Run your own Nextcloud

Nextcloud gives you your own place for files, with sync to your computer and phone, sharing links, and add-ons for calendars and contacts. This guide covers ordering it in the panel, the first login, connecting the desktop and mobile apps, and what to know about storage, backups and using your own domain.

What you get

The panel sets up Nextcloud together with its own database, gives it an address with HTTPS and creates an admin account for you. You do not have to walk through an installer.

1. Order the app

1. Sign in to the panel, open Apps in the sidebar and click Create App.
2. Under Template, choose Nextcloud. You find it under Self-hosted apps.
3. Under Package, pick a package and set the resources with the sliders. Nextcloud likes memory, so do not go for the smallest setting if several people will use it.
4. Under Details, fill in Display name. If a Version field is shown, leave it on Latest (recommended).
5. Tick the confirmation box, click Deploy app and pay.

Nextcloud installs itself on the first start. That can take a few minutes, also after the status already shows Running. If the page does not load yet, wait a moment and try again.

2. Log in for the first time

1. On the app page, find the Admin login card and click Reveal. It shows the Username and Password of the admin account the panel created.
2. In the Access card, wait for HTTPS active and click Open.
3. Log in with the username and password from the card.

Then do these two things straight away:

• Change the password. Click your avatar at the top right, open Personal settings and go to Security. The Admin login card always shows the password the app started with. Once you change it inside Nextcloud, the one in the card no longer works, so save the new one in a password manager.
• Create a normal account for daily use. Open the accounts page from the avatar menu and add a user for yourself and for everyone else who should have access. Keep the admin account for administration only.

3. Connect the desktop app

The desktop app keeps a folder on your computer in sync with Nextcloud. It is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

1. Download the Nextcloud desktop app from nextcloud.com and install it.
2. Start it and choose to log in.
3. Enter your server address. That is the address from the Access card, starting with https://.
4. Your browser opens. Log in with your Nextcloud account and grant access.
5. Back in the app, choose the local folder and what you want to sync.

4. Connect the mobile app

1. Install the Nextcloud app from the app store on your Android phone, iPhone or iPad.
2. Open it, choose to log in and enter the same server address.
3. Log in and grant access.

In the app settings you can switch on automatic upload for photos and videos. That is the fastest way to fill your storage, so check the next section first.

5. Storage

Everything you upload counts toward the storage of the app, including old file versions and the trash bin that Nextcloud keeps.

• The Storage card on the app page shows how much you use and how much your package includes.
• The same card tells you what happens when you need more: either storage grows automatically and the extra is billed, or you first have to allow that in your billing settings.
• Need more CPU or memory? Click Adjust resources on the app page.

Manage your files through Nextcloud itself: the web interface, the desktop app or the mobile app. The app page also has a file browser, but Nextcloud does not notice files that are placed there behind its back.

6. Backups

The Backups card lists the backups of your Nextcloud. The panel makes them automatically on a schedule that depends on your package, and each backup holds both the files and the database.

Click Create backup before you update Nextcloud or install a large add-on. With Restore you put a backup back. That overwrites everything that changed since the backup, and Nextcloud is offline until the restore is done.

All details are in Back up and restore your app.

7. The address of your Nextcloud

Nextcloud starts with the address from the Access card. You can also run it on your own domain.

1. On the app page, go to the Custom Domains card and click Add domain.
2. Enter your domain and follow the DNS instructions the panel shows.
3. Wait until the domain shows as verified. HTTPS is set up for you.

The app then restarts briefly, and your first verified domain becomes the main address of your Nextcloud. Links, redirects and sharing links use it from then on. The original address from the Access card keeps working too.

Desktop and mobile apps you connected with the old address keep working. Connect new devices with the new address.

The full steps are in Connect your own domain to an app, and Register a domain shows how to get one.

Keeping Nextcloud up to date

When a new version is ready, the app page shows Update available with an Update button. Make a backup first, then update. Nextcloud can only move up one major version at a time, so do not let updates pile up for too long.