariadb-server Maria DB Server Konfiguration mysql\_secure\_installation open SQL dialoge mysql create database calles nextcloud CREATE DATABASE nextcloud; create database user with password CREATE USER ‘nextclouduser’@‘localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘password\_here’; #grant accesss to databse GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.\* TO ‘nextclouduser’@‘localhost’; #save changes and exit FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT; Download lastest nextcloud version cd /tmp && wget [https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip](https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip) unzip latest.zip mv nextcloud /var/www/ #create new conf nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/nextcloud.conf \ ServerAdmin [master@domain.com](mailto:master@domain.com) DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud/ ServerName \ Options +FollowSymlinks AllowOverride All Require all granted Dav off SetEnv HOME /var/www/nextcloud SetEnv HTTP\_HOME /var/www/nextcloud ErrorLog ${APACHE\_LOG\_DIR}/error.log CustomLog ${APACHE\_LOG\_DIR}/access.log combined Enable the NextCloud and Rewrite Module a2ensite nextcloud.conf a2enmod rewrite a2enmod headers a2enmod env a2enmod dir a2enmod mime restart apache service apache2 restart prepare data folder mkdir /home/data/ chown -R www-data:www-data /home/data/ chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud/ chmod -R 755 /var/www/nextcloud/ Best regards Berto ---
**Author:** ![SmallOne](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/smallone/32/5326_2.png) [@SmallOne](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/SmallOne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998/2 "2025-07-03T14:55:35Z")
change owner and user of /mnt/nextcloud make sure that you have the .ncdata file in that directory. ---
**Author:** ![Berto](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/berto/32/72957_2.png) [@Berto](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Berto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998/3 "2025-07-03T15:27:33Z")
Could you write the commands to check if I have the .ncdata file in that directory, and explain how to change the owner and user of /mnt/nextcloud? Could you also write the commands? ---
**Author:** ![SmallOne](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/smallone/32/5326_2.png) [@SmallOne](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/SmallOne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998/4 "2025-07-03T16:20:32Z")
chown -R www-data:www-data /mnt/nextcloud ls -l /mnt/nextcloud/.ncdata If .ncdata is missing touch /mnt/nextcloud/.ncdata ---
**Author:** ![hackito](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/hackito/32/72842_2.png) [@hackito](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/hackito)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 6:58am UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998/5 "2025-07-04T06:58:49Z")
Your error happens because Nextcloud needs a .ncdata file in your data directory and proper permissions. To fix: ``` Create the .ncdata file inside /mnt/nextcloud with this content: ``` # Nextcloud data directory ``` Set ownership and permissions: ``` sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /mnt/nextcloud sudo chmod -R 750 /mnt/nextcloud ``` Ensure your Nextcloud config (config.php) points to /mnt/nextcloud as the data directory. ``` Then restart Apache (sudo systemctl restart apache2). This should resolve the issue. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/system/32/29333_2.png) [@system](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 6:58am UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/problem-with-nextcloud/227998/6 "2025-10-02T06:58:59Z")
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