Introduction
Cloud storage and file sharing have become an essential part of our digital lives. Nextcloud is a powerful, open-source solution that lets you create your own cloud server for personal or business use. In this guide, we’ll walk you through installing Ubuntu Server in Oracle VirtualBox and then setting up Nextcloud on top of it.
Prerequisites
Before we begin, make sure you have the following:
- Oracle VirtualBox: Download and install VirtualBox from the official website.
- Ubuntu Server ISO: Download the latest Ubuntu Server ISO image from the official Ubuntu website.
- A reliable internet connection.
Now that you have everything ready, let’s proceed.
Step 1: Create a New Virtual Machine for Ubuntu Server
- Open VirtualBox and click on “New” to create a new virtual machine.
- Name your virtual machine (e.g., “Nextcloud Server”) and select “Linux” as the type and “Ubuntu (64-bit)” as the version.
- Base memory. 4096 MB is recommended for Ubuntu Server.
Step 2: Create a Virtual Hard Disk
- Create a virtual hard disk for your virtual machine. Choose “VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)” as the hard disk file type.
- Allocate disk space. A minimum of 20GB is recommended, but you can allocate more based on your storage needs.
Step 3: Configure Virtual Machine Settings
- Before starting the virtual machine, go to its settings. Under the “System” tab, allocate multiple CPU cores if your system supports it.
- Under the “Storage” tab, click on the empty optical drive and select the Ubuntu Server ISO you downloaded earlier. This will be used to boot the virtual machine.
- For network setting, make sure the network adapter setting attached to Bridged Adapter.
Step 4: Install Ubuntu Server
- Start the virtual machine by clicking “Start” in VirtualBox.
- Ubuntu Server will boot from the ISO image. Select your language, and then continue without updating.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to set your location, keyboard layout, and other basic settings.
- Choose type of install which is Ubuntu Server in this case.
- Configure network settings, edit IPv4 method to Automatic (DHCP).
- Just hit enter for proxy configuration. We are not going to use proxy server.
- Accept the default Ubuntu archive mirror.
- Select the disk you created earlier.
- Set up the username and password that you will use to login to the Ubuntu server.
- Skip Upgrade to Ubuntu Pro, OpenSSH, and Featured Server Snap.
- Confirm the changes, and the installation will begin.
- Once the installation is complete, remove the ISO from the virtual optical drive and press Enter to reboot the system.
Step 5: Access Your Ubuntu Server
- After the system restarts, log in with the user account you created during the installation.
- following these commands for installing Nextcloud
- Update the package repository and upgrade the system:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
- Install Nextcloud using Snap:
sudo snap install nextcloud
- Check the status of the Nextcloud snap installation:
snap changes nextcloud
Now, to access your Nextcloud instance, follow these steps:
3. Visit your instance’s IP address in a web browser:
http://your-public-ip
4. You should see the Nextcloud login page. Create an admin account:
- Enter the desired username and password for your Nextcloud admin account.
- You can also set the data folder location, or you can accept the default.
5. Click Finish setup to complete the Nextcloud setup.
Upon successfully installing Nextcloud, you’ll gain seamless access to your personalized cloud storage from any devices, while your Ubuntu Server is running within the VirtualBox environment.
For instance, I uploaded a Word document from my Windows laptop.
And the same file can be located on another laptop as well.
In an upcoming post, I will guide you through the process of configuring a custom domain name for your Nextcloud installation, allowing you to personalize and enhance your cloud experience.