Complete Nextcloud Setup on Proxmox LXC with Nginx Proxy Manager

Want your own private cloud similar to Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox? In this guide you'll learn how to deploy Nextcloud inside a Proxmox LXC container, store data on an external HDD, and expose it securely using Nginx Proxy Manager.

• ✅ Proxmox LXC Installation
• ✅ External HDD Storage Mount
• ✅ MariaDB Database Setup
• ✅ Nginx Proxy Manager Reverse Proxy
• ✅ Free SSL Certificates
• ✅ Domain Access from Anywhere

Requirements:

• Proxmox VE Installed
• Nginx Proxy Manager Running
• Domain or Dynamic DNS
• Mounted Storage Drive

🧠 What is Nextcloud?

Nextcloud is a self-hosted cloud platform that allows you to store files, sync devices, share documents, manage calendars, contacts, photos and much more.

• Private cloud storage
• File synchronization
• Mobile applications
• Document collaboration
• Photo backup
• WebDAV support

⚡ Step 1 — Create the Proxmox LXC

Create a Debian 12 LXC container with:

• 2 CPU Cores
• 2-4GB RAM
• 20GB+ Root Disk
• Privileged Container Recommended

📁 Step 2 — Mount External Storage

Edit the container configuration:

nano /etc/pve/lxc/<CTID>.conf

Add:

features: nesting=1,keyctl=1
mp0: /mnt/pve/<storage>/Containers/NextCloud,mp=/mnt/nextcloud-data

Restart the container:

pct restart <CTID>

🖥️ Step 3 — Install Required Packages

apt update && apt upgrade -y

apt install apache2 mariadb-server \
libapache2-mod-php \
php php-gd php-json php-mysql \
php-curl php-mbstring php-intl \
php-imagick php-xml php-zip \
php-bcmath php-gmp unzip wget -y

🗄️ Step 4 — Create Database

mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;

CREATE USER 'ncuser'@'localhost'
IDENTIFIED BY 'YourStrongPassword';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.*
TO 'ncuser'@'localhost';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

EXIT;

⬇️ Step 5 — Download Nextcloud

cd /var/www

wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip

unzip latest.zip

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud

📂 Step 6 — Configure Data Directory

mkdir -p /mnt/nextcloud-data/data

chown -R www-data:www-data /mnt/nextcloud-data

chmod -R 775 /mnt/nextcloud-data

If you're using an unprivileged container, UID mapping issues may prevent Nextcloud from writing to the mounted directory. A privileged container avoids this complexity.

🌐 Step 7 — Configure Apache

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

<VirtualHost *:80>

ServerName cloud.example.com

DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud

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

</VirtualHost>

Enable configuration:

a2ensite nextcloud.conf

a2enmod rewrite headers env dir mime

systemctl restart apache2

🚀 Step 8 — Complete Web Installer

Open:

http://<server-ip>

Fill in:

• Admin Username
• Admin Password
• Data Folder: /mnt/nextcloud-data/data
• Database User: ncuser
• Database Name: nextcloud
• Database Host: localhost

🔒 Step 9 — Configure Reverse Proxy

Edit:

nano /var/www/nextcloud/config/config.php

Add:

'trusted_domains' =>
array (
  0 => 'localhost',
  1 => 'cloud.example.com',
),

'trusted_proxies' => ['<proxy-ip>'],

'overwrite.cli.url' =>
'https://cloud.example.com',

'overwriteprotocol' => 'https',

🌍 Step 10 — Configure Nginx Proxy Manager

Create a new Proxy Host:

• Domain: cloud.example.com
• Forward Host: <local-ip>
• Forward Port: 80

Enable:

• WebSockets Support
• Block Common Exploits
• Force SSL
• HTTP/2

Advanced Configuration:

client_max_body_size 10G;

📤 Step 11 — Increase Upload Limits

Edit:

nano /etc/php/*/apache2/php.ini

Set:

upload_max_filesize = 10G
post_max_size = 10G
memory_limit = 512M

Restart:

systemctl restart apache2

🎉 Final Result

You now have a fully self-hosted cloud solution running on Proxmox with persistent HDD storage, HTTPS access, and secure remote access through Nginx Proxy Manager.

Possible Next Steps:

• Enable Redis Caching
• Configure Automated Backups
• Install Nextcloud Office
• Add Mobile Auto-Upload
• Enable Two-Factor Authentication
• Integrate External Storage

☁️ Your Private Cloud • Your Data • Your Control