Install ownCloud 10 on Raspberry PI 3 with Raspbian Stretch Installed

Our goal is to install ownCloud 10 on the Raspberry pi with Raspbian Stretch installed. We are not just installing ownCloud but also mounting an external drive for lager capacity of data storage and to be able to access it from anywhere in the world with internet access.

This tutorial assumes that you have a fully functional Raspberry pi-2 or 3 with Raspbian installed and a 8 GB Micro SD card Minimum!. If you haven’t installed Raspbian then check out my guide on how to install Raspbian via NOOBS.

There are many ways to install ownCloud onto a Raspberry Pi. This particular tutorial I’ll be downloading and installing the following software / packages we will be using to setup ownCloud 10:

Steps to install ownCloud 10 on the Raspberry pi with Raspbian Stretch:

  • Update Raspberry pi System
  • Install LAMP Server
  • Install ownCloud dependencies
  • Install Owncloud 10
  • Mount an External Hard drive for larger storage capacity
  • Enable SSL for secure access
  • Owncloud configuration via web browser

If you don’t have a Raspberry PI I would personally recommend buying the Raspberry pi-3 kit with a 32 GB Micro SD card so that you don’t have to mount an external drive. unless you want to store more than 32GB of data.

Video Tutorial:

Setting up Raspberry Pi for Owncloud 10 Server

1. Turn on the Raspberry Pi. From the terminal or SSH enter the following command:

sudo raspi-config

The following changes needs to be made in the Raspberry Pi configuration

a. Expand the root filesystem to have enough space for the cloud
Select “Advanced Options” –> “Expand Filesystem” (if available)

b. Change user password
“For Security when accessing form the WAN”

c. Change locale to en_US.UTF8
Select “Localisation Options” –> “Change Locale”

d. Memory split, allocate 16M to video graphics
Select “Advanced Options” –> “Memory Split”

e. Overclock to Modest or Medium
Select “Overclock” (if available)

Then Finish, and auto reboot. Upon re-boot you would need to update the RPI and its packages.

Update the Raspberry Pi and its packages

sudo su
apt update && apt upgrade

Now we need to install and configure LAMP Server.

Install LAMP Server

Open Terminal or simply ssh to the Raspberry pi.

Install Apache web server

apt install apache2 -y

Start and enable Apache on boot

systemctl start apache2

systemctl enable apache2

Install the required packages:

We need to install  additional packages required by Owncloud Server

apt install -y apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php7.0 \
    php7.0-gd php7.0-json php7.0-mysql php7.0-curl \
    php7.0-intl php7.0-mcrypt php-imagick \
    php7.0-zip php7.0-xml php7.0-mbstring

Install Owncloud:

Download Owncloud 10 package:

cd /tmp

wget https://download.owncloud.org/community/owncloud-10.0.3.tar.bz2

Extract Owncloud and change the permission

tar -xvf owncloud-10.0.3.tar.bz2

chown -R www-data:www-data owncloud

It will produce a new directory called owncloud. We need to move this directory to /var/www/html/ directory

mv owncloud /var/www/html/

Exit /tmp directory.

cd

Configure Apache Web Server

Create a new configuration file under /etc/apache2/sites-available

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

And then paste these lines and save it

Alias /owncloud "/var/www/html/owncloud/"

<Directory /var/www/html/owncloud/>
 Options +FollowSymlinks
 AllowOverride All

<IfModule mod_dav.c>
 Dav off
 </IfModule>

SetEnv HOME /var/www/html/owncloud
SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/html/owncloud

</Directory>

Create Symbolic link

sudo su
ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/owncloud.conf

Additional apache configuration

Execute these commands to enable some modules

a2enmod headers
systemctl restart apache2
a2enmod env
a2enmod dir
a2enmod mime

Create a MySQL database and user:

mysql -u root -p

You’ll be prompted to enter the Pi User password. Then execute the underneath commands in blue:

MariaDB [(none)]> create database owncloud;
 Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> create user owncloud@localhost identified by '12345';
 Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> grant all privileges on owncloud.* to owncloud@localhost identified by '12345';
 Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> flush privileges;
 Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> exit;
 Bye

Configure Owncloud via web browser

If you’re mounting and external hard drive for additional storage capacity skip this step and continue to Mounting and Setting up an external hard drive underneath.

If you are NOT mounting and external hard drive proceed to open the web browser and type the following address:

http://192.168.1.140/owncloud

Change the IP address in blue to your Raspberry pi IP address. You will see the following Owncloud configuration window:

Install ownCloud 10 on Raspberry pi 3 with Raspbian Stretch Installed

Here enter a username and password to create an admin account then immediately underneath enter your MySQL details as follow:

Username: owncloud
Password: 12345
Database: owncloud
Server: localhost

Click on ‘Finish Setup’ button. That’s it. We’re good to go. Owncloud 10 installed on Raspbian Stretch is now ready for use.

Mounting and Setting up an external hard drive

These instructions are for mounting an NTFS formatted hard drive and allowing ownCloud to store files onto it. Now would be a good time to plug in the external Hard Drive to the RPI.

1. Having an NTFS drive we will need to install a NFTS package by entering the following:

sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g -y

2. Make a directory we can mount to:

sudo mkdir /media/ownclouddrive

3. Create and add the www-data user to the www-data group:

sudo groupadd www-data
sudo usermod -a -G www-data www-data

4. Make the user www-data owner of the mounted drive and make its permissions read, write and execute:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /media/ownclouddrive
sudo chmod -R 775 /media/ownclouddrive

5. Now we need to get the gid, uid and the uuid as we will need to use them so the pi will remember it even if we plug it into a different USB port. Enter the following command for the gid:

id -g www-data

6. Now to get the uid enter the following command:

id -u www-data

7. Also we meed to get the UUID of the attached external hard drive so the Pi can remember this drive even if you plug it into a different USB port.

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid

8. Then copy the light blue letters and numbers of the sda1 entry usually located on the bottom. Should look something like (numbers&letters -> ../../sda1). See picture below:

install-OwnCloud-9.0.2-on-Raspberry-Pi

9. Now add your drive into the fstab file so it’ll boot with the proper permissions.

sudo nano /etc/fstab

10. Add the following line to the bottom of the file, updating uid, guid and the UUID with the values we got above. (It should all be a single line). Dont forget to replace the UUID number to yours in stead of the one you copied from here.

UUID=F6941E59941E1D25 /media/ownclouddrive auto nofail,uid=33,gid=33,umask=0027,dmask=0027,noatime 0 0

install-OwnCloud-9.0.2-on-Raspberry-Pi-3

11. Reboot the Raspberry Pi:

sudo reboot

12. Now the drives should automatically be mounted. If mounted we’re all good to go. To check it enter:

sudo ls /media/ownclouddrive

Personal Cloud Storage

If there are files inside the drive you should be able to see them here. If it’s an empty drive you might not see anything so don’t be surprise if nothing shows up.

If you want to be absolutely positive that the drive is properly mounted, unplug the drive from the RPI plug it onto a PC since the drive is formatted “NTFS” it should be easily detected by the PC, open it, create an txt file name it test, then eject it and plug it back to the RPI and run the following command:

sudo ls /media/ownclouddrive

The txt file you created should be there.

The end result should look like the image underneath, then save.

Basic First Access Setup

1. Open your browser and enter the IP address provided, in my case is 192.168.1.140/0wncloud you’ll be directed to your ownCloud storage server.

2. You should be presented with a simple setup screen, Here enter a username and password to create an admin account.

3. Click on Storage & database dropdown and enter your external hard drive directory: /media/ownclouddrive (Skip this if you didn’t setup an external drive).

4. Immediately underneath enter your MySQL details as follow:

Username: owncloud
Password: 12345
Database: owncloud
Server: localhost

5. Click on ‘Finish Setup’ button. That’s it. We’re good to go. Owncloud 10 installed on Raspbian Stretch is now ready for use.

Done! !! all is left is to configure your devices to access your ownCloud storage.

External Access

To allow ouw devices like your phone or tablet to access your cloud from anywhere in the world with internet access you must enable SSL then enable port forward:

Port Forward

Log into your router and get the WAN IP address:

install-OwnCloud-9-0on-Raspberry-Pi-3-3

Or Google what is my IP address?

install-OwnCloud-9-0on-Raspberry-Pi-3-5

Now we need to add the WAN IP to your trusted IP list and not to be overwritten by ownCloud. To do this open the Owncloud config file, enter:

sudo nano /var/www/html/owncloud/config/config.php

Here add the WAN IP (External IP address) you just got from the router or Google to the trusted domains array. Your new entry should look something like this:

1 => 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx',

X are just placeholders. Replace the X’s with the WAN IP Address.

Now update the URL of the overwrite.cli.url line with your WAN IP Address. It should look something like this:

'overwrite.cli.url' => 'https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/owncloud',

Here is an example of the completed config.txt file.

completed-config-txt-file

Once done save and exit the the config.php.

Now log into your router and navigate to the port forward section.

WAN-IP-Address-3

Port forward SSL port 443 to the Raspberry pi internal IP (LAN IP)  address and save settings.

WAN-IP-Address-2

Now your RPI ownCloud is ready to be accessed externally (WAN) and from your devices just download the ownCloud App and enter: “https:// WAN IP Address” on the address bar or devices. below is an example:

install-OwnCloud-9-login

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Latest Comments

  1. Tim

    hi ! i’m a beginner in raspberry and i’ve got a probleme at this step:

    MariaDB [(none)]> create user owncloud@localhost identified by ‘12345’;
    ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MariaDB server version for the right syntax to use near ‘‘12345’’ at line 1

    and i don’t know how to solve this :/

    Thanks for this tutorial!

    Reply
    • Miguel

      Manually enter the command in blue in stead of copying and pasting

      Reply
  2. Sadekur Rahman

    Hi.. I need ur help
    I can’t setup ssl
    Plzz help me

    Reply
  3. Chip

    Miguel, Thank you for the easy setup. I do have one question. Can you add external storage after install.

    Reply
  4. Chip R

    Hello Miguel,

    Thnaks you for the very easy setup video. I do have one question. Can you configure /add an external drive if you have setup to use internal storage?

    Thanks!

    Chip

    Reply
    • Miguel

      yes. when you decide to use an external Drive, you would need to go through the mounting a directory process and change the path. run this command in the terminal:

      sudo nano /var/www/html/owncloud/config/config.php
      or
      sudo nano /var/www/owncloud/config/config.php
      and change the datadirectory to /media/owncloud

      then move your owncloud data:
      sudo mv /var/www/html/owncloud/data /media/owncloud
      or
      sudo mv /var/www/owncloud/data /media/owncloud
      then restart
      sudo service apache2 restart
      or
      sudo apache2 restart

      Reply
  5. Sadekur Rahman

    Hi Miguel..i’m a beginner in raspberry. Please help me have got a problemes. how to fix this step:Transactional file locking should be configured to use memory-based locking, not the default slow database-based locking
    And
    You are accessing this site via HTTP. We strongly suggest you configure your server to require using HTTPS instead as described in our security tips.
    And
    How can I acces anywhere in the world with internet access..

    Thanks for those tutorial

    Reply
  6. Kieran

    Hello Miguel,
    Thank you very much for a wonderful tutorial, and accompanying video (with a very calm and level delivery!)
    I am totally indebted to you for the fact that, with your help, I have owncloud running beautifully on my Raspberry Pi 3, but I have one last question.
    I set everything up with a small USB stick, that I had laying around, and all is good, I want to purchase a powered external hard-drive but wanted to know if is possible to keep the USB stick and add the (yet to be bought) HDD as well?
    would I need to run the whole mounting a directory process then add the UUID number to fstab? or will this be problematic… and would it be best to simply remove the USB stick and start again with the (new) HHD?
    Many thanks mate, you’re the best.

    Reply
    • Miguel

      Hi Kieran, yes, is possible to keep the USB stick and add the (yet to be bought) HDD as well.
      yes, you would need to run the whole mounting a directory process then add the NEW UUID number to fstab. just add the same line immediately underneath with the new one.
      if you are planning on using the new HDD for owncloud data then you would need to move the owncloud files to the new directory once mounted.

      sudo nano /var/www/html/owncloud/config/config.php
      or
      sudo nano /var/www/owncloud/config/config.php
      and change the datadirectory to /new/directory

      then move your owncloud data:
      sudo mv /var/www/html/owncloud/data /new/directory
      or
      sudo mv /var/www/owncloud/data /new/directory

      /new/directory being the HDD directory you mounted

      then restart
      sudo service apache2 restart
      or
      sudo apache2 restart

      Reply
  7. Sadekur Rahman

    Hi Miguel.. Plzz reply
    Plzz help me

    Reply
  8. David

    I followed all the steps, put an pendrive for more storage and I recive this when i try to create de admin acount
    Error while trying to create admin user:
    Failed to connect to the database: An exception ocurred in driver:
    SQLSTATE[HYT000][1045]Acces denied for user ‘owncloud’@’localhost’ (using password:YES)

    Reply
    • Miguel

      did you set up the password to be yes or 12345 as specified in the video?

      Reply
      • David

        I changed the pass in the two code lines.
        How can i view the database created?

        Reply
        • David

          I removed the database and create a new one. Creating the new database without any problem, but when i went to create the user with the following command “”create user owncloud@localhost identified by ‘12345’;””, the program returned an error.
          I think that i will do all the steps again using an external HHD.
          I wil post if a do it properly.

          Reply
          • David

            I did it again, and it works.

  9. Luiz Gustavo Gregorio

    Hi, need some help here,
    I understand that I must allow my WAN IP address to access owncloud from anywhere in the world, however from time to time when I reboot my modem and router I get a different IP Address. Is there any other way to access it, or should I change configuration everytime this happens?

    Reply
    • Miguel

      You would need to tell the router to reserve an IP for the RPI. “DHCP reservation”
      example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pS0Pz0EcLA

      Reply
      • Luiz Gustavo Gregorio

        Hi Miguel, sorry but I think I was not clear enough, I am talking about the IP provided by my ISP, if there is a modem reboot my ISP sometimes provide a different value for IP.
        Is there any easy way to work on that not having to change it on owncloud configuration everytime?

        Reply
        • Benjamin Berghaus

          Hi Miguel
          Hi Luiz
          First: thanks for this great tutorial, Miguel! I just wanted to second Luiz’ question – I wondered how to do this, too. Setting up a dynamic DNS solution at afraid.org is rather simple, but I wonder whether simply adding the dynamic dns address (myaddress.mooo.com) would be sufficient for the owncloud config file.
          Cheers
          Benjamin

          Reply
          • Benjamin Berghaus

            Quick solution: yes, you can simply put domain names in the config file. There was one difficulty I had to fix: following your guide, the SSL portion of Apache did not start. I had to install / get this going separately for an HTTPS OwnCloud solution. Not to complain, just to help, Thanks, Miguel! 🙂

          • Miguel

            thanks

  10. Leukos

    Hi Miguel,
    Nice tutorial by the way,

    If we want create multiple users, how do we process ?
    create an other user in the mysql database ?

    Reply
    • Miguel

      no. once you log into owncloud top right corner dropdown select add users and create one

      Reply
  11. Pat

    Hi Miguel,

    when i try to access my owncloud site the following message pops up:
    ‘http://……./owncloudException occurred while logging exception: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/html/owncloud/config/config.php:1)
    #0 [internal function]: OC\Session\Internal->trapError(2, ‘Cannot modify h…’, ‘/var/www/html/o…’, 106, Array)
    #1 /var/www/html/owncloud/lib/private/legacy/response.php(106): header(‘HTTP/1.1 500 In…’)
    #2 /var/www/html/owncloud/lib/base.php(437): OC_Response::setStatus(‘500 Internal Se…’)
    #3 /var/www/html/owncloud/lib/base.php(581): OC::initSession()
    #4 /var/www/html/owncloud/lib/base.php(1013): OC::init()
    #5 /var/www/html/owncloud/index.php(54): require_once(‘/var/www/html/o…’)
    #6 {main}
    Problem went out like this:
    I have done your tutorial step by step, everything was fine and working. Then I realized that I have used the sd card Id from the raspberry and not the hdd. So I have tried to change the directory and then I got a message file is missing. I copied all the new files from the sd card to the HDD and this message came and I wasn’t able to access the owncloud site again 😕

    Can you please help me with this? Can I somehow delete all files and start over again or reset the all settings of owncloud and MySQL?

    Kind regards
    Pat

    Reply
    • Miguel

      1. under install owncloud exit the /tmp directory. cd command
      2. before you configure apache web server enter sudo su and continue on.

      Reply

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