Help Center/ Huawei Cloud Flexus_Huawei Cloud Flexus L Instance/ Best Practices/ Best Practices of Earlier Versions/ Using Nextcloud to Set Up an Enterprise Web Disk System (Historical Version)
Updated on 2026-08-27 GMT+08:00

Using Nextcloud to Set Up an Enterprise Web Disk System (Historical Version)

Scenarios

Nextcloud is a suite of open-source cloud based storage software for self-built private cloud disks for enterprises. Nextcloud supports PC, Android, and iOS, and you can easily synchronize with vital data stored on servers, including files, schedules, contacts, and bookmarks. FlexusL provides a Nextcloud application image running on Ubuntu 24.04 and deployed with Docker. The image comes pre-installed with Nginx, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, and Docker. This section describes how to use Nextcloud to build an enterprise web disk system.

This practice applies to FlexusL instances with a Moodle application image purchased before August 28, 2026.

Step 1: Configure Security Groups

Add inbound security group rules to ensure that the application preinstalled in the image can be accessed.

  1. Log in to the FlexusL console and click the target resource card or instance name to go to the instance details page.
  2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Cloud Servers and click the target server name to view its details.

  3. On the Security Groups tab, click Add Rule. In the displayed dialog box, add rules displayed in the following figure and click OK.

    The following figure only displays common rules. You can add more rules as needed.

    Table 1 Security group rules

    Priority

    Action

    Type

    Protocol & Port

    Source

    Description

    1

    Allow

    IPv4

    TCP: 80

    0.0.0.0/0

    Specifies the internal forwarding port of application images

    1

    Allow

    IPv4

    TCP: 9000

    0.0.0.0/0

    Allows external access to the application O&M page.

    1

    Allow

    IPv4

    TCP: 9001

    0.0.0.0/0

    Allows external access to the application dashboard.

Step 2: Reset the Password

A FlexusL instance does not have an initial password. After creating a FlexusL instance, set a password for the FlexusL instance. This password is also used to log in to the O&M page of the application.

  1. In the Image area on the Overview page of the FlexusL console, click Access to go to the application dashboard and check whether the application has been up and running. If yes, go to the next step.

    Wait for several minutes until the application is up and running. Then, you can perform operations such as restarting or stopping the instance, or resetting the password. Otherwise, the initial password may become invalid and you cannot log in to the application dashboard.

    Figure 1 Access to the application dashboard

    If the dashboard is not properly displayed, check the following causes:

    • The port for accessing the dashboard is not opened. Check whether the port is opened by referring to Step 1: Configure Security Groups.
    • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
  2. Locate the resource card and choose > Reset Password. Alternatively, in the list view, click Reset Password in the Operation column to reset the password for the FlexusL instance.

    For details, see Resetting the Password for a FlexusL Instance.

    Figure 2 Resetting a password

    The password for logging in to the FlexusL instance is also the password for logging in to the application O&M page.

Step 3: Initialize Nextcloud

Application images use code-based Ubuntu. They provide graphical user interfaces to make your operations easier. You need to initialize the application dashboard upon the first login. Then you can directly log in to the dashboard from the FlexusL console afterwards.

  1. In the address bar of a local browser, enter http://server-EIP:9000 to log in to the application O&M page.

    The initial username and password for logging in to the application dashboard are stored on the O&M page of the application. You need to log in to the O&M page first to obtain the username and password. The username for logging in to the O&M page is root, and the login password is the password reset in Step 2: Reset the Password.

    For details about the FlexusL instances, O&M page, and dashboard, see What Is the Relationship Among FlexusL Instances, the Dashboard, and the O&M Page?

  2. On the My Apps page, click the application icon, choose Access, and click Initial Account to view the username and password for logging in to the application management page.

    The initial password is a randomly generated strong password. After the application is initialized, change the password on the dashboard for easy management. If the password is changed, the initial password will be invalid. Remember the new password.

  3. In the Image area on the Overview page of the FlexusL console, click Access to go to the application dashboard.

    If the dashboard is not properly displayed, check the following causes:

    • The port for accessing the dashboard is not opened. Check whether the port is opened by referring to Step 1: Configure Security Groups.
    • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
  4. Enter the username and password obtained in 2. Click Log in.
  5. After the installation is complete, you can continue to install recommended applications as prompted or click Cancel.

    You can still install these applications on the management page subsequently.

  6. You can go through the pop-ups to learn about the Nextcloud functions, and then configure Nextcloud on the management page.

After the Nextcloud application is initialized, you can deploy your applications on the dashboard.

Step 4: Deploy Nextcloud

Nextcloud integrates various applications, and you can add more functions to Nextcloud by installing these applications.
  1. Click in the upper right corner and choose Apps to view the applications integrated with Nextcloud.
  2. Click Enable.

Configuring an SMTP mail server in an application is very important. It can be used to get back your passwords and receive important notifications. You are advised to configure the SMTP service to enable the email notification function.

  1. Click in the upper right corner and click Personal.
  2. Enter the sender email address, for example, example@163.com.

    The email address must be available, and the SMTP function must have been configured.

  3. Choose Administration > Basic Settings > Email Server, and configure SMTP information.

    In this example, the 163 mailbox is only for reference. Please configure the corresponding parameters when other mailboxes are used.

    Parameter

    Description

    Send mode

    Select SMTP.

    Encryption

    Select SSL/TLS.

    From address

    Enter an email address, for example, example@163.com.

    Server address

    Enter smtp.163.com for the 163 email server.

    Port number

    Enter 465.

    Authentication method

    Select Authentication required.

    Credentials

    • SMTP Username: Set it to the email address.
    • SMTP Password: Set it to the authorization code obtained when configuring SMTP for example@163.com rather than the login password of example@163.com.
  4. Click Store credentials.
  5. Click Send email to test whether the SMTP has been successfully configured.