Nextcloud development environment on Docker Compose

Nextcloud development environment using docker-compose

⚠ DO NOT USE THIS IN PRODUCTION Various settings in this setup are considered insecure and default passwords and secrets are used all over the place

Features

☁ Nextcloud
🔒 Nginx proxy with SSL termination
💾 MySQL
💡 Redis
👥 LDAP with example user data
✉ Mailhog
🚀 Blackfire
📄 Collabora

Standalone containers

::: tip This is a very simple way but doesn't cover all features. If you are looking for a fully featured setup you may skip to the next section :::

There is a standalone version of the Nextcloud containers available that can be used to run Nextcloud without the other services. This is useful if you are just wanting to get started with app development against a specific server version, or to just have a quick way to develop, test or debug.

These containers support automatic fetching of the server source code and use SQLite as the database. The server source code is fetched from the official Nextcloud server repository and the version can be specified using the NEXTCLOUD_VERSION environment variable. The default version is master.

Running the containers does not need this repository to be cloned.

Example for running a Nextcloud server from the master branch of server:

docker run --rm -p 8080:80 ghcr.io/juliushaertl/nextcloud-dev-php80:latest

For app development you can mount your app directly into the container:

docker run --rm -p 8080:80 -v ~/path/to/appid:/var/www/html/apps-extra/appid ghcr.io/juliushaertl/nextcloud-dev-php80:latest

The SERVER_BRANCH environment variable can be used to run different versions of Nextcloud by specificing either a server branch or git tag.

docker run --rm -p 8080:80 -e SERVER_BRANCH=v24.0.1 ghcr.io/juliushaertl/nextcloud-dev-php80:latest

You can also mount your local server source code into the container to run a local version of Nextcloud:

docker run --rm -p 8080:80 -e SERVER_BRANCH=v24.0.1 -v /tmp/server:/var/www/html ghcr.io/juliushaertl/nextcloud-dev-php80:latest

Simple master setup

The easiest way to get the setup running the master branch is by running the bootstrap.sh script:

git clone https://github.com/juliushaertl/nextcloud-docker-dev
cd nextcloud-docker-dev
./bootstrap.sh
sudo sh -c "echo '127.0.0.1 nextcloud.local' >> /etc/hosts"
docker-compose up nextcloud proxy

Note that for performance reasons the server repository might have been cloned with --depth=1 by default. To get the full history it is highly recommended to run:

cd workspace/server
git fetch --unshallow
git config remote.origin.fetch "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*"
git fetch origin

This may take some time depending on your internet connection speed.

Additional apps

To install additional apps add them to the bootstrap command:

./bootstrap.sh circles contacts

You can also do this after the initial bootstrap. In this case it will clone the apps but not update the .env file. If you want your apps to be installed in the Nextcloud instance by default add them to the NEXTCLOUD_AUTOINSTALL_APPS variable in .env.

Complex setup

In order to achieve a more complex dev environment with different branches of the server, follow the manual steps:

1. Create a workspace folder and clone the server repository

mkdir workspace && cd workspace
git clone https://github.com/nextcloud/server.git

2. The Nextcloud code base needs to be available including the `3rdparty` submodule:

cd server
git submodule update --init
pwd

The last command prints the path to the Nextcloud server directory. Use it for setting the REPO_PATH_SERVER in the next step.

Since the viewer app is kind of required for Nextcloud server, you should also clone the viewer app:

cd apps
git clone https://github.com/nextcloud/viewer.git

3. Environment variables

A .env file should be created in the repository root, to keep configuration default on the dev setup:

cp example.env .env

Replace REPO_PATH_SERVER with the path from above.

4. Running different stable versions

The docker-compose file provides individual containers for stable Nextcloud releases. In order to run those you will need a checkout of the stable version server branch to your workspace directory. Using git worktree makes it easy to have different branches checked out in parallel in separate directories.

cd workspace/server
git worktree add ../stable23 stable23

As in the server folder, the 3rdparty submodule is needed:

cd ../stable23
git submodule update --init

The same can be done for stable24, stable25... and so on.

Git worktrees can also be used to have a checkout of an apps stable branch within the server stable directory.

cd workspace/server/apps-extra/text
git worktree add ../../../stable23/apps-extra/text stable23

The viewer app should also be added to the stable worktrees:

cd workspace/server/apps/viewer
git worktree add ../../../stable25/apps/viewer stable25

Use apps/ for required apps (like viewer)
Use apps-extra/ for apps that support only one specific nextcloud version (like talk)
Use apps-shared/ for apps that support multiple nextcloud versions as this directory is shared between all containers

5. Editing `/etc/hosts`

You can then add stable23.local, stable24.local and so on to your /etc/hosts file to access it.

sudo sh -c "echo '127.0.0.1 nextcloud.local' >> /etc/hosts"

6. Setting the PHP version to be used

The Nextcloud instance is setup to run with PHP 7.2 by default. If you wish to use a different version of PHP, set the PHP_VERSION .env variable.

The variable supports the following values:

PHP 7.1: 71
PHP 7.2: 72
PHP 7.3: 73
PHP 7.4: 74
PHP 8.0: 80
PHP 8.1: 81

7. Starting the containers

Minimum to run master: docker-compose up proxy nextcloud (nextcloud mysql redis mailhog)
Start stable branches: docker-compose up stable23 proxy
Start full setup: docker-compose up

8. Switching between stable versions and master

Remove all relevant containers and volumes: docker-compose down -v

Start master or the branch you want to run: docker-compose up stable23 proxy

Running into errors

If your setup isn't working and you can not figure out the reason why, running docker-compose down -v will remove the relevant containers and volumes, allowing you to run docker-compose up again from a clean slate.
Sometimes it might help: docker pull ghcr.io/juliushaertl/nextcloud-dev-php74:latest
In extreme cases, clean everything: docker system prune --all
If you start your stable containers (not the master) and it wants to install Nextcloud even if it is not the first start, you may have removed the configuration with the last docker-compose down command. Try to use docker-compose stop instead or give the stable setup named values yourself.

🔒 Reverse Proxy

Used for SSL termination. To setup SSL support provide a proper DOMAIN_SUFFIX environment variable and put the certificates to ./data/ssl/ named by the domain name.

You might need to add the domains to your /etc/hosts file:

127.0.0.1 nextcloud.local
127.0.0.1 collabora.local

This is assuming you have set DOMAIN_SUFFIX=.local

To update the hosts file automatically you can use the update-hosts script:

./scripts/update-hosts

You can generate self-signed certificates using:

cd data/ssl
openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout  nextcloud.local.key -out nextcloud.local.crt

You can also override the default port used for HTTP and HTTPS bound on the host for the proxy by setting these environment variables in the .env file (don't forget to recreate the containers):

PROXY_PORT_HTTP=8080
PROXY_PORT_HTTPS=4443

dnsmasq to resolve wildcard domains

Instead of adding the individual container domains to /etc/hosts a local dns server like dnsmasq can be used to resolve any domain ending with the configured DOMAIN_SUFFIX in .env to localhost.

For dnsmasq adding the following configuration would be sufficient for DOMAIN_SUFFIX=.local:

address=/.local/127.0.0.1

Use DNS Service Discovery on MacOS

You can also use the dns-sd tool on MacOS to advertise the container domains on the network. This is especially useful if you try to connect from an iPhone or iPad, since those devices do not allow to edit the /etc/hosts file. Use the tool like this:

dns-sd -P nextcloud _http._tcp local 80 nextcloud.local 192.168.0.10

Be aware that since this is advertised in the local network, it is not recommended to use it in a network where multiple instances could be running. In this case you might want to change the DOMAIN_SUFFIX in .env to prevent any collision.

Use valid certificates trusted by your system

Install mkcert
Go to data/ssl
mkcert -cert-file nextcloud.local.crt -key-file nextcloud.local.key nextcloud.local
docker-compose restart proxy

✉ Mail

Sending/receiving mail can be tested with mailhog which is available on ports 1025 (SMTP).

To use the webui, add 127.0.0.1 mail.local to your /etc/hosts and open mail.local.

🚀 Blackfire

Blackfire needs to use a hostname/ip that is resolvable from within the Blackfire container. Their free version is limited to local profiling so we need to browse Nextcloud though its local docker IP or add the hostname to /etc/hosts.

By default the PHP module for Blackfire is disabled, but you can enable or disable this through the following script:

./scripts/php-mod-config nextcloud blackfire on

After that you can use Blackfire through the browser plugin or curl as described below.

Using with curl

alias blackfire='docker-compose exec -e BLACKFIRE_CLIENT_ID=$BLACKFIRE_CLIENT_ID -e BLACKFIRE_CLIENT_TOKEN=$BLACKFIRE_CLIENT_TOKEN blackfire blackfire'
blackfire curl http://192.168.21.8/

Xdebug

Xdebug is shipped but disabled by default. It can be turned on by running:

./scripts/php-mod-config nextcloud xdebug.mode debug

Debugging cron, occ or other command line scripts

docker compose exec nextcloud bash
sudo -E -u www-data php -dxdebug.start_with_request=yes -dxdebug.client_host=host.docker.internal cron.php

👥 LDAP

The LDAP sample data is based on https://github.com/rroemhild/docker-test-openldap and extended with randomly generated users/groups. For details see data/ldap-generator/. LDAP will be configured automatically if the ldap container is available during installation.

Example users are: leela fry bender zoidberg hermes professor. The password is the same as the uid.

Useful commands:

docker-compose exec ldap ldapsearch -H 'ldap://localhost' -D "cn=admin,dc=planetexpress,dc=com" -w admin -b "dc=planetexpress,dc=com" "(&(objectclass=inetOrgPerson)(description=*use*))"

Collabora

Make sure to have the Collabora hostname setup in your /etc/hosts file: 127.0.0.1 collabora.local
Clone, build and enable the richdocuments app
Automatically enable for one of your containers (e.g. the main nextcloud one):
- Run ./scripts/enable-collabora nextcloud
Manual setup
- Start the Collabora Online server in addition to your other containers docker-compose up -d collabora
- Make sure you have the richdocuments app cloned to your apps-extra directory and built the frontend code of the app with npm ci && npm run build
- Enable the app and configure collabora.local in the Collabora settings inside of Nextcloud

ONLYOFFICE

Make sure to have the ONLYOFFICE hostname setup in your /etc/hosts file: 127.0.0.1 onlyoffice.local
Automatically enable for one of your containers (e.g. the main nextcloud one):
- Run ./scripts/enable-onlyoffice nextcloud
Manual setup
- Start the ONLYOFFICE server in addition to your other containers docker-compose up -d onlyoffice
- Clone https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE/onlyoffice-nextcloud into your apps directory
- Enable the app and configure onlyoffice.local in the ONLYOFFICE settings inside of Nextcloud

Talk HPB

Make sure to have the signaling hostname setup in your /etc/hosts file: 127.0.0.1 talk-signaling.local
Automatically enable for one of your containers (e.g. the main nextcloud one):
- Run ./scripts/enable-talk-hpb.sh nextcloud
Manual setup
- Start the talk signaling server and janus in addition to your other containers docker-compose up -d talk-signaling talk-janus
- Go to the admin settings of talk and add the signaling server (http://talk-signaling.local with shared secret 1234)

Antivirus

docker-compose up -d proxy nextcloud av

The ClamAV antivirus will then be exposed as a daemon with host nextav and port 3310.

SAML

docker-compose up -d proxy nextcloud saml

uid mapping: urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1
idp entity id: https://sso.local.dev.bitgrid.net/simplesaml/saml2/idp/metadata.php
Single Sign-On (SSO) service url: https://sso.local.dev.bitgrid.net/simplesaml/saml2/idp/SSOService.php
single log out service url: https://sso.local.dev.bitgrid.net/simplesaml/saml2/idp/SingleLogoutService.php

use certificate from docker/configs/var-simplesamlphp/cert/example.org.crt

cn urn:oid:2.5.4.3
email urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.3

Environment-based SSO

A simple approach to test environment-based SSO with the user_saml app is to use Apache's basic auth with the following configuration:


<Location /login>
	AuthType Basic
	AuthName "SAML"
	AuthUserFile /var/www/html/.htpasswd
	Require valid-user
</Location>
<Location /index.php/login>
	AuthType Basic
	AuthName "SAML"
	AuthUserFile /var/www/html/.htpasswd
	Require valid-user
</Location>
<Location /index.php/apps/user_saml/saml/login>
	AuthType Basic
	AuthName "SAML"
	AuthUserFile /var/www/html/.htpasswd
	Require valid-user
</Location>
<Location /apps/user_saml/saml/login>
	AuthType Basic
	AuthName "SAML"
	AuthUserFile /var/www/html/.htpasswd
	Require valid-user
</Location>

Fulltextsearch

docker-compose up -d elasticsearch elasticsearch-ui

Address for configuring in Nextcloud: http://elastic:elastic@elasticsearch:9200
Address to access Elasticsearch from outside: http://elastic:elastic@elasticsearch.local
Address for accessing the UI: http://elasticsearch-ui.local/

sudo sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

Object storage

Primary object storage can be enabled by setting the PRIMARY=minio environment variable either in your .env file or in docker-compose.yml for individual containers.

docker-compose up proxy nextcloud minio

Development

OCC

Run inside of the Nextcloud container:

set XDEBUG_CONFIG=idekey=PHPSTORM
sudo -E -u www-data php -dxdebug.remote_host=192.168.21.1 occ

Useful commands

Restart Apache to reload php configuration without a full container restart: docker-compose kill -s USR1 nextcloud
Access to MySQL console: mysql -h $(docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' nextcloud_database-mysql_1) -P 3306 -u nextcloud -pnextcloud
Run an LDAP search: ldapsearch -x -H ldap://$(docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' nextcloud_ldap_1) -D "cn=admin,dc=planetexpress,dc=com" -w admin -b "dc=planetexpress,dc=com" -s subtree <filter> <attrs>

Keycloak

Keycloak is using LDAP as a user backend (make sure the LDAP container is also running)
occ user_oidc:provider Keycloak -c nextcloud -s 09e3c268-d8bc-42f1-b7c6-74d307ef5fde -d http://keycloak.dev.local/auth/realms/Example/.well-known/openid-configuration
http://keycloak.dev.local/auth/realms/Example/.well-known/openid-configuration
nextcloud
09e3c268-d8bc-42f1-b7c6-74d307ef5fde

Global scale

docker-compose up -d proxy portal gs1 gs2 lookup database-mysql

Users are named the same as the instance name, e.g. gs1, gs2

Imaginary

Enable the imaginary server for generating previews

docker-compose up proxy nextcloud previews_hpb
./scripts/enable-preview-imaginary.sh

PhpMyAdmin

If you need to access the database, you can startup the phpmyadmin container that is already prepared.

docker-compose up -d phpmyadmin

Just add the domain to your /etc/hosts file and give it a try.

sudo sh -c "echo '127.0.0.1 phpmyadmin.local' >> /etc/hosts"

pgAdmin

If you need to access the database and you are running PostgreSQL, you can use this additional container.

docker-compose up -d pgadmin

Add the domain to your /etc/hosts file:

sudo sh -c "echo '127.0.0.1 pgadmin.local' >> /etc/hosts"

After you have started the container open pgadmin.local in a web browser. The password for the nextcloud.local is postgres. That's it, open the following path to see the Nextcloud tables: Server group 1 -> nextcloud.local -> Databases -> nextcloud -> Schemas -> public -> Tables