You can install Nextcloud on Proxmox in an unprivileged LXC container running Docker, with Nextcloud and MariaDB deployed from one Docker Compose file. The steps use Proxmox VE 9.2 and the Debian 13 template (current as of September 2026), then cover trusted domains, HTTPS and storing the data on a NAS.
To be clear, my own Nextcloud is Nextcloud AIO in a Docker VM, and it’s what replaced Synology Drive when I moved off a Synology NAS. A Proxmox Nextcloud LXC is the lighter option, though, and on a mini PC that matters.
LXC or VM for Nextcloud on Proxmox
On a mini PC or a device with minimal resources, the Nextcloud Proxmox container this guide builds is a great fit, but on a full home server with plenty of resources, I’d use a VM. A container shares the host kernel and uses way less resources than a VM, but Docker needs its restrictions loosened: Nesting, which Proxmox VE 9.2 ticks by default, and keyctl, which it doesn’t. Proxmox’s container documentation, writing about its new application-container support, still says nesting containers inside a VM “remains a recommended practice” for “use cases demanding maximum isolation and the ability to live-migrate.”
That split has been my advice since August 2025, when I’d run Docker in a Linux container on Proxmox for years without problems and said the resource utilization on a mini PC is very, very low. In February 2026, I put it the same way: you can certainly use an LXC, but from a recommendation perspective, a VM is the way to go.
What I run is Nextcloud AIO as a Portainer stack on a Proxmox VM running Docker.
The community-scripts helper scripts can also build a NextCloudPi or native Nextcloud LXC, and TurnKey has a Nextcloud template (a Debian release behind as of September 2026). They’re quicker, but none use Docker, so you maintain a native install instead of one compose file.
Create the Nextcloud LXC Container
If Proxmox isn’t installed yet, start with How to Install Proxmox VE.
1. Select your storage (usually local), then CT Templates, and finally, Templates.
2. Search for debian, select debian-13-standard, and select Download.
3. Select Create CT in the top right.
4. On General, enter a Hostname and root Password. Leave Unprivileged container and Nesting ticked (the Proxmox VE 9.2 defaults), then select Next.
5. On Template, select the debian-13-standard template, then select Next.
6. Set the Disk size (GiB) and select Next. Size it for your files unless they’ll live on a NAS.
7. Enter the Cores and select Next.
8. Set the Memory (MiB), then select Next.
9. On Network, select DHCP for IPv4. Leave IPv6 on Static unless your network runs DHCPv6, then select Next until you reach Confirm.
10. Select Finish to create the container.
11. Select the container, then Options, select Features, and finally, Edit.
12. Tick keyctl, check that Nesting is ticked, select OK, and start the container.
Install Docker in the LXC Container
Open the container’s Console, log in as root, and update the system.
apt update && apt upgrade -yThen install Docker Engine using Docker’s Debian install instructions, minus sudo since you’re already root.
apt install ca-certificates curl -y
install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/debian
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")
Components: stable
Architectures: $(dpkg --print-architecture)
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF
apt update
apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin -y
docker run hello-world
ip -brief addressIf the last two commands print Docker’s hello message and eth0’s address (your [CONTAINER_IP], without the /24), Docker is working. Reserve that address on your router, since Nextcloud trusts the address you install it on.
Install Portainer (Optional)
For a GUI, install Portainer with the command from Portainer’s install docs, then open https://[CONTAINER_IP]:9443.
docker volume create portainer_data
docker run -d -p 8000:8000 -p 9443:9443 --name portainer --restart=always -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v portainer_data:/data portainer/portainer-ce:ltsIt asks for the setup token, which the command below prints on its setup_token= line, and an admin user with a 12-character or longer password. Select Skip on Edge Compute, then Get Started.
docker logs portainerInstall Nextcloud on Proxmox with Docker Compose
Nextcloud runs as two containers, the app and a MariaDB database, from a compose file based on Nextcloud’s official Docker image README.
1. Create a folder and a compose file.
mkdir -p /opt/nextcloud && cd /opt/nextcloud
apt install nano -y
nano compose.yaml2. Paste this in, change the root password and the nextcloud password (it appears twice), and save the file.
services:
db:
image: mariadb:11.8
restart: always
command: --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED
volumes:
- db:/var/lib/mysql
environment:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=change-this-root-password
- MYSQL_PASSWORD=change-this-password
- MYSQL_DATABASE=nextcloud
- MYSQL_USER=nextcloud
app:
image: nextcloud:35-apache
restart: always
ports:
- 8080:80
depends_on:
- db
volumes:
- nextcloud:/var/www/html
environment:
- MYSQL_PASSWORD=change-this-password
- MYSQL_DATABASE=nextcloud
- MYSQL_USER=nextcloud
- MYSQL_HOST=db
volumes:
nextcloud:
db:- MYSQL_PASSWORD must match in both services. With all four database variables set, the installer won’t ask for database details.
- mariadb:11.8 is the version Nextcloud’s system requirements recommend for Nextcloud 35. Don’t use mariadb:latest, which pulled MariaDB 13 in September 2026, a version Nextcloud doesn’t support.
- nextcloud:35-apache pins the major version, because Nextcloud can only upgrade one major version at a time.
3. Start the stack.
docker compose up -dUsing a Portainer Stack Instead
1. Select the local environment, then Stacks, and finally, Add stack.
2. Name the stack nextcloud and paste the compose file into the Web editor.
3. Select Deploy the stack to create both containers.
If you deploy it this way, make the compose changes below in the stack’s Editor and select Update the stack, with Re-pull image and redeploy on when you update.
Run the Nextcloud Installer
If your files will live on a NAS, do Store the Data on a NAS below first.
1. Open the LXC container’s IP address on port 8080, enter an Administration account name and Administration account password, then select Install.
http://[CONTAINER_IP]:80802. Select Install recommended apps or Skip.
3. Nextcloud is ready to use!
After the Install: Trusted Domains, HTTPS and Storage
Add a Trusted Domain
Nextcloud only answers on the addresses in its trusted_domains list in config.php, and anything else gets an “Access through untrusted domain” page. Add one from the container’s console. The installer already put the address you used at 0, so use 1 for the next one.
echo 'alias occ="docker exec -u www-data nextcloud-app-1 php occ"' >> ~/.bashrc && . ~/.bashrc
occ config:system:set trusted_domains 1 --value=nextcloud.example.comHTTPS with a Reverse Proxy
You could port forward to a reverse proxy and make Nextcloud accessible to the world, but I don’t want to do that, so I run an internal reverse proxy server instead: Nginx Proxy Manager with a local DNS record and a Let’s Encrypt wildcard certificate, with no ports opened. Local SSL for Home Lab Services with Nginx Proxy Manager shows how.
Point the proxy host at http://[CONTAINER_IP]:8080, then set these, with your proxy’s IP and your domain.
occ config:system:set trusted_proxies 0 --value=192.168.1.10
occ config:system:set overwriteprotocol --value=https
occ config:system:set overwritehost --value=nextcloud.example.com
occ config:system:set overwrite.cli.url --value=https://nextcloud.example.comFor access from outside your network, my Nextcloud AIO guide covers how I use Twingate.
Store the Data on a NAS
I like to offload the computing resources to Proxmox if I can, as opposed to running Nextcloud directly on my NAS. For an LXC, Proxmox’s documented route is to mount the share on the host and bind it into the container. Do this before you run the installer, because Nextcloud only reads NEXTCLOUD_DATA_DIR on its first install.
1. Select Datacenter, then Storage, and finally, Add, then NFS, and give it the ID nas. Proxmox mounts it at /mnt/pve/nas/ on the host.
2. From the host’s Shell, create the data folder, give it to Nextcloud’s user, and bind it into the container, using your container ID. If your NAS squashes root, create the folder on the NAS with owner 100033, then run only the pct set line.
mkdir -p /mnt/pve/nas/nextcloud
chown 100033:100033 /mnt/pve/nas/nextcloud
chmod 770 /mnt/pve/nas/nextcloud
pct set 100 -mp0 /mnt/pve/nas/nextcloud,mp=/mnt/nextcloud-data3. Back in the container’s console, in /opt/nextcloud/compose.yaml, add – /mnt/nextcloud-data:/mnt/nextcloud-data under the app service’s volumes and – NEXTCLOUD_DATA_DIR=/mnt/nextcloud-data under its environment, then start it again before you open the installer.
cd /opt/nextcloud && docker compose up -dNextcloud’s www-data user (uid 33) is uid 100033 on the host. Mount NFS on the host rather than inside the container, too, as Proxmox says that “can block the host’s I/O completely.”
Updates and Backups
To update, run these from /opt/nextcloud. For a new major, change 35 to 36 in compose.yaml first, one major at a time.
docker compose pull
docker compose up -dA Proxmox backup of the LXC covers the container and its Docker volumes, but not the contents of bind mounts, so data on a NAS needs the NAS’s own snapshots.
Final Thoughts on Nextcloud on Proxmox
Nextcloud is great, though it isn’t nearly as user-friendly to set up or maintain as Synology Drive was. On a mini PC, the LXC above keeps it light, but with the resources for it, I’d put Docker in a VM and run Nextcloud AIO like I do. Either way, keep it behind an internal reverse proxy. Security changes all the time, so nothing here is guaranteed.
