Installing Nextcloud with Docker

For those who want full control over their data, Nextcloud provides a powerful open-source solution for building a private cloud storage system. It not only enables secure file synchronization across devices but also allows you to deploy storage on your own server, avoiding reliance on third-party providers.

In this guide, we’ll go through the process of installing Nextcloud using isolated Docker containers, which greatly simplifies deployment and management. We’ll also configure automatic traffic encryption with SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt to ensure secure data transmission.

Prerequisites

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You will need:

• A Hostman cloud server with Linux Ubuntu 24.04 pre-installed.
• A domain name.
• Docker and Docker Compose installed.

For the server, choose a configuration with 1 CPU core, 2 GB of RAM, and a public IPv4 address, which you can request when creating the server or later in the “Network” section.

The server will be set up within a few minutes. The IPv4 address, login, and password for SSH access will be available in the Dashboard.

Installing and Running Nextcloud

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Nextcloud requires several key components to run:

1. Database: in this case, MariaDB, a high-performance and reliable DBMS.
2. SSL certificate: we’ll use free SSL certificates from the non-profit certificate authority Let’s Encrypt.
3. Reverse proxy: we’ll add Nginx Proxy Manager, which will route and balance incoming HTTP and HTTPS traffic to the appropriate containers.

Step 1: Create a Configuration Directory

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First, we create a directory where we will store configuration files, and navigate to it.

mkdir nextcloud && cd nextcloud

Step 2: Create an .env File

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This hidden file will store variables with passwords:

nano .env

File contents:

NEXTCLOUD_ROOT_PASSWORD=secure_root_password_123
NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD=secure_nextcloud_db_password_456
NPM_ROOT_PASSWORD=secure_npm_root_password_789
NPM_DB_PASSWORD=secure_npm_db_password_012

Don’t forget to replace the values with your own.

Step 3: Create the docker-compose.yml File

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Use nano to create it:

nano docker-compose.yml

Add the following configuration:

volumes:
  nextcloud-data:
  nextcloud-db:
  npm-data:
  npm-ssl:
  npm-db:

networks:
  frontend:
  backend:

services:
  nextcloud-app:
    image: nextcloud:31.0.8
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - nextcloud-data:/var/www/html
    environment:
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=nextcloud
      - MYSQL_USER=nextcloud
      - MYSQL_HOST=nextcloud-db
      - MYSQL_PORT=3306
    networks:
      - frontend
      - backend

  nextcloud-db:
    image: mariadb:12.0.2
    restart: always
    command: --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED --binlog-format=ROW
    volumes:
      - nextcloud-db:/var/lib/mysql
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${NEXTCLOUD_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=nextcloud
      - MYSQL_USER=nextcloud
    networks:
      - backend

  npm-app:
    image: jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:2.12.6
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "81:81"
      - "443:443"
    environment:
      - DB_MYSQL_HOST=npm-db
      - DB_MYSQL_PORT=3306
      - DB_MYSQL_USER=npm
      - DB_MYSQL_PASSWORD=${NPM_DB_PASSWORD}
      - DB_MYSQL_NAME=npm
    volumes:
      - npm-data:/data
      - npm-ssl:/etc/letsencrypt
    networks:
      - frontend
      - backend

  npm-db:
    image: jc21/mariadb-aria:10.11.5
    restart: always
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${NPM_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=npm
      - MYSQL_USER=npm
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${NPM_DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - npm-db:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - backend

Step 4: Start the Containers

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Run the command:

docker compose up -d

When running docker compose up -d, you may encounter an error related to Docker Hub pull limits.

In that case:

1. Log in to your Docker Hub account, or register a new one on the official website.

2. Go to Account settings → Personal access tokens.

3. Click Generate new token.

4. Enter a description, set an expiration date, and select permissions: Read, Write, Delete.

5. Click Generate.

6. Copy and save the token (it will only be shown once).

7. On the server, log in with:

docker login -u dockeruser

Replace dockeruser with your Docker Hub username. When prompted for a password, paste the token.

8. Restart the containers: 

docker compose up -d

Wait until all containers are up and running. 

Check with:

docker ps

All containers should have the status Up.

Step 5. Configure HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

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1. Open a browser and go to http://<server-IP>:81 to access the Nginx Proxy Manager interface.

2. Log in with the default credentials:

• Login: admin@example.com

• Password: changeme

3. On first login, update the admin user details (Full Name, Nickname, Email).

4. Change the admin password:

• Current Password: changeme

• New Password: your new password

• Confirm Password: repeat the new password

• Save changes.

Step 6: Add a Proxy Host

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1. Go to Hosts → Proxy Hosts.

2. Click Add Proxy Host.

3. Fill in the fields:

• Domain Names: the domain for your Nextcloud instance.

• Scheme: http.

• Forward Hostname/IP: nextcloud-app (the service name from docker-compose.yml).

• Forward Port: 80.

4. Go to the SSL tab:

• In SSL Certificate, select Request a new SSL Certificate.

• Enable:

• Force SSL

• HTTP/2 Support

• HSTS Enabled

• Enter your email for Let’s Encrypt.

• Agree to Let’s Encrypt terms of service.

• Click Save.

The configured host will appear in the list.

Step 7. Log In to NextCloud

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Now, navigate to your domain name. If everything is set up correctly, the Nextcloud web interface will open, and an SSL certificate will be issued by Let’s Encrypt.

• Create a new administrator account.
• Optionally, install recommended apps or skip this step.

At this point, Nextcloud installation and basic configuration is complete.

Conclusion

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In this article, we demonstrated how to deploy Nextcloud using Docker and issue a free Let’s Encrypt certificate.

This method is one of the most reliable, secure, and easily scalable approaches. Docker ensures application isolation, simplifies updates, and makes migration between systems easier. Using an SSL certificate is not just a recommendation but a necessity for protecting confidential data and ensuring encrypted traffic.