Installation and Configuration Guide

Step-by-step instructions for installing, configuring, and setting up the Nextcloud WHMCS module, including Nextcloud server preparation, WHMCS integration, email templates, and product configuration.

WHMCS setup (install/update)

Nextcloud module WHMCS
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System requirements

Requirement
Minimum version

PHP
8.2 or higher

WHMCS
9.x or higher

ionCube Loader
v13 or newer (v14, v15)

Note: The module uses ionCube encoding. Make sure ionCube Loader is installed and active on your server.

Download
The module can be ordered and downloaded from PUQ Cloud:

Order / Download: https://puqcloud.com/whmcs-module-nextcloud.php

FAQ: https://faq.puqcloud.com/

Direct download link for the latest version:

wget https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud/php82/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud-latest.zip

Older module versions for WHMCS 8 are available in PHP-specific directories:

PHP 7.4: https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud/php74/

PHP 8.1: https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud/php81/

After downloading, extract the archive:
unzip PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud-latest.zip

Installation
Step 1: Upload files
Extract the module archive and copy the puqNextcloud directory to the WHMCS servers module directory:
WHMCS_WEB_DIR/modules/servers/puqNextcloud

Step 2: Add server
Navigate to System Settings → Servers → Add New Server:

Enter the correct Name and Hostname

In Server Details, select the PUQ Nextcloud module
Enter valid Nextcloud web interface credentials (username and password)
Click Test connection to verify

Step 3: Create product
Navigate to System Settings → Products/Services → Create a New Product:

Select the PUQ Nextcloud module in the Module settings section
Configure the product parameters

Update
Step 1: Backup
Before updating, it is recommended to back up:

WHMCS database
Module files in modules/servers/puqNextcloud/

Step 2: Upload new files
Download and extract the new version, then overwrite all files in:
WHMCS_WEB_DIR/modules/servers/puqNextcloud/

Step 3: Verification

Log in to the WHMCS admin panel
Check the module is functioning correctly
Verify product settings

Important (v3.0): Product reconfiguration is required after updating to version 3.0.

Setup guide: Nextcloud setup

Nextcloud module WHMCS
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Nextcloud including Nextcloud Office on Debian10 with nginx, MariaDB, PHP 8.1, Let's Encrypt, Redis, Fail2ban and ufw
This guide covers the complete installation and configuration of a Nextcloud server from scratch on Debian, including all required components.

1. Preparation and installation of nginx web server
Install required packages:
apt-get install -y \
 curl wget git apt-transport-https gnupg2 \
 imagemagick libmagickcore-6.q16-6 libmagickwand-6.q16-6 \
 software-properties-common dirmngr lsb-release ca-certificates \
 unzip

Configure hostname
Edit /etc/hosts with server IP and FQDN:
127.0.0.1 localhost
YOUR_SERVER_IP your.domain.com

Edit /etc/hostname:
your.domain.com

Reboot the system:
reboot

Install nginx
Add the nginx repository and install:
apt-get install -y nginx

Remove conflicting web servers:
apt-get remove -y apache2

Enable and start nginx:
systemctl enable nginx
systemctl start nginx

Configure nginx
Backup the default configuration and create a custom one:
cp /etc/nginx/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.bak

Key nginx.conf settings include:

Worker processes and connections
JSON-formatted logging
Real IP handling
File caching parameters
Security headers

Create required directories:
mkdir -p /var/log/nextcloud /var/nc_data /var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge /etc/letsencrypt/rsa-certs /etc/letsencrypt/ecc-certs

2. Installation and configuration of PHP 8.1 (FPM)
Install PHP packages:
apt-get install -y \
 php-common php8.1-fpm php8.1-gd php8.1-curl php8.1-xml \
 php8.1-zip php8.1-intl php8.1-mbstring php8.1-bz2 \
 php8.1-ldap php8.1-apcu php8.1-bcmath php8.1-gmp \
 php8.1-imagick php8.1-igbinary php8.1-mysql php8.1-redis \
 php8.1-smbclient php8.1-cli php8.1-opcache php8.1-readline \
 imagemagick

Optional packages for LDAP/Samba:
apt-get install -y ldap-utils nfs-common cifs-utils

Configure timezone
timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Warsaw

Key PHP optimizations
Backup and configure PHP settings:

Memory limit: 1G

Max execution time: 3600 seconds

Upload max filesize: 10G

Post max size: 10G

OPCache enabled: memory 256MB, max files 100000
Session cookie security enabled
ImageMagick policy permissions updated for PS, EPS, PDF, XPS files

3. Installation and configuration of MariaDB 10.8
Database security hardening
mysql_secure_installation

Set root password
Remove anonymous users
Disable remote root login
Remove test database

Database configuration
Custom MariaDB configuration (/etc/mysql/my.cnf):

Character set: utf8mb4
Default storage engine: InnoDB
Max connections: 200
Binlog format: ROW
Transaction isolation: READ-COMMITTED

Create Nextcloud database
CREATE DATABASE nextclouddb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER nextclouddbuser@localhost identified by 'nextclouddbpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES on nextclouddb.* to nextclouddbuser@localhost;
FLUSH privileges;

Important: Replace nextclouddbpassword with a strong password.

4. Installing and configuring Redis
Install and configure Redis:
apt-get install -y redis-server

Configuration:

Port: disabled (set to 0)
Unix socket enabled with permissions 770
Max clients: 10240

usermod -aG redis www-data

Set kernel parameter:
echo "vm.overcommit_memory = 1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf

Reboot the system before Nextcloud installation.

5. Installation and optimization of Nextcloud (incl. SSL)
Certbot and Let's Encrypt setup
apt-get install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

nginx vhost configuration
Create /etc/nginx/conf.d/nextcloud.conf with:

Upstream handler: PHP-FPM socket
HTTP to HTTPS redirect
SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt
TLS 1.2 and 1.3 protocols
Client max body size: 10G
GZIP compression
Security headers (HSTS, X-Frame-Options, etc.)
Nextcloud-specific location blocks

Generate SSL certificate
certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Auto-renewal crontab:
0 12 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet

Install Nextcloud
Download and verify:
cd /usr/local/src
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip.md5
md5sum -c latest.zip.md5 < latest.zip

Extract and set permissions:
unzip latest.zip -d /var/www
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud

Silent installation
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:install \
 --database "mysql" \
 --database-name "nextclouddb" \
 --database-user "nextclouddbuser" \
 --database-pass "nextclouddbpassword" \
 --admin-user "YourNextcloudAdmin" \
 --admin-pass "YourNextcloudAdminPassword" \
 --data-dir "/var/nc_data"

Configure trusted domain
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set trusted_domains 0 --value=your.domain.com

CLI URL configuration
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ config:system:set overwrite.cli.url --value=https://your.domain.com

Extended configuration
Create /var/www/nextcloud/config/tweaks.config.php with settings including:

Activity expiration: 14 days
Authentication bruteforce protection enabled
Blacklisted files: .htaccess, Thumbs.db
Default phone region
Preview providers: PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PDF, MP3, TXT, MarkDown
Redis configuration with Unix socket
Trashbin retention: auto, 7 days
Logging: file at /var/log/nextcloud/nextcloud.log, level 2
Log rotation: 100MB

App management
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ app:disable survey_client
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ app:disable firstrunwizard
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ app:enable admin_audit
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ app:enable files_pdfviewer

Optional Nextcloud Office installation:
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ app:install richdocuments
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ app:install richdocumentscode

Restart services
systemctl stop nginx php8.1-fpm
systemctl restart mysql php8.1-fpm redis nginx

Set up cron
As www-data user:
*/5 * * * * php -f /var/www/nextcloud/cron.php > /dev/null 2>&1

Reconfigure to cron mode:
sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ background:cron

Pin packages
Prevent unwanted package updates:
apt-mark hold nginx* redis* mysql* galera* mariadb* php*

15-nextcloud-setup.png

6. System hardening with Fail2ban and UFW
Fail2ban configuration
Install Fail2ban:
apt-get install -y fail2ban

Create Nextcloud filter (/etc/fail2ban/filter.d/nextcloud.conf):

Regex patterns for login failures
Trusted domain errors
Date pattern for JSON log format

Create Nextcloud jail (/etc/fail2ban/jail.d/nextcloud.local):
[nextcloud]
backend = auto
enabled = true
port = 80,443
protocol = tcp
maxretry = 5
bantime = 3600
findtime = 36000
logpath = /var/log/nextcloud/nextcloud.log

UFW firewall configuration
ufw allow 80/tcp comment "LetsEncrypt(http)"
ufw allow 443/tcp comment "LetsEncrypt(https)"
ufw allow 22/tcp comment "SSH"
ufw enable

Setup guide: WHMCS setup

Nextcloud module WHMCS
Order now | Download | FAQ
System requirements

Requirement
Minimum version

PHP
8.2 or higher

WHMCS
9.x or higher

ionCube Loader
v13 or newer (v14, v15)

Note: The module uses ionCube encoding. Make sure ionCube Loader is installed and active on your server.

Older module versions for WHMCS 8 are available in PHP-specific directories:

PHP 7.4: https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud/php74/

PHP 8.1: https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud/php81/

Step 1: Download the module
wget https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud/php82/PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud-latest.zip

Step 2: Extract the archive
unzip PUQ_WHMCS-Nextcloud-latest.zip

Step 3: Copy module files
Copy the puqNextcloud directory to:
WHMCS_WEB_DIR/modules/servers/

Step 4: Add server in WHMCS
Navigate to System Settings → Servers → Add New Server

Enter the correct Name and Hostname

In the Server Details section, select the PUQ Nextcloud module
Enter valid Nextcloud web interface credentials (username and password)
Click Test connection to verify the connection

04-add-server-1.png

05-add-server-2.png

Step 5: Create product in WHMCS
Navigate to System Settings → Products/Services → Create a New Product
Select the PUQ Nextcloud module in the Module settings section.

06-whmcs-setup.png

Email Template (puqNextcloud notification disk limit)

Nextcloud module WHMCS
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Creating the email template
Navigate to System Settings → Email Templates → Create New Email Template

Template configuration

Parameter
Value

Email Type
Product/service

Unique Name
puqNextcloud Notification disk limit

Email subject
Disk space usage {$disk_used_percentage} % - {$username}

Email body
Dear {$client_name},

We would like to inform you that the disk space usage for your
product/service has reached the notification threshold.

Product/Service: {$service_product_name}
Due Date: {$service_next_due_date}
Username: {$username}

Disk Limit: {$disk_limit}
Disk Used: {$disk_used} ({$disk_used_percentage}%)
Disk Free: {$disk_free} ({$disk_free_percentage}%)

Please take the necessary actions to manage your disk space.

{$signature}

Available template variables
The following custom variables are passed to the email template by the module:

Variable
Description
Example

{$username}
Nextcloud username
john-42

{$disk_limit}
Total disk quota with unit
10 GB

{$disk_used}
Used disk space with unit
8.5 GB

{$disk_free}
Free disk space with unit
1.5 GB

{$disk_used_percentage}
Used space as percentage
85

{$disk_free_percentage}
Free space as percentage
15

In addition, all standard WHMCS product/service merge fields are available (e.g. {$client_name}, {$service_product_name}, {$service_next_due_date}, {$signature}).

Note: Notifications are sent automatically during the WHMCS daily cron execution when disk usage reaches the threshold configured in the product settings ("Notify at %").

Screenshots

07-email-template-1.png

08-email-template-2.png

Add server (Nextcloud server)

Nextcloud module WHMCS
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Adding a Nextcloud server to WHMCS
Navigate to System Settings → Servers → Add New Server

Step 1: General settings
Enter the correct Name and Hostname for your Nextcloud server.

Name — a descriptive name for the server (e.g. "Nextcloud Production")

Hostname — the domain name or IP address of your Nextcloud installation (e.g. cloud.example.com)

If your Nextcloud uses a non-standard port, enter it in the Port field. Check the Secure checkbox if your server uses HTTPS (recommended).

04-add-server-1.png

Step 2: Module settings

In the Server Details section, select the PUQ Nextcloud module from the dropdown
Enter valid credentials for the Nextcloud web interface:

Username — Nextcloud administrator username

Password — Nextcloud administrator password

Click Test connection to verify the connection is working correctly

The test connection verifies that the module can reach the Nextcloud OCS API (/ocs/v1.php/cloud/users/) and authenticate with the provided credentials.

05-add-server-2.png

Important: The Nextcloud user must have administrator privileges to manage users via the API. The module uses the Nextcloud OCS API v1 with HTTP Basic Authentication to create, modify, suspend, and delete user accounts.

Product Configuration

Nextcloud module WHMCS
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Add new product to WHMCS
Navigate to System Settings → Products/Services → Create a New Product
Select the PUQ Nextcloud module in the Module settings section.

Configuration parameters

Parameter
Description

License key
A pre-purchased license key for the PUQ Nextcloud module. The license must be active for correct operation. After saving, the verification status is displayed below the field.

Disk size
Allocated disk space for the Nextcloud user. Set to 0 for unlimited quota. Minimum value: 0.

Disk unit
Unit used for the allocated disk space. Available options: MB, GB, TB, PB.

Notify at %
Disk usage threshold in percent (1–100). A notification email is sent when usage reaches this value. Default: 90. Set to 0 to disable notifications.

Email template
Email template used for low disk space notifications. Select from available Product/service type email templates. The template must be created manually in WHMCS (see Email Template page).

Save history (days)
Number of days to store disk usage statistics in WHMCS. Older records are automatically deleted during cron execution.

Group
Nextcloud group assigned to the user on the server side. The group is created automatically if it does not exist. When changing packages, the user is removed from all groups and added to the new group.

Username rule
Rule for automatic username generation using macros (see below). Default: {client_id}-{service_id}.

Password rule
Password generation rule in length:charset format (see below). Default: 12:123456789QAZWSXEDCRFVTGBYHNUJMIKqazwsxedcrfvtgbyhnujmikolp.

Link to instruction
URL to instructions displayed as a button in the client area. Leave empty to hide the button.

Show password
Defines how the password is shown in the client area. Options: Show button (hidden by default, revealed on click), Plain text (always visible), No (hidden, no option to reveal).

Username rule — available macros
The username is generated automatically when a new account is created. You can use the following macros:

Macro
Description
Example

{client_id}
WHMCS client ID
123

{service_id}
WHMCS service ID
456

{unixtime}
Current Unix timestamp
1707638400

{year}
Current year
2026

{month}
Current month (01–12)
02

{day}
Current day (01–31)
12

{hour}
Current hour (00–23)
14

{minute}
Current minute (00–59)
30

{second}
Current second (00–59)
45

{random_digit_x}
x random digits (0–9)
{random_digit_4} → 7394

{random_letter_x}
x random letters (A–Z, a–z)
{random_letter_6} → aBcDeF

Examples:

{client_id}-{service_id} → 123-456

nc-{random_digit_6} → nc-384729

user-{client_id}-{random_letter_4} → user-123-aBcD

Note: If the generated username already exists on the Nextcloud server, the module automatically appends a counter: username-1, username-2, etc.

Password rule — format
The password rule uses the format length:charset, where:

length — number of characters to generate

charset — set of characters to use

Examples:

12:abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789 — 12 lowercase alphanumeric characters

16:ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789 — 16 mixed-case alphanumeric

20:0123456789 — 20 digits only

If no rule is specified, a 12-character password is generated from a default character set.

Important notes

Warning: This module works only as a server module (Products/Services). It cannot be used as an addon product. Attempting to use it with addon products will result in an error.

Screenshot

09-product-configuration.png