Install ownCloud on Windows with WSL2 🌱

What is OwnCloud?

OwnCloud is a suite of client-server software for creating file hosting services and using them. OwnCloud is functionally very similar to the widely used Dropbox, with the primary functional difference being that OwnCloud is free and open-source, and thereby allowing anyone to install and operate it without charge on a private server. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OwnCloud

Installing WSL

  1. Launch Powershell as administrator
  2. Run the following command
    # enable WSL feature
    dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
    # enable virtual machine platform
    dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all
  3. Type Y to reboot the system
  4. Launch Powershell as administrator and run the following additional commands to use WSL 2
    # enable virtualization platform
    Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform
    # enable wsl2
    wsl --set-default-version 2
    # download the wsl kernel update
    $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi -OutFile .\wsl_update_x64.msi
    # reset progress preference
    $ProgressPreference = 'Continue'
    # install the downloaded file
    .\wsl_update_x64.msi
  5. Click the Start Button > Search Microsoft Store > Select Microsoft Store
  6. Search for the Linux distribution to install (Debian, Ubuntu, etc), Debian in this example
  7. Select the Linux distribution and click the Get button
  8. After the Linux distribution downloads and installs, click Open or select the distribution from the Start menu to launch it
  9. Input a username and password to be used in the Linux environment

Installing ownCloud

  1. Continue with the following commands in WSL
    # update software repositories
    sudo apt update
    # install software updates
    sudo apt upgrade -y
    # install prerequisite package(s)
    sudo apt install wget -y
    # install Apache HTTPD and MySQL
    sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server mariadb-client -y
    # install PHP components
    sudo apt install php7.4 libapache2-mod-php7.4 php7.4-mysql php-common php7.4-cli php7.4-common php7.4-json php7.4-opcache php7.4-readline php7.4-intl php7.4-json php7.4-gd php7.4-mbstring php7.4-mysql php7.4-xml php7.4-zip php7.4-curl -y
    # start the mariadb service
    sudo service mariadb start
    # configure the MySQL database
    sudo su
    mysql_secure_installation
  2. Press Enter to login as root
  3. Type N and press Enter to not switch to socket authentication
  4. Type Y and press Enter to set a root password, type the password twice to confirm
  5. Type Y and press Enter to remove anonymous users
  6. Type Y and press Enter to disallow root login remotely
  7. Type Y and press Enter to remove the test database
  8. Type Y and press Enter to reload privilege tables
  9. Run the following command to login into MySQL:
    mysql -u root -p
  10. Authenticate with the root password set earlier
  11. Run the following commands to create the ownCloud database and database user
    CREATE DATABASE ownclouddb;
    GRANT ALL ON ownclouddb.* to 'owncloud_rw'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'ownCl0ud!!';
    FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
    EXIT;
    exit
  12. Continue with the following commands to download and extract ownCloud in the Apache webroot
    # download latest owncloud version
    sudo wget -O /tmp/owncloud.tar.bz2 https://download.owncloud.com/server/stable/owncloud-latest.tar.bz2
    # extract owncloud-latest.tar.bz2
    sudo tar -xf /tmp/owncloud.tar.bz2 --directory /var/www
    # set the owner of the new owncloud directory to www-data
    sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/owncloud
    # create a new owncloud.conf file to configure the site
    sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf
  13. Paste the following configuration into owncloud.conf

    Alias /owncloud "/var/www/owncloud/"
    <Directory /var/www/owncloud/>
    Options +FollowSymlinks
    AllowOverride All

    <IfModule mod_dav.c>
    Dav off
    </IfModule>

    SetEnv HOME /var/www/owncloud
    SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/owncloud
    </Directory>

  14. Press CTRL+O, Enter, CTRL+X to write the changes to owncloud.conf
  15. Continue with the following commands to enable the site and restart Apache:
    # enable the owncloud config
    sudo a2ensite owncloud
    # enable required apache modules
    sudo a2enmod rewrite headers env mime unique_id dav
    # restart apache2 service for the changes to take effect
    sudo service apache2 restart
  16. Open a web browser and navigate to http://DNSorIP/owncloud
  17. The ownCloud setup screen should be displayed
  18. Enter a username and password
  19. Click the storage & database link to expand the section
  20. Select MySQL and fill out the database connection information as follows

    username: owncloud_rw
    password: ownCl0ud!!
    database name: ownclouddb
    database host: localhost

  21. Click Finish Setup
  22. After a few moments of setup ownCloud will be up and running
  23. Login with the username and password set on the previous screen
  24. Welcome to ownCloud running on WSL