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Ubuntu 16.04 LTS as an ownCloud server
Secure Collaboration
Basic Setup
In the browser window, ownCloud prompts you to create an admin account and also lets you configure the desired database (Figure 2). The recommended admin username is admin
. The password should be secure, of course, but it doesn't have to match the root user password in MySQL. To launch the MySQL configuration process, click MySQL/MariaDB
under "Configure the database." The password is the password from the CREATE User
command in Listing 3; owncloud
is both the username and the database name, and localhost
is fine as the host designation. Clicking Finish setup
completes the installation. If everything worked, the ownCloud web interface should now appear for the first time (Figure 3). OwnCloud lets you know about the ownCloud clients for Android and iOS, but you can click to close the message without worrying about any negative consequences.
Additional Settings
Although ownCloud generally works well as it is, various tweaks can improve the functionality of the environment. Clicking on the name assigned to the admin user at top right and pressing Administrator
brings up the ownCloud configuration panel. In the menu on the left, clicking Cron
takes you to the configuration window for running recurring tasks. ownCloud offers several options. Out of the box, it runs tasks every time the site is loaded. Although this ensures that the maintenance tasks are performed reliably, it also restricts performance. It is better to leave this task in the competent hands of the Linux cron
command. Entering
$ sudo crontab -u www-data -e */15 * * * * php -f /var/www/owncloud/cron.php
opens the crontab of user www-data
and makes sure maintenance tasks take place regularly. In the ownCloud cron configuration window (Figure 4), switch from Ajax
to Cron
.
A few changes are also useful outside of the ownCloud web interface. In the /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
file, you need to assign sensible defaults. A value of 2G
for upload_max_filesize
and post_max_size
and of 200
for max_file_ uploads
make sense for modern servers. Your installation is now ready for operation.
Conclusions
Cloud-based collaboration is on everyone's lips, but many companies shy away from putting their data in the hands of providers. A locally installed ownCloud offers an alternative. Version 9 comes with some useful features, such as CalDAV and CardDAV support, as well as improved security. On an Ubuntu 16.04 LTS server, you can quickly set up the cloud environment. The Ubuntu operating system is supported by Canonical updates for five years, so you can look forward to a stable and future-proof environment.
Infos
- Generating SSH keys: https://confluence.atlassian.com/bitbucketserver/creating-ssh-keys-776639788.html
- "Getting a Free TLS Certificate from Let's Encrypt" by Hans-Cees Speel, ADMIN , issue 33, 2016, pg. 50: http://www.admin-magazine.com/Archive/2016/33/Getting-a-free-TLS-certificate-from-Let-s-Encrypt
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