Run Nextcloud on Windows with access via Windows Explorer

🚧 Installation
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1

I tried to get Nextcloud running with Docker via Kitematic. Then I realized two things:

  1. I don’t have any option of using my external HDD as data directory rather than the small SSD.
  2. I cannot access the data directory via Windows Explorer

I tried various things for example using shared drives in Docker, I didn’t really manage to use them, does anybody have an idea how I could solve these two issues without switching to Linux?

2

Is windows explorer capable of accessing resources via webdav?
If not you can use the sync client.

3

Yes, Windows 10 is capable of accessing resources via webdav. So the second point is cleared, but what would you think about the first point?

Since my System is running on the C drive Docker/Kitematic is also running on this drive, this drive happens to be the small SSD, I’d like to save the data externally on drive D which is my HDD with more storage.

4

Be advised that while the documentation says that Windows can access files using WebDAV, I had nothing but issues when I tried it with anything other than the sync client. I had lots of issues with connecting as well as dropping the connection and having to reconnect.

The best answer I found: Use either the browser or WinSCP/Cyberduck.

Some things I found while testing/using this:

**NOTE:** *At the time this was an internal server and security wasn't an issue, 
now it is web accessible and https and HSTS is required... I will most likely test 
this again now that https is enabled, but http was a no man's land of bugs and  
disconnects.*
  • Getting this to work in Windows 10 involves combinations of registry editing and enabling outdated and insecure TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 basic authentication.
  • The path in the NC directions (pick a version) don’t match the path that is given when you click settings in a folder and copy the WebDAV path it offers.
  • I had troubles connecting with either path consistently (So much I quit trying).
  • While the documentation mentions Windows access, none of them mention a version newer than Vista/7
  • My Android phones and iPads connect to NextCloud through their respective apps and offline media streaming apps without issue, and that was the main push for my use.

Documentation for all the information above can be found here (for NextCloud 14): https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/14/user_manual/files/access_webdav.html#accessing-files-using-microsoft-windows

To your (data storage) question:

  • Mount the second drive in your docker

  • create a folder to house your nextcloud data

  • set the web user as the owner of that folder
    (permissions should be 755 for folders and 644 for files)

  • add the following line to your config.php (<nextcloud install folder>/config/config.php):

    'datadirectory' => '<mount path of second drive/nextcloud data folder>',

Additional resources:
Managing Volumes on the kitematic docs here: https://docs.docker.com/kitematic/userguide/
Nextcloud Docker hub: Persistent data https://hub.docker.com/_/nextcloud

Also, Be aware that NextCloud doesn’t recommend multiple simultaneous shares (like SMB + NextCloud + ???, etc. from the same files/folders