Nextcloud Docker

A Docker solution for self-hosting Nextcloud — a private cloud platform for file storage, sharing, and collaboration. Built on Alpine Linux with PHP and NGINX Unit, configured entirely through environment variables.

Why Nextcloud Docker?

• 🚀 Auto-configured – The container downloads Nextcloud on first start and generates all PHP config files from environment variables. No manual setup.
• 📦 Full stack included – Comes with MariaDB, Valkey (Redis-compatible cache), OnlyOffice Document Server, and Nextcloud Talk out of the box.
• 🔐 Secrets support – Sensitive variables (*_PASSWORD, *_SECRET) accept a _FILE suffix to load values from mounted secret files (Docker Swarm compatible).
• 🐳 Containerised – Run it anywhere Docker runs, with consistent behavior across environments.

Prerequisites

• Docker (≥ 20.10)
• Docker Compose (≥ 2.0) or Docker Engine with docker compose plugin

Quick Start

1. Configure the Service

Download the docker-compose.yml file and place it in a convenient location on your disk.

Edit the file to set the required environment variables:

• NEXTCLOUD_DOMAINS – Comma-separated list of trusted domains (e.g. localhost,cloud.example.com).
• NEXTCLOUD_MAIN_DOMAIN – Primary domain used for URL generation (e.g. cloud.example.com).
• MARIADB_PASSWORD / MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD – MariaDB passwords.

For a full list of available variables see Configuration Reference.

2. Start the Service

docker compose up -d

On first start the container will download the latest Nextcloud release and configure itself automatically.

3. Open Nextcloud

Navigate to https://cloud.example.com (or the domain you configured) and complete the web installer.

4. Stop the Service

docker compose down

5. Stop and Remove All Data

docker compose down -v

This deletes all Docker volumes (files, database, caches) — use with caution.

Configuration Reference

Required

Variable	Description
NEXTCLOUD_DOMAINS	Comma-separated list of trusted domains (e.g. localhost,cloud.example.com).
NEXTCLOUD_MAIN_DOMAIN	Primary domain used for URL generation.
NEXTCLOUD_DB_TYPE	Database type: mysql, pgsql, or sqlite3.

General

Variable	Default	Description
NEXTCLOUD_SCHEME	http	Protocol used for URL generation (http or https).
NEXTCLOUD_PHONE_REGION	—	Default phone region code (e.g. US, RU).
NEXTCLOUD_TRUSTED_PROXIES	10.0.0.0/8,172.16.0.0/12,192.168.0.0/16	Comma-separated list of trusted reverse proxy IPs or CIDR ranges.
NEXTCLOUD_RELEASE_URL	Latest release	Custom Nextcloud ZIP download URL (useful for pinning a version).

Database (required for mysql / pgsql)

Variable	Description
NEXTCLOUD_DB_HOST	Database host.
NEXTCLOUD_DB_NAME	Database name.
NEXTCLOUD_DB_USER	Database user.
NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD	Database password. Supports NEXTCLOUD_DB_PASSWORD_FILE.

Cache

Variable	Default	Description
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_MODE	apcu	Cache backend: apcu, redis, or memcached.
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_REDIS_HOST	—	Redis / Valkey host (required for redis mode).
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_REDIS_PORT	—	Redis / Valkey port (required for redis mode).
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_REDIS_USER	—	Redis user. Supports _FILE.
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_REDIS_PASSWORD	—	Redis password. Supports _FILE.
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_MEMCACHED_HOST	—	Memcached host (required for memcached mode).
NEXTCLOUD_CACHE_MEMCACHED_PORT	—	Memcached port (required for memcached mode).

Mail

Variable	Description
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_MODE	Mail mode: smtp or sendmail. Leave unset to disable.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_HOST	SMTP server hostname.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_PORT	SMTP server port.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_SECURE	Encryption: SSL, TLS, or empty.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_AUTH	Enable SMTP authentication: true or false.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_AUTH_TYPE	Auth type (e.g. LOGIN).
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_USER	SMTP username.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_PASSWORD	SMTP password. Supports NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_PASSWORD_FILE.
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_FROM	From address user part (e.g. cloud).
NEXTCLOUD_SMTP_DOMAIN	From address domain.

Advanced Usage

Pinning a Nextcloud Version

Set NEXTCLOUD_RELEASE_URL to a specific release ZIP:

NEXTCLOUD_RELEASE_URL=https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-30.0.0.zip

Debugging

Run the container in foreground mode to see live logs:

docker compose up

Or check logs of a running service:

docker compose logs -f app

Development & Debugging

A Makefile is included for developers. It simplifies building and managing the container.

Available Make Commands

• make init – Copy .env.dist to .env.
• make clean – Remove unused Docker resources.
• make pull – Pull base images.
• make build – Build the Nextcloud Docker image.
• make push – Push the built image to a registry.
• make up – Start the service.
• make down – Stop the service.
• make down-with-volumes – Stop the service and delete volumes.
• make restart – Restart the service.

License

This project is licensed under MIT license.

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Maintainer: Eugene Frost Repository: GitHub Registry: Docker HUB

♥️ Issues and pull requests are welcome!