Install Nextcloud on windows 10 – The ultimate guide

No doubt, Nextcloud is one of the most reliable open-source platform offering a self-hosted cloud storage service. Though it can be deployed for use on Android OS, iOS, macOS, Linux, and Windows OS, however, to install Nextcloud on windows 10 may require running a compatible Linux extension program on your windows. This is because the Nextcloud server is hosted on Linux.

Generally, there is a list of virtual extensions you can use to install Nextcloud on your device some of them include: Apache 2, WAMP, PHP, MariaDB, and WSL. But for the purpose of this post, we’d be demonstrating how to install Nextcloud on Windows 10 using WSL [Windows Subsystem Linux] ubuntu.

How to Install Nextcloud on Windows 10 using WSL Ubuntu – the guide

As stated above in this post, activating the WSL feature will enable all Linux programs to run effectively on Windows with no hitches. Therefore, in this guide, the first thing to do is to show us how to activate it.

Step 1: Activate the WSL feature on your Windows.

• Navigate to Control Panel and click on Programs.
• With your mouse pointer, hover to the top of the new window page and click on the command ‘Turn Windows Feature On or Off.”
• Now, scroll through the options displayed and select Windows Subsystem for Linux and click ok at the bottom of the popup page.

Step 2: Install Ubuntu to create a Linux environment.

• Visit the Microsoft Store on your PC.
• Once in the store, search for Ubuntu and install it. [Tip; always go for the most recent version].
• After the installation is done, launch the app and wait patiently for it to come up.

At this point, you’ll have to install the extension programs for Nextcloud, they include Apache, PHP, and MySQL. Run the following command to have them installed.

Now you’re ready to download the Nextcloud app, below is how to get it up and running.

Step 3: Download and Install Nextcloud

Because we are downloading to a windows operating system, we’ll be using a command different from the normal click on the download button. Below is how to use WSL to download and install.

• Visit the official Nextcloud download and installation webpage
• On the page, you’ll see a download button, hover your mouse and right-click, then select copy link address.
• Go to ubuntu as shown above and type the following “wget” then paste the link beside it.
• Next, extract the zipped file and paste it in the web directory.
• Unzip it thus – unzip downloaded-file name
• Next, copy the Nextcloud files to the Apache directory using the command below.

Next set a new configuration folder for the app using the command below.

After that press Ctrl+O to save and Ctrl-X to exist.

See also: How to setup Dropbox desktop app on Windows PC

Step 4: Set up a database for Nextcloud with MySQL

Use the following commands sequentially to have the database set up properly.

Next, create a custom username and password or you can just edit the ones you see on the command.

Finally, flush the privileges and exist.

Step 5: Setup A Nextcloud Admin Account and Configure it

Navigate to your web browser and type http://localhost/nextcloud. This will take you to the Nextcloud server.

Now, enter a username and password, then scroll down and enter the database details. Finally, click on the Finish setup button.

Finally, your Nextcloud account is ready and you can log in and explore around it.

Though there are other ways to install Nextcloud on Windows 10 PC, this is proven to be one of the easiest ways to go about it. Other processes may require installing any other Linux-windows extensions.