How to Install ownCloud on Windows WSL

Step 1Turn On WSL in Windows

Turning on the Windows Subsystem for Linux, or WSL, is the first step to install ownCloud on Windows.

First, open PowerShell as an administrator (this means you’ll have elevated permissions to run system commands). Click the ⊞ Start button, type “PowerShell,” then 🖱️ right-click on “Windows PowerShell” and select “Run as administrator.”

Copy and paste this command into PowerShell:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

What happens: Windows will enable WSL. You should see a message saying “The operation completed successfully.”

Step 2Enable Virtual Machine Platform

Enabling the Virtual Machine Platform is necessary for WSL 2 to function correctly on your Windows computer.

Keep PowerShell open and run this command:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Note: If you’re using an older version of Windows 10 (before version 2004), use this command instead:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -NoRestart

What happens next: After running the command, 🔄 restart your computer. This is important or the next step won’t work.

After your computer restarts, open PowerShell as administrator again and run this command:

wsl --set-default-version 2

What this does: It sets WSL 2 as your default version.

Step 3Install Ubuntu on Windows

💿 Installing Ubuntu on Windows gives you the Linux system needed to install ownCloud using WSL.

Open this link to download Ubuntu from the Windows Store:

Get Ubuntu 20.04 LTS – Microsoft Store

What is Ubuntu? It’s a free Linux operating system. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS gives you access to the Linux terminal, along with tools like bash, ssh, and git.

Click “Get” to 💿 install it. Once installed, launch Ubuntu.

What happens: Ubuntu will ask you to create a username and password. This is your Linux account (it doesn’t have to match your Windows username).

Example:

Enter new UNIX username: user
New password: (type your password)
Retype new password: (type it again)
passwd: password updated successfully

If you run into problems: Try these troubleshooting commands:

wsl --set-default-version 1
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto start

Step 4Install Apache Web Server

💿 Installing the Apache web server is a key step to get ownCloud running on your WSL setup.

In your Ubuntu terminal, run these commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

Flag: These commands require admin privileges (which means you’ll need to use `sudo` to run them).

Useful Apache commands:

sudo service apache2 stop (stops Apache)
sudo service apache2 start (starts Apache)
sudo service apache2 restart (restarts Apache)

Test if Apache works: Open your web browser and go to:

http://localhost

What you should see: The Apache test page appears. This means Apache is working.

Step 5Install MariaDB Database

MariaDB is the database system ownCloud uses to store your files and settings, and we’ll 💿 install it on your WSL setup now.

To 💿 install it, run these commands:

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

Flag: These commands require admin privileges.

Useful MariaDB commands:

sudo service mysql stop (stops the database)
sudo service mysql start (starts the database)
sudo service mysql restart (restarts the database)

Secure your database: Now protect your database with a password by running:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Flag: These commands require admin privileges.

Answer the questions like this:

Enter current password for root (press Enter): (just press Enter)
Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
New password: (type a strong password)
Re-enter new password: (type it again)
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Y
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Y

Test MariaDB: Log in to see if it works:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Type your root password when asked. You should see the MariaDB prompt if everything works.

Type EXIT; to exit.

Step 6Install PHP

💿 Installing PHP on your WSL system is crucial because it’s the programming language that connects all the parts for ownCloud.

Run this command to install PHP and all the extra parts ownCloud needs:

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-imagick php-imap php-json php-ldap php-common php-pgsql php-ssh2 php-sqlite3 php-xml php-mysql php-gmp php-curl php-intl php7.4-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-gd php-xml php-cli php-zip

Flag: This command requires admin privileges.

Check if PHP installed correctly: Run this command:

php -v

What you should see: The PHP version number and details. If you see this, PHP is working.

Test PHP with a test page: Create a test file:

sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Copy and paste this into the file:

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

Save the file by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Now restart Apache:

sudo service apache2 restart

Open your browser and go to:

http://localhost/phpinfo.php

What you should see: A page showing all your PHP information and installed modules.

Step 7Create the ownCloud Database

Creating a dedicated database and user for ownCloud within MariaDB is a necessary step before you install ownCloud on WSL.

Log into MariaDB:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Type your root password.

Create a new database for ownCloud:

CREATE DATABASE owncloud;

Create a user for ownCloud (replace “new_password_here” with a real password):

CREATE USER 'ownclouduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Give this user permission to use the ownCloud database:

GRANT ALL ON owncloud.* TO 'ownclouduser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Save and exit:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 8Download ownCloud

⬇️ Downloading the ownCloud software and placing it in the correct directory on your WSL system is the next step.

First, check ownCloud download page to see if there’s a newer version than the one used in this guide.

Download ownCloud:

wget https://download.owncloud.org/community/owncloud-complete-20210326.zip -P /tmp
sudo unzip /tmp/owncloud-complete-20210326.zip -d /var/www

Flag: These commands require admin privileges.

Set the correct permissions so ownCloud works properly:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/owncloud/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/owncloud/

Flag: These commands require admin privileges.

Step 9Configure Apache for ownCloud

Configuring Apache for ownCloud involves creating a specific configuration file within your WSL setup so it knows how to serve your files.

Create a new configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf

Flag: This command requires admin privileges.

Copy and paste this into the file. Replace “example.com” with your real domain name or IP address:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin admin@example.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/owncloud/
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com

Alias /owncloud "/var/www/owncloud/"

<Directory /var/www/owncloud/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
<IfModule mod_dav.c>
Dav off
</IfModule>
SetEnv HOME /var/www/owncloud
SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/owncloud
</Directory>

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Save the file.

Enable ownCloud and required Apache features:

sudo a2ensite owncloud.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod headers
sudo a2enmod env
sudo a2enmod dir
sudo a2enmod mime

Flag: These commands require admin privileges.

Restart Apache to apply the changes:

sudo service apache2 restart

Step 10Finish Setting Up ownCloud

Finishing the ownCloud setup is done through your web browser, where you’ll connect it to the database you created in WSL.

Open your web browser and go to (replace with your IP or domain):

http://example.com

What you’ll see: The ownCloud setup page.

What to do:

• Create an admin username and password
• Enter the database details (username: ownclouduser, password: the one you created earlier, database name: owncloud)
• Click “Finish Setup”

Log in with your admin account and start using your cloud!

Summary

You’ve now learned how to install ownCloud on Windows using WSL, setting up your own personal file storage system.

Troubleshooting: If something doesn’t work, check that all the steps were completed in order. Make sure you ran all commands with admin privileges (sudo). If you still have problems, use the comment form below.