FN11.3-U1 Nextcloud datastorage

[John Doe]

Hi,

I would like to run Nextcloud. The files to run NC shall be stored on an SSD, the data shall be stored on HDDs (my main pool)

back in 9.x day you could assign the place where to store the files. now with new gui I found it a bit more dificult.


How ever, can someone help me to bring the datastorage from nextcloud to a dataset( which is already shared via SMB)

 

[Basil Hendroff]

As you've found out, the Nextcloud plugin is somewhat hobbled. It doesn't allow you to nominate storage locations outside the jail. This is just one of a number of issues with the Nextcloud plugin.

There are several resources that you may find helpful; @danb35's Scripted installation of Nextcloud 18 in iocage jail and @samuel-emrys in-depth guide How to Install Nextcloud on FreeNAS in an iocage Jail with Hardened Security. I use the former. Both are excellent resources for setting up a Nextcloud jail in FreeNAS. However, they appear to be more suited to new Nextcloud installations. You might still find them useful resources for adapting an existing Nextcloud installation.

 

[danb35]

It doesn't allow you to nominate storage locations outside the jail.

I feel like this is at least partially my responsibility, as I pushed the devs to "fix" the plugin to complete the installation (so all you need to do is install the plugin and log in, rather than feed it database credentials you should never have needed to know in the first place). But by doing that, users lost the ability to specify a storage location outside the jail (which I hadn't been aware anyone was doing in the first place).

 

[John Doe]

I feel like this is at least partially my responsibility, as I pushed the devs to "fix" the plugin to complete the installation (so all you need to do is install the plugin and log in, rather than feed it database credentials you should never have needed to know in the first place). But by doing that, users lost the ability to specify a storage location outside the jail (which I hadn't been aware anyone was doing in the first place).

nextcloud offers you a plugin (within nextcloud) to connect to smb share, which might be sufficient for majority of the users.

the problem, you need to have SMB client installed.

I tried to install it native on debian, cent os, docker via official nectcloud container and within the Freenas Jail/plugin. I haven't had any success.
debian/centOS no official repo offers php smb client as of today, only remys repo does. But still with remy there is something not ok, so that the external storage app within NC gives you no useful error messages.

 

[joebad1]

I feel like this is at least partially my responsibility, as I pushed the devs to "fix" the plugin to complete the installation (so all you need to do is install the plugin and log in, rather than feed it database credentials you should never have needed to know in the first place). But by doing that, users lost the ability to specify a storage location outside the jail (which I hadn't been aware anyone was doing in the first place).

Having issues similar to others. I can get up and running using the plugin if I map a mount point that is a subdirectory of the "nextcloud/data" directory, like "nextcloud/data/mydata But, then NextCloud continues to march merrily forward using the "nextcloud/data" directory for its repository. Not the subdirectory that is mapped. So the storage remains in the jail. The dataset created, "mydata" goes unused. Not sure of the pro's and con's of having all of your data stored in the jail versus a dataset outside the jail. I thought the whole point was to keep data outside the jail (at least that's how my OwnCloud jail was running!).

I appreciate the work you and others do to create scripts like this. My ONLY hesitation in using a custom script is whether I'll need to update from the CLI or will be able to update using the plugin UPDATE button in the future after an original installation using your script.

Thanks again for the script.

 

[mountaintime]

I feel like this is at least partially my responsibility, as I pushed the devs to "fix" the plugin to complete the installation (so all you need to do is install the plugin and log in, rather than feed it database credentials you should never have needed to know in the first place). But by doing that, users lost the ability to specify a storage location outside the jail (which I hadn't been aware anyone was doing in the first place).

Hi Dan,

I understand the previous plugin had a lot of users asking how to configure the db, but now this really loses a critical key functionality since nextcloud does not officially support changing the data directory after initial setup. The jail (plugin) seems to have some resource benefits so it is preferred to using a VM and an nfs mount.

The external storage plugin will mount a local drive, however, in this case an admin would need to rely on all their users to store the data in a specific place which is difficult to say the least. If there is anyway to allow the initial setup that would ease the situation so much.

• Is there the possibility to pare back the install plugin so that it gives you "post install notes" with the db name and password, and on first run the user can still create their own admin name and select the data directory?

This seems like it accomplishes the goal of keeping users from having to use the terminal commands, but still allows simple setup for the critical stage of admin name / data directory configuration. The "post install notes" could have wording to direct users to create admin name/pw and select the proper data directory if needed. In both cases today or this method, the user needs to know to go to the "post install notes" and copy/paste some information, so I do not believe it adds complexity to the startup process.

Best Regards,