Full Deployment of Nextcloud in a Proxmox LXC Container (No Docker) - boxvirt.com - Infrastructure, firewalls & virtualization. No fluff

🔧 What You’ll Get

A fully working Nextcloud server on Ubuntu 24.04 inside a Proxmox LXC container
Complete setup: Apache + MariaDB + PHP (no Docker)
Proper permissions, security, performance tweaks
Ready for SSL, backups, and external storage

🧱 Step 1: Create the LXC Container in Proxmox

In Proxmox UI, click Create CT
Select Ubuntu 24.04 LTS as the template
Assign resources:
- 2+ vCPU
- 2+ GB RAM
- 10+ GB disk
Enable nesting under the «Features» tab
Set hostname, password, static IP (or DHCP)

📝 Optional: mount extra Proxmox storage (ZFS/NFS) for user files.

⚙️ Step 2: Prepare the System (Inside Container)

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install sudo unzip ufw htop curl software-properties-common -y

You can add a non-root user and configure SSH if needed.

🌐 Step 3: Install Apache and Required PHP Packages

apt install apache2 -y
add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y && apt update
apt install php8.2 php8.2-{cli,common,gd,mysql,xml,mbstring,zip,curl,intl,bcmath,imagick} libapache2-mod-php8.2 -y

Enable important modules:

a2enmod rewrite headers env dir mime ssl
systemctl restart apache2

🛢️ Step 4: Install and Configure MariaDB

apt install mariadb-server -y
mysql_secure_installation

Then configure the database:

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER 'ncuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourStrongPassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'ncuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

☁️ Step 5: Download and Deploy Nextcloud

cd /var/www/
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip
unzip latest.zip && rm latest.zip
chown -R www-data:www-data nextcloud
chmod -R 755 nextcloud

🌍 Step 6: Apache Virtual Host

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/nextcloud.conf

Paste this config:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin [email protected]
    DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud
    ServerName cloud.yourdomain.com

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

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nextcloud_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nextcloud_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Then:

a2ensite nextcloud.conf
systemctl reload apache2

🔒 Step 7: (Optional) Set Up HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

If DNS is set:

apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
certbot --apache -d cloud.yourdomain.com

🧠 Step 8: Finalize via Web Interface

Visit http://<your_ip> or domain
Create admin account
Provide:
- Database name: nextcloud
- DB user: ncuser
- Password: yourStrongPassword
Hit Install

🚀 Optional Enhancements

Enable PHP OPcache, APCu, and Redis
Configure external storage (SMB/NFS)
Integrate with Collabora or OnlyOffice
Set up automated backups (e.g., Borg, rsync)

📦 Backup Snapshot Tip (Proxmox)

Before starting syncs/uploads, create a snapshot:

pct snapshot 101 "fresh-installed-nextcloud"

✅ Summary

By following this guide, you’ve built a private cloud using modern tools without Docker or Snap. Your system is modular, lightweight, and easy to backup. Perfect for home labs, professionals, and privacy-focused users.