Files and personal cloud

What a personal cloud is

Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud Drive keep a folder identical on each of your computers, let you open those files from a phone or a browser, and let you send someone a link instead of an attachment. A personal cloud does the same, with a computer in your house holding the main copy. Your files sit on your own drive, more space costs only the price of a bigger drive, and no company’s terms decide what happens to them.

Syncing is not a backup. If a file is deleted or scrambled by ransomware on one device, sync copies that change everywhere within seconds. Keep a separate backup as well (see Backups).

Private to your household, or open to anyone: decide this first

Nextcloud can be reached in two ways, and the choice decides which version you install.

A domain name is a web address such as files.example.com. HTTPS is the padlock in your browser, an encrypted connection that needs a certificate, and certificates are only issued for domain names. Tailscale is a free app that links your own devices into a private network wherever they are, encrypting everything between them (see Remote access).

For a household sharing files among its own people, the app-store version is the easy start, and that’s what the rest of this page sets up. If you want share links that anyone can open, All-in-One in the options below is the better fit.

How it works

Nextcloud has four moving parts:

• The server holds the main copy and runs a web page where you can see and manage everything.
• Desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux keep a folder in step with the server. On Windows and Mac they can list every file without downloading it until you open it.
• Phone apps for iPhone and Android browse your files and can upload new photos and videos automatically.
• Share links open a file or folder for someone else, with a password and expiry date if you want them. With the setup below, they only open on devices signed in to your Tailscale network.

If all you need is folders kept identical between your own computers, Syncthing in the options below does that with less to set up.

What it needs

• A home server running ZimaOS or CasaOS, left on all the time. See Server operating systems.
• Memory. As a rough guide, 4 GB is comfortable for a small household, shared with the other apps on the server.
• Storage for everything you’ll keep, plus a second drive for backups.
• A free Tailscale account, and the Tailscale app on each phone and computer that should reach Nextcloud from outside.
• An hour or so, most of it in web pages.

How the app-store Nextcloud fits in

The store’s Nextcloud is the standard Nextcloud server packaged as a container, a ready-made app that runs in its own sealed box on the server. You get:

• A one-click install, with its own tile on the dashboard.
• A setup page in your browser, where you create the admin account and choose the database (a small program that keeps track of every file, user and share).
• Everything Nextcloud does: sync, phone uploads, share links, and an Apps page inside Nextcloud that adds Calendar, Contacts, Notes and more with a click.
• Updates from the dashboard, when the store publishes a new version. These can lag behind Nextcloud’s own releases.

What it leaves out, compared with All-in-One:

• HTTPS. At home it uses plain HTTP. The apps connect over it, but may warn you. Away from home, Tailscale encrypts the connection.
• Backups. Nothing is backed up unless you set it up.
• The extras. The faster syncing parts, and add-ons such as Nextcloud Office, are yours to add, and some take more setup.

The easy way to set it up

No terminal is needed for any of this.

1. Install MariaDB from the ZimaOS or CasaOS App Store. Nextcloud’s own documentation strongly discourages its built-in SQLite option when sync apps are used, and moving off it later needs the terminal. MariaDB’s install screen lists its user, password and database name. The defaults are all casaos, so set your own if the screen lets you, and note them down.
2. Install Nextcloud from the App Store and open it using the server’s network address, such as http://192.168.1.20:10081. Use that address on every device from now on, because Nextcloud only answers to the address it was set up with. If you haven’t already, give the server a fixed address in your router’s settings (often called a DHCP reservation) so it never changes.
3. Fill in the setup page. Create the admin account with a strong password. Under the database settings choose MySQL/MariaDB, enter MariaDB’s user, password and database name, and for the host enter the server’s address followed by :3306, such as 192.168.1.20:3306. Press Install.
4. Install Tailscale from the App Store, open its web page and sign in. In its Settings, turn on Subnet router and enter your home network’s range: the first three numbers of your server’s address, then .0/24, such as 192.168.1.0/24. Approve the route in Tailscale’s admin console on its website.
5. Install Tailscale on your phones and laptops from their app stores, and sign in with the same account.
6. Install the Nextcloud apps from nextcloud.com/install, the App Store, Google Play or F-Droid. Sign in with the address from step 2, and turn on automatic upload in the phone app if you want it. That same address now works at home and, with Tailscale switched on, anywhere else.
7. Set up a backup of the Nextcloud and MariaDB folders under AppData on the server, to a different drive (see Backups). Stop both apps from the dashboard while it runs, because a copy of a database taken mid-write can be broken.

The Tailscale guide walks through accounts and apps in more detail. If you’re comfortable in a terminal, Nextcloud’s documentation covers installing it on any Linux machine.

Questions people ask

Can I send a share link to someone outside my home?

Not with this setup, because the link points at an address only your Tailscale devices can reach. For links anyone can open, Nextcloud needs a domain name and HTTPS. All-in-One, in the options below, sets both up and can register a free domain name for you.

Why not leave it on SQLite?

It’s the default and needs nothing else installed, which is why the setup page offers it. Nextcloud’s documentation says it should only be used for minimal and test installs, and strongly discourages it when desktop sync apps are used, which is the main reason to run Nextcloud.

Is there a simpler way?

Syncthing keeps folders identical between your own computers, with no database or accounts, and installs in one click from the same app store. It has no web page for your files, no share links and no official iPhone app.

Can I move to All-in-One later?

Yes. All-in-One’s GitHub page has a guide to bringing over an existing Nextcloud, but it’s a technical job with the terminal. If you already know you’ll want public links, start with All-in-One.

What happens if the server breaks?

Computers set to keep full copies still have them. To rebuild, give the new server the same network address, install the same two apps, stop them, and copy the backed-up folders back into place before starting them again. That’s why the backup belongs on a different drive from the files.