# 
Nextcloud App
## About
Nextcloud is the self-hosted productivity platform that keeps you in control.
* Questions? Ask in the [Cloudron Forum - Nextcloud](https://forum.cloudron.io/category/10/nextcloud)
* [Nextcloud Website](https://www.nextcloud.com)
* [Upstream Nextcloud forum](https://help.nextcloud.com/categories)
* [Upstream Nextcloud issue tracker](https://github.com/nextcloud/server/issues)
## Installing Nextcloud client on Ubuntu
Nextcloud provides its own desktop client for Linux in form of AppImage which can
be downloaded by issuing the following command:
```
sudo wget -nv https://download.nextcloud.com/desktop/releases/Linux/latest -O Nextcloud.AppImage
```
Alternatively, for Ubuntu, the latest version of the client can be installed from PPA following the instructions [here](https://launchpad.net/~nextcloud-devs/+archive/ubuntu/client):
```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nextcloud-devs/client
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nextcloud-client
```
For other platforms, please follow client installation instructions located at the [Nextcloud website](https://nextcloud.com/install/#install-clients).
## Plugin warning
We do not recommend installing apps in Nextcloud unless absolutely required. Maintaining such systems is a
security hassle since you need to keep them up-to-date. Apps often break when Nextcloud is updated and you
have to know how to fix them. Finally, Nextcloud apps are not run sandboxed. This means that a faulty plugin
might compromise the whole app and also not make the app work at all. Nextcloud apps also write into the same
database as the main application which might result in unintended data corruption.
For the above reason, extensive use of Nextcloud plugins is highly discouraged since it will eventually break
your install.
## Running occ tool
The `occ` tool can be used for Nextcloud [administrative tasks](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/19/admin_manual/configuration_server/occ_command.html).
The occ command can be run using the [Web terminal](/apps#web-terminal). For example, to list the users:
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ user:list
```
## Resetting admin password
To reset the admin password, run the following occ command using the [Web terminal](/apps#web-terminal):
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ user:resetpassword admin
```
If you had deleted the admin user previously by mistake, you can create it again:
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ user:add --display-name="Admin" -g admin admin
```
You can also make an existing user an admin:
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ group:adduser admin -n
```
## LDAP Sync
Nextcloud will periodically sync users from LDAP. However, we have noticed that this fails at times. To trigger a manual sync,
use the [Web terminal](/apps#web-terminal) and run the following command:
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ ldap:check-user --update
```
## Managing deleted files
When you delete a file in Nextcloud, it is not [immediately deleted](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/19/user_manual/files/deleted_file_management.html) permanently. Instead, it is moved into the trash bin.
It is not permanently deleted until you manually delete it, or when the Deleted Files app deletes it to make room for
new files.
To configure, how items are permanently deleted, configure the [trashbin_retention_obligation](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/19/admin_manual/configuration_server/config_sample_php_parameters.html#deleted-items-trash-bin) parameter.
The parameter can be edited using the [File Manager](/apps#file-manager) and editing the file `config/config.php`.
## Attaching external storage
Many VPS providers like Digital Ocean, Linode allow attaching external block storage to the server. Nextcloud has a feature
that allows mounting additional directories on the server as [external storage](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/9/admin_manual/configuration_files/external_storage_configuration_gui.html).
Mounting an existing server directory as 'external storage' on Nextcloud is currently not supported.
If the intent is to simply increase the amount of storage available to Nextcloud (since you have run out of disk
space in the default data partition), there are two options:
* Configure Nextcloud to use an external object storage like Digital Ocean Spaces, AWS S3 etc
* [DigitalOcean Spaces Guide](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/is-it-possible-to-mount-do-spaces-as-external-storage-in-nextcloud-as-i-mount-aws-s3-storage)
* Configure Cloudron to store all of Nextcloud's data in the external block storage. To achieve this, follow the
[guide](/storage/#moving-a-single-apps-data-directory-to-another-location) for
moving a single app's data directory to another location.
Moving Nextcloud's directory entirely has the advantage that the iOS/Android app's Instant Upload feature uses
this new disk.
## Rescan files
Nextcloud will not pick up files if they are added directly in the data directory of the user on the server.
To make it rescan, open a [Web terminal](/apps#web-terminal) and run the following command:
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ files:scan
```
To rescan external storage, use the `--path` parameter.
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ files:scan --path=//files/externaltest
```
## Fixing a broken install
The [Nextcloud App Store](https://apps.nextcloud.com/) has a wide variety of apps that can be installed on
top of Nextcloud. Nextcloud has no native sandboxing mechanism for plugins - if a plugin fails, it will bring
down the whole installation. Plugins might also break an installation after a Nextcloud upgrade. For this reason,
we encourage carefully reviewing apps before using them.
To fix a broken installation, open a [Web terminal](/apps#web-terminal) and repair the app. Then run the following
commands:
```
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ app:list # this lists the apps
sudo -u www-data php -f /app/code/occ app:disable # use this to disable the faulty app
sudo -u www-data php /app/code/occ maintenance:mode --off
```
After running the commands, end the repair for the app to come up.
## Collabora Online Document Editor
Collabora Online is a powerful online office suite that supports all major document, spreadsheet and presentation
file formats, which you can integrate in your own infrastructure. Key features are collaborative editing and
excellent office file format support.
See the [Collabora App docs](app/collabora) on how to setup Nextcloud with Collabora Office.
## Previews
By default, Nextcloud generates previews for text and images. Previews for other document types is
[disabled for privacy reasons](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/19/admin_manual/configuration_server/config_sample_php_parameters.html#previews). Note that generating previews also require more memory and CPU.
To enable previews for PDF and OpenOffice documents, open a [File Manager](/apps#file-manager) and
edit `config/config.php` and add the following setting:
```
'enable_previews' => true,
'enabledPreviewProviders' =>
array (
0 => 'OC\\Preview\\TXT',
1 => 'OC\\Preview\\MarkDown',
2 => 'OC\\Preview\\OpenDocument',
3 => 'OC\\Preview\\PDF',
4 => 'OC\\Preview\\MSOffice2003',
5 => 'OC\\Preview\\MSOfficeDoc',
6 => 'OC\\Preview\\PDF',
7 => 'OC\\Preview\\Image',
8 => 'OC\\Preview\\Photoshop',
9 => 'OC\\Preview\\TIFF',
10 => 'OC\\Preview\\SVG',
11 => 'OC\\Preview\\Font',
12 => 'OC\\Preview\\MP3',
13 => 'OC\\Preview\\Movie',
14 => 'OC\\Preview\\MKV',
15 => 'OC\\Preview\\MP4',
16 => 'OC\\Preview\\AVI',
),
```
## Removing NextCloud users
To delete obsolete LDAP users and their data, see the [nextcloud docs](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/configuration_user/user_auth_ldap_cleanup.html?highlight=ldap).
## Skeleton directory
A skeleton directory provides the initial list of files for Nextcloud when a new user is created. By default,
the skeleton directory is `/app/code/core/skeleton`. This directory is read only but can be changed to a custom
directory.
* Open the [File Manager](/apps#file-manager).
* Create a directory named `skeleton`.
* Set the owner of the directory to `www-data`. You can do this by clicking the icon to the right of the directory.
* Add files and directories to this new skeleton directory. Be sure to fix ownership of the files to `www-data`
* Edit `config/config.php` to contain the following line:
```
'skeletondirectory' => '/app/data/skeleton'
```
New users will receive the contents of `skeleton` directory on first log-in. The `skeletondirectory` property above
can be set to empty string (`''`) to have no files added on first login.
## Email
NextCloud has apps like Mail, Rainloop to access email.
!!! warning "Not recommended"
We do not recommend installing apps in Nextcloud unless absolutely required.
Maintaining such systems is a security hassle since you need to keep them up-to-date.
Apps often break when Nextcloud is updated and you have to know how to fix them.
Finally, Apps are not run sandboxed. This means that a faulty plugin might compromise
the whole app and also not make the app work at all.
### Rainloop App
That warning aside, it is possible to configure Rainloop to access mail as follows.
1. Login to Rainloop admin. You can find the admin link by going to Nextcloud `Settings` -> `Administration` -> `Additional Settings`.
2. Login as `admin`/`12345`
3. Add your domain for email. In the example below, we use `my.cloudron.cf`.
IMAP and SMTP configuration:
Note that the SMTP encryption is turned off intentionally. This is safe because the communication
is within the same server. (STARTTLS is disabled by Cloudron Email intentionally in the internal
network for app compatibility when used with various languages and frameworks).
Sieve configuration:
### Mail App
The Mail icon will appear in the top bar of Nextcloud. You can configure your mailbox
as below:
Note that the SMTP encryption is turned off intentionally. This is safe because the communication
is within the same server. (STARTTLS is disabled by Cloudron Email intentionally in the internal
network for app compatibility when used with various languages and frameworks).