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    Storage Guide

    Self-Hosted ownCloud

    Deploy your own file synchronization and sharing platform with ownCloud on RamNode VPS. Complete privacy, powerful features, and full control.

    Ubuntu 22.04
    LAMP Stack
    ⏱️ 30-45 minutes

    Prerequisites & VPS Selection

    Before starting this deployment, ensure you have:

    • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS installed
    • Root or sudo access to your server
    • A registered domain name pointed to your VPS IP address
    • Basic familiarity with Linux command line operations

    Personal Use

    • • 2GB RAM (min)
    • • 1 vCPU
    • • 1-5 users
    → View Plans

    Recommended

    • • 4GB RAM
    • • 2 vCPU
    • • 5-25 users
    → Recommended

    Enterprise

    • • 8GB+ RAM
    • • 4+ vCPU
    • • 25+ users
    → Premium VPS
    2

    Update Your System

    Connect to your VPS via SSH and update all system packages:

    Update System
    sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
    3

    Install Required Dependencies

    ownCloud requires a LAMP stack with specific PHP extensions:

    Install LAMP Stack and PHP Extensions
    sudo apt install -y apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php8.1 \
  php8.1-gd php8.1-mysql php8.1-curl php8.1-mbstring \
  php8.1-intl php8.1-gmp php8.1-bcmath php8.1-xml \
  php8.1-zip php8.1-imagick php8.1-redis redis-server \
  unzip wget
    Enable Apache Modules
    sudo a2enmod rewrite headers env dir mime
    4

    Configure MariaDB

    Secure your MariaDB installation:

    Secure MariaDB
    sudo mysql_secure_installation

    Follow the prompts to set a root password, remove anonymous users, disallow remote root login, and remove the test database.

    Create Database and User
    sudo mysql -u root -p
    SQL Commands
    CREATE DATABASE owncloud;
CREATE USER 'owncloud'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON owncloud.* TO 'owncloud'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

    ⚠️ Important: Replace 'your_secure_password' with a strong, unique password!

    5

    Configure PHP

    Edit the PHP configuration file to optimize for ownCloud:

    Edit PHP Config
    sudo nano /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini
    PHP Configuration Values
    memory_limit = 512M
upload_max_filesize = 512M
post_max_size = 512M
max_execution_time = 300
date.timezone = America/New_York
opcache.enable=1
opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.memory_consumption=128
opcache.save_comments=1
opcache.revalidate_freq=1

    Adjust date.timezone to match your location. Save and exit (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter).

    6

    Download and Install ownCloud

    Download the latest stable version:

    Download ownCloud
    cd /tmp
wget https://download.owncloud.com/server/stable/owncloud-complete-latest.tar.bz2
    Extract and Set Permissions
    sudo tar -xjf owncloud-complete-latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/owncloud
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/owncloud
    7

    Configure Apache Virtual Host

    Create a new Apache configuration file:

    Create Apache Config
    sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf
    Apache Virtual Host Configuration
    <VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName cloud.yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/owncloud

    <Directory /var/www/owncloud/>
        Options +FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted

        <IfModule mod_dav.c>
            Dav off
        </IfModule>

        SetEnv HOME /var/www/owncloud
        SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/owncloud
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/owncloud_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/owncloud_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
    Enable Site
    sudo a2ensite owncloud.conf
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2
    8

    Install SSL Certificate

    Secure your ownCloud installation with Let's Encrypt:

    Install Certbot and Get SSL
    sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-apache
sudo certbot --apache -d cloud.yourdomain.com

    ✅ Follow the prompts to complete SSL setup. Certbot will auto-configure Apache.

    9

    Complete Web-Based Installation

    Open your browser and navigate to https://cloud.yourdomain.com. Configure:

    1. Admin Account: Create an administrator username and password
    2. Data Folder: Leave as default (/var/www/owncloud/data) or specify custom location
    3. Database Configuration:
      • Database user: owncloud
      • Database password: The password you created in Step 4
      • Database name: owncloud
      • Database host: localhost

    Click "Finish setup" and wait for the installation to complete.

    10

    Configure Redis for File Locking

    Enable Redis for improved performance and file locking:

    Edit ownCloud Config
    sudo nano /var/www/owncloud/config/config.php
    Add Redis Configuration (before closing );)
    'memcache.local' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
'memcache.locking' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
'redis' => [
    'host' => 'localhost',
    'port' => 6379,
],

    Configure Trusted Domains

    In the same config.php, ensure your domain is listed:

    Trusted Domains Array
    'trusted_domains' =>
array (
    0 => 'localhost',
    1 => 'cloud.yourdomain.com',
    2 => 'your.server.ip.address',
),

    Set Up Cron Jobs

    Configure Background Tasks
    sudo crontab -u www-data -e
# Add this line:
*/15 * * * * /usr/bin/php8.1 -f /var/www/owncloud/cron.php

    In ownCloud web interface, go to Settings → Admin → Basic settings, and select "Cron" as the background jobs method.

    11

    Production Optimization

    Configure Firewall

    Allow HTTP/HTTPS Traffic
    sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full'
sudo ufw enable

    Enable HSTS

    Edit Apache SSL Config
    sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud-le-ssl.conf
# Add inside <VirtualHost *:443>:
Header always set Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=15552000; includeSubDomains"

sudo systemctl reload apache2

    Increase MySQL Performance

    MariaDB Optimization
    sudo nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf
# Add under [mysqld]:
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 512M
innodb_log_file_size = 128M
innodb_flush_method = O_DIRECT
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2

sudo systemctl restart mariadb
    12

    Backup & Maintenance

    Backup Script (owncloud-backup.sh)
    #!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/owncloud"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Backup database
mysqldump -u root -p'your_mysql_root_password' owncloud > $BACKUP_DIR/owncloud_db_$DATE.sql

# Backup data and config
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/owncloud_files_$DATE.tar.gz /var/www/owncloud/data /var/www/owncloud/config

# Keep only last 7 days of backups
find $BACKUP_DIR -type f -mtime +7 -delete
    Setup Automated Backups
    sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/owncloud-backup.sh
sudo crontab -e
# Add: 0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/owncloud-backup.sh

    Monitor Logs

    View Logs
    # Apache logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/owncloud_error.log

# ownCloud logs
sudo tail -f /var/www/owncloud/data/owncloud.log

    Check for Updates

    Check Updates
    sudo -u www-data php occ update:check
    13

    Troubleshooting

    Security Hardening

    • Enable Two-Factor Authentication via the TOTP app from ownCloud marketplace
    • Configure server-side encryption in Settings → Admin → Encryption
    • Install the "Brute-force settings" app to limit login attempts

    Deployment Complete!

    You now have a fully functional ownCloud installation on your RamNode VPS. This self-hosted solution provides enterprise-grade file synchronization and sharing while maintaining complete control over your data.

    Download desktop and mobile clients from owncloud.com to sync across all your devices.

    Additional Resources

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