Self-host Nextcloud on blitz.cloud

You can self-host Nextcloud on blitz.cloud without running a server of your own. Install it from the App Store: one click sets up the address, HTTPS and the MariaDB database Nextcloud needs for its file list, calendar and contacts. It comes free on the free plan, using your plan's one included database.

Install it

1. In the dashboard, open the App Store and pick Nextcloud, or click Host something new and choose "A ready-made app".
2. What this app needs says it keeps files between restarts and uses a MariaDB database, both set up for you.
3. Give it an address, for example cloud, and click Put it online.

Your Nextcloud is then at https://cloud.yourname.blitz.cloud, with a MariaDB database connected and NEXTCLOUD_TRUSTED_DOMAINS already set to that address.

Create the admin account first

Open the address as soon as the app is online and create the admin account. Until you do, anyone who finds the address could create it instead and lock you out of your own install. After that, invite the people you want from Nextcloud's own Users page.

The database it uses

Nextcloud needs one database, and the App Store gives it a MariaDB one from your plan. The free plan includes one database; Pro gives you five. If you also want a second app that needs its own database, such as a second Nextcloud install or another app that isn't database-free, you need Pro for the extra slot. See databases for how a database is created and limits for the full table.

Storage adds up the same way: Nextcloud reserves 5 GB and its MariaDB database another 1 GB, so one install already takes 6 of the free plan's 10 GB before you upload a single file.

Backups: the database, not your files

blitz.cloud backs up every database every night, free plan included: 7 nights on free, 30 on Pro. That covers Nextcloud's file list, calendar entries and contacts, because they live in the database. The files themselves, photos and documents you upload, are kept in Nextcloud's own data folder on disk, and on the free plan folders apps keep on disk are not backed up at all. Only Pro copies those every night and keeps 30 nights, restorable from the app's Settings tab. On the free plan, a lost disk would take your uploaded files, not the database, so Nextcloud itself would come back empty rather than gone.

If you keep anything in Nextcloud you can't lose and you're on the free plan, also sync it somewhere else, for example a desktop folder with the Nextcloud client, or move to Pro for the nightly file copies.

Size and memory

Nextcloud installs in the small size: 128 MB of memory reserved, up to 512 MB when the server has room. That's enough for a person or a family looking at files, calendar and contacts. If the web interface feels slow with several people uploading large files at once, you can move it to a bigger size yourself in Settings, Advanced, as long as there's room left in your plan's memory pool.

Updates

With automatic updates on, blitz.cloud checks every night around 4:00 UTC for a newer Nextcloud build and puts it online. If the new version doesn't start within ten minutes, the one before it comes back, and the app's Activity tab says so.