How to install Nextcloud 35 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with Apache, MariaDB and Let’s Encrypt

Updated October 2026: this article originally existed as an unpublished draft based on Ubuntu 20.04 and accidentally contained several sections copied from a WordPress installation guide. Before publication it was rebuilt from scratch. This version uses Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS, Apache, MariaDB, PHP 8.3, Redis/APCu, Let’s Encrypt HTTPS, and the stable Nextcloud 35 branch.

Nextcloud lets you run a private cloud for files, calendars, contacts, photos, collaboration, and many other functions through apps. Unlike hosted services such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox, a self-hosted deployment gives you direct control over the infrastructure, backups, access policy, and data location.

What we will install

• 64-bit Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS.
• Apache 2.4.
• MariaDB 10.11 or newer.
• PHP 8.3 from Ubuntu 24.04.
• Nextcloud 35 from the official stable archive.
• APCu for local caching and Redis for distributed caching and transactional file locking.
• A free Let’s Encrypt TLS certificate using Certbot.
• Real cron-based background jobs for Nextcloud.

Prerequisites

• A VPS or physical server running an up-to-date Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS installation.
• SSH access through a user with sudo privileges.
• A domain or subdomain such as cloud.example.com, with DNS A —and AAAA when using IPv6— records pointing to the server.
• TCP ports 80 and 443 reachable from the Internet.
• Enough RAM and storage for the expected number of users, apps, and files. A small deployment should generally start with at least 2 GB RAM, although real requirements depend on workload.
• A backup strategy covering the database, configuration, and user data.

Replace cloud.example.com, usernames, and passwords in every example with your own values.

1. Update Ubuntu 24.04

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo reboot

lsb_release -a

2. Configure a basic firewall

If UFW is in use, make sure SSH remains allowed before enabling it:

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

3. Install Apache, MariaDB, PHP 8.3, and required modules

Ubuntu 24.04 already includes PHP 8.3 in its official repositories, so no third-party PHP PPA is required.

sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php php php-gd php-mysql php-curl php-mbstring php-intl php-gmp php-xml php-imagick php-zip php-bcmath php-apcu php-redis redis-server curl wget bzip2

sudo systemctl enable --now apache2 mariadb redis-server
sudo systemctl status apache2 --no-pager
sudo systemctl status mariadb --no-pager
sudo systemctl status redis-server --no-pager
php -v

For Nextcloud 35, do not follow older tutorials that force PHP 8.2 or MySQL 8.0. Nextcloud 35 dropped PHP 8.2 support and raised the minimum MySQL version to 8.4 and MariaDB to 10.11.

4. Create the Nextcloud database

sudo mariadb

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER 'nextcloud'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'CHANGE-THIS-PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nextcloud'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Use a dedicated database account. The MariaDB root account should not be used by Nextcloud itself.

5. Download and verify Nextcloud 35

Using latest-35.tar.bz2 keeps the guide on the current maintenance release within the stable 35 branch instead of hard-coding a patch version.

cd /tmp
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest-35.tar.bz2
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest-35.tar.bz2.sha256
sha256sum -c latest-35.tar.bz2.sha256

tar -xjf latest-35.tar.bz2
sudo mv nextcloud /var/www/nextcloud
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud

6. Store user data outside the web document root

sudo mkdir -p /var/ncdata
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/ncdata
sudo chmod 750 /var/ncdata

Keeping the user-data directory outside Apache’s DocumentRoot reduces accidental exposure and makes the server layout easier to manage.

7. Configure Apache

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

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName cloud.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud

    <Directory /var/www/nextcloud/>
        Require all granted
        AllowOverride All
        Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nextcloud-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nextcloud-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

sudo a2enmod rewrite headers env dir mime setenvif
sudo a2ensite nextcloud.conf
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo apache2ctl configtest
sudo systemctl reload apache2

8. Tune PHP

On Ubuntu 24.04, Apache normally uses /etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini. A reasonable starting point for a small server is:

memory_limit = 512M
upload_max_filesize = 2G
post_max_size = 2G
max_execution_time = 3600
max_input_time = 3600
date.timezone = UTC

sudo systemctl restart apache2

When APCu is also needed by command-line jobs, enable apc.enable_cli=1 in the appropriate CLI PHP configuration.

9. Install Nextcloud from the command line

The web installer can also be used, but occ makes a server installation easier to reproduce and document.

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:install   --database "mysql"   --database-name "nextcloud"   --database-user "nextcloud"   --database-pass "DATABASE-PASSWORD"   --admin-user "admin"   --admin-pass "VERY-STRONG-ADMIN-PASSWORD"   --data-dir "/var/ncdata"

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set trusted_domains 0 --value=cloud.example.com
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set overwrite.cli.url --value=https://cloud.example.com

10. Enable HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

Before requesting the certificate, make sure the hostname resolves to the server and TCP port 80 is reachable.

sudo snap install --classic certbot
sudo ln -sf /snap/bin/certbot /usr/local/bin/certbot
sudo certbot --apache -d cloud.example.com

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Modern Certbot installations manage certificate renewal automatically, so a custom daily renewal cron entry is not required.

11. Configure APCu and Redis

For a single-server deployment, Nextcloud recommends APCu for local caching and Redis for distributed caching and transactional file locking.

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set memcache.local --value='\OC\Memcache\APCu'
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set memcache.distributed --value='\OC\Memcache\Redis'
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set memcache.locking --value='\OC\Memcache\Redis'
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set redis host --value=127.0.0.1
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set redis port --type=integer --value=6379

redis-cli ping

12. Configure background jobs with cron

Nextcloud supports AJAX, Webcron, and cron for background work. On a server you control, real cron is the preferred option.

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ background:cron
echo "*/5 * * * * www-data php -f /var/www/nextcloud/cron.php" | sudo tee /etc/cron.d/nextcloud
sudo chmod 644 /etc/cron.d/nextcloud

13. Final checks

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ status
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ db:add-missing-indices
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:repair
sudo apache2ctl configtest
sudo systemctl status apache2 --no-pager
sudo systemctl status mariadb --no-pager
sudo systemctl status redis-server --no-pager

Then open Administration settings → Overview. Nextcloud reports configuration, database, security, and performance warnings there. Resolve meaningful warnings before treating the server as production-ready.

Backups

A usable Nextcloud backup needs at least three components:

• /var/www/nextcloud/config/.
• The Nextcloud MariaDB database.
• The selected data directory, such as /var/ncdata.
• Optionally, additional apps and custom themes.

Backups should be tested by performing periodic restore exercises, not merely created and forgotten.

Updates and maintenance

Nextcloud releases maintenance updates containing security and stability fixes. Before upgrading, review the release notes, check app compatibility, and make a recent backup.

Existing installations should follow the supported updater process rather than simply replacing files. The updater and occ upgrade handle the required migrations when applicable.

Common problems

• Let’s Encrypt validation fails: check A/AAAA DNS records, firewall rules, and port 80 reachability.
• Untrusted domain: review trusted_domains.
• Large uploads fail: review PHP limits and any reverse proxy in front of Apache.
• Caching warning: verify APCu, Redis, and the php-redis extension.
• Background jobs are delayed: check /etc/cron.d/nextcloud and the configured background-job mode.
• Permission errors: ensure www-data can write only where Nextcloud requires it; do not solve permission problems by making the whole tree world-writable.

Official references

• Nextcloud Administration Manual — Example installation on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
• Nextcloud — System requirements.
• Nextcloud — Installation on Linux.
• Nextcloud — Memory caching with APCu and Redis.
• Nextcloud — Background jobs.
• Nextcloud — Download and install.
• Certbot / Let’s Encrypt.

At this point the server is ready for additional work such as external storage, SMTP, LDAP/Active Directory, Collabora or Office integration, Talk, automated backups, and additional hardening.