Synology offers its own cloud solution, Synology Drive, but it is nowhere near as extensive and flexible as Nextcloud. Be it calendar and contact synchronization or the apps and web interface, there are many reasons for Nextcloud on a DiskStation. The article explains step by step how to install Nextcloud on a Synology NAS.

Update March 2021: Nextcloud 21 fix for database issues during the installation, Infos regarding DSM 7 Beta
Update December 2020: PHP 7.4 now also has the zip module.
Update September 2020: imagick is now supported with the lastes Web Station and PHP 7.3, PHP 7.4 doesn’t work at the moment.

Preperation

Before we can start, check whether the Web Station is running or installed, if you haven’t already.
Important: If you use nginx as a web server, you have to switch to Apache HTTP Server 2.4 in the Web Station under General Settings > HTTP Backend Server. Nextcloud does not run under nginx without configuring it beforehand. So far, there is no working configuration for Synology in the community.
You can set up a vhost for Nextcloud that uses Apache, then you can switch the rest of your DS back to nginx.

Install following packages via Package Center:

• PHP (7.4 or higher)
• phpMyAdmin (still needs PHP 5.6)
• Apache (2.4)
• MariaDB 10

Open MariaDB 10 and tick “Activate TCP / IP connection”.

Shared folder

Create a new shared folder that will be used to store your files. Nextcloud saves the files by default in the data folder under /web/Nextcloud. For security reasons, Nextcloud recommends creating the storage location outside of the /web folder. This also makes it easier to upgrade Nextcloud later on. Nobody else should have access to the shared folder and even as an administrator you should only make changes there if they affect your Nextcloud installation. Those changes should only be done via PuTTY as root, otherwise the ownership will change and Nextcloud can no longer access the folder/files. Create the shared folder via DSM > Control Panel > Shared Folders, if you create the folder via PuTTY, DSM does not recognize it and you e.g. can’t back it up via Hyper Backup.

To allow PHP to also access the shared folder, the path must be entered in open_basedir. Open the Web Station > PHP settings. Insert the path at the end of the “custom open_basedir” field. The colon (:) separates the individual paths. For details see section “PHP profile”.

Activate the SSH service under Control Panel > Terminal & SNMP. Open PuTTY and connect to the DS. Log in as an administrator. To run the commands as root, type sudo –i and press Enter. Enter your administrator password again. Enter the following 2 commands:

chown http:http /volume1/nextcloudData
chmod -R 777 /volume1/nextcloudData

Otherwise, Nextcloud cannot access the folder. If you have activated the option to hide the folder from unauthorized users, you should no longer see the folder in the File Station.

PHP profile

Open the Web Station and create a new profile under PHP settings.

1. Enter a name and a description.
2. Select “PHP 7.4” (or higher).
3. Check “Enable PHP Cache”.
4. Activate “Customize PHP open_basedir” and enter /tmp:/var/services/tmp:/var/services/web. Now add the path to the shared folder that you created earlier (don’t forget the colon). The whole thing could look like this: /tmp:/var/services/tmp:/var/services/web:/volume1/nextcloudData
5. Activate the following extensions: bcmath, bz2, curl, ftp, gd, gmp, iconv, intl, mysqli, openssl, pdo_mysql, posix, ssh2, zip, zlib

It is best to use a virtual host, this prevents some problems and you can configure Nextcloud better. You can read more about running Nextcloud as a virtual Host, in this article.

Server timeout

Next, you have to increase the web server timeout, the installation process can take some time, especially on weaker DiskStations. This can lead to a timeout, the installation is still getting finished in the background and you just have to reload the page, but the whole thing is a bit cumbersome. You don’t know when the installation is finished and if you refresh the page too early, there is a chance that the installation is broken.

1. Open the file /etc/nginx/proxy.conf in PuTTY (as root).
2. Add the entry proxy_read_timeout 600; at the end.
3. Save and close the file.
4. Test the configuration with nginx -t. If you have installed a package that sets the timeout itself (e.g. WordPress), the test fails. In the error message you can see in which file the timeout was set. Open the file and delete the timeout entry there. If the value is higher than 600, adjust the value in /etc/nginx/proxy.conf. Run the test again and fix any errors.
5. Restart the nginx with synoservice -restart nginx.
6. Create the file /usr/local/etc/apache24/sites-enabled/apache_nextcloud.conf with PuTTy and inserts the following lines:

ProxyTimeout 600
Timeout 600

<IfModule reqtimeout_module>
    RequestReadTimeout body=0
</IfModule>

7. Save and close the file and restart Apache, which is cumbersome by starting and stopping the Web Station, restarting DiskStation or you create a scheduled task: Task Scheduler > Service > Start / Stop task for Apache. Deactivate the tasks and manually executes the stop task first, wait a moment and then execute the start task.

That was a lot of steps already, but the preparation is complete and the installation can begin.

Installation

Download the latest version of Nextcloud as a .zip or .tar here. Upload the zip file to your DiskStaion and extract it into the /web folder.

Change the permissions of the Nextcloud folder. It is best to create a script (text file with .sh extension) with the following content somewhere on the DiskStation:

#!/bin/bash
chown -R http:http /volume1/web/Nextcloud/
chmod -R 777 /volume1/web/Nextcloud/

To run the script as root, type sudo –i and press Enter. Enter your administrator password again. Now run the script with sh /volume1/PathToScript/Install_Permissions.sh. Instead of the script, you can also enter line by line in the shell, but that’s tedious, and you have to change the permissions for an update again.

Problematic SQL statement (Nextcloud 18 and 19)

Nextcloud’s setup automatically creates a database including tables and its own user. The current version of MariaDB 10 from Synology has problems with the syntax in the installation file. So that the installation can be carried out correctly, the problematic lines must be adjusted:

1. Open the file /volumeX/web/Nextcloud/lib/private/Setup/MySQL.php (with PuTTY).
2. Scroll down almost to the end of the file and look for those 2 lines:

$query = “CREATE USER ‘$name’@‘localhost’ IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY ‘$password’”;
$query = “CREATE USER ‘$name’@’%’ IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY ‘$password’”;

3. Remove “WITH mysql_native_password”, so that the result looks like this:

$query = “CREATE USER ‘$name’@‘localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘$password’”;
$query = “CREATE USER ‘$name’@’%’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘$password’”;

4. Save and close the file.

Problematic Database script (Nextcloud 21)

The Nextcloud setup automatically creates a database including tables and its own user. Nextcloud 21 also uses a syntax that causes problems with Synology’s version of MariaDB 10. So that the installation can be carried out correctly, the problematic lines must be adjusted:

1. Open (with PuTTY) the file /volumeX/web/Nextcloud/lib/private/Setup/MySQL.php
2. Scrollt almost to the end an look for following line:

$this->dbPassword = $this->random->generate(30, ISecureRandom::CHAR_DIGITS . ISecureRandom::CHAR_LOWER . ISecureRandom::CHAR_UPPER);

3. Remove “, ISecureRandom::CHAR_DIGITS . ISecureRandom::CHAR_LOWER . ISecureRandom::CHAR_UPPER“, so it looks like this:

$this->dbPassword = $this->random->generate(30);

4. Save and close the file.

Run the installation assistant

Open Nextcloud in the browser. Make sure to use the host address, you have configured the virtual host with (e.g. cloud.mydomain.com). If you have not configured a virtual host, use the IP, the name of the DiskStation or a domain that points to the DiskStation, followed by the Nextcloud- Directory (e.g. mynas.synology.me/Nextcloud). The address you use here is entered as trusted domain during the installation. If you want to allow Nextcloud from other domains you have to enter this later in the config.php. This is the case if you e.g. want to reach the cloud later via your own domain or DynDNS, but use the local name or the local IP of the DiskStation during installation.

You can just ignore the error, you will only see it if your DiskStation does not have a 64bit CPU. Enter a username and password for the Nextcloud admin (the NC admin has nothing to do with the admin of the DiskStation). Under “Storage & Database” > “Data Directory Location” /volumeX/web/nextcloud/data is entered by default, enter the path to the shared folder that you created earlier.

In the section “Database” you have to enter the root user of MariaDB and the password. Alternatively, every user who has the right to create databases can be used. The user is only used for installation. A separate user is created that Nextcloud uses for operation. The user you enter here, is stored nowhere. Assign a name for the database.

New since Nextcloud 18 is the option to install recommended apps. If you want to use the integrated collaboration solution OnlyOffice, the app of the same name must be installed. You can leave out the apps at this point and install OnlyOffice later. That makes sense, especially since you can only use Talk and OnlyOffice on DiskStations with an Intel CPU. The apps are very large, if you don’t need them, save space and time and install e.g. Calendar and Contacts afterwards.

Click on the button Finish setup to run the installation. After a few moments everything should be done and you should see the web interface.

Prevent issues

Before the setup, we adapted the installation script for the database. Nextcloud checks all files belonging to the Nextcloud installation for changes and issues a warning message. That could also interfere with the update. Open the file /volumeX/Nextcloud/lib/private/Setup/MySQL.php again and undo the changes. To do this, inserts the removed command segments again. Alternatively, you can also take the file from the Nextcloud zip and copy it over. But then adjust the permissions again.

Activate OnlyOffice

Nextcloud calls it “integrated”, but even if you installed OnlyOffice during the setup, nothing works yet. The integration is still a big thing, as you had to previously use docker to run OnlyOffice and Docker on DiskStations is a horrible configuration nightmare (as the Synology version of Docker does not always work as someone expects Docker to work). With the integrated version of OnlyOffice, Docker is not needed anymore, but it still requires x86-CPUs to run, so if your DiskStation has an ARM-CPU you can skip this part.

Not officially documented, another app must be installed. Open the App store by clicking on you user icon an choosing + Apps.

If you haven’t installed the recommended apps: Search for the ONLYOFFIC app. You can find it in the Office & Text section. Download the app and activate it. Then look for the Community Document Server app, also under Office & Text. Download the app and activate it. You have to carry out this step even if you have installed the recommended apps.

Synology causing issues again. A file is missing, but with a few extra steps this can be fixed:

1. Download libstdc ++ 6 for Debian here.
2. Unpack the following file: data.tar\.\usr\lib\x86_64-linux-gnu\libstdc++.so.6.0.25
3. Renames the file to libstdc++.so.6.

4. Upload the file to your DiskStation.
5. Copy the file with PuTTY:

cp <PathToFile> /volume1/web/nextcloud/apps/documentserver_community/3rdparty/onlyoffice/documentserver/server/FileConverter/bin

6. Adjust the permissions and owner of the file. The owner must be http:http. Use the commands given under “Installation”.

Now go to the admin area: Upper right menu bar, click on the user icon and choose Settings. In the navigation area you can select ONLYOFFICE. Check whether the settings are available. The URL of your Nextcloud must be entered under “Service address for document processing”. If you use https – which is highly recommended – the URL must match the Host, the SSL certificate is issued for.

That’s it. If you click on a document in the Files area, OnlyOffice opens and you can edit it in the browser. If only the selection for a download appears, OnlyOffice is not active. If “Community document server is not supported for this instance, please setup and configure an external document server” appears, then you have to look in the log for the exact error message. To do this, you have to go to Logging in the admin area. If there is “OCA\DocumentServer\Document\DocumentConversionException: sh: ./x2t: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error” then your DiskStation has an ARM CPU and OnlyOffice does not run on it. There are currently many other errors.

Further steps

Now you can use Nextcloud directly in your browser, or you can download the client. The client works very much like Dropbox. You can synchronize your entire cloud with your computer or just individual folders. Synchronizing individual folders is also very helpful if you already have an existing folder structure for your data (images, videos, files, etc.) – e.g. on different drives – and you want to keep them. The client also enables the use of multiple Nextcloud instances. The client app for smartphones also offers the option of automatically uploading photos. The data itself is not all downloaded to the smartphone until you call up individual files via the app.

In the admin area under Overview you will most likely see some errors. How you can eliminate this and how to optimize Nextcloud, you can read in the next article in the series. You can also find other useful articles about Nextcloud and Synology here.

Related Posts