Nextcloud

This guide connects Nextcloud — the self-hosted content collaboration platform — to RustFS through its External Storage app with the S3 backend. You will enable files_external, mount a RustFS bucket into every user's files view, and upload a file through WebDAV that lands directly in the bucket. The workflow was verified with nextcloud:32.0.15 (SQLite, single container) against rustfs/rustfs-x86-musl:v2.3.1.

You need Docker, or an existing Nextcloud instance with occ access. This deployment is intended for local integration testing, not production.

Architecture

Nextcloud proxies file operations on the mount point to the S3 backend. Objects are stored under their mount-relative paths, so the bucket mirrors the names users see.

Install Nextcloud

Run Nextcloud with an admin account, replacing all connection placeholders. SQLite keeps the test self-contained; use MariaDB or PostgreSQL in production:

docker run -d --name nextcloud --network oo-rustfs_default -p 8080:80 \
  -e NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_USER=<admin-user> \
  -e NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_PASSWORD=<admin-password> \
  nextcloud:32.0.15

If the web UI still shows the installer after startup, finish it manually:

docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ maintenance:install \
  --admin-user <admin-user> --admin-password <admin-password>

Enable the External Storage app

The files_external app ships with Nextcloud but starts disabled, and its occ commands only exist once the app is enabled:

docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ app:enable files_external

files_external 1.24.1 enabled

Mount the RustFS bucket

Create an external storage of backend type amazons3 with the amazons3::accesskey authentication backend. Replace all connection placeholders:

docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ files_external:create \
  /rustfs amazons3 amazons3::accesskey \
  --user <admin-user> \
  --config bucket=<your-bucket> \
  --config hostname=<your-rustfs-endpoint> \
  --config port=9000 \
  --config use_ssl=false \
  --config use_path_style=true \
  --config key=<your-access-key> \
  --config secret=<your-secret-key>

Storage created with id 1

The mount point /rustfs appears in the files view of the given user. use_path_style=true is required for a non-AWS endpoint. Check the connection before using it:

docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ files_external:verify 1

  - status: ok
  - code: 0

Upload a file and verify

Upload through the WebDAV endpoint, which writes through the external storage:

echo "nextcloud writes to rustfs" > /tmp/nc-demo.txt

curl -u <admin-user>:<admin-password> \
  -T /tmp/nc-demo.txt \
  http://localhost:8080/remote.php/dav/files/<admin-user>/rustfs/nc-demo.txt \
  -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n"

Read it back through the same path, then confirm the object in RustFS:

rc ls rustfs/<your-bucket>/ -r

[2026-09-29 13:42:48]       27 B nc-demo.txt

The object key equals the path inside the mount, so files uploaded through Nextcloud can also be read directly with any S3 client.

Nextcloud file stored in the RustFS Console

Stop or reset

To remove the mount without touching the bucket:

docker exec -u www-data nextcloud php occ files_external:delete 1

To delete the bucket contents:

rc rm rustfs/<your-bucket>/ --recursive --force

Review S3 compatibility notes before adopting additional external storage backends.
Create dedicated production credentials with Access Key Management.
Follow the Nextcloud external storage documentation to share the mount with groups and enable versioning.

Nextcloud

Architecture

Install Nextcloud

Enable the External Storage app

Mount the RustFS bucket

Upload a file and verify

Stop or reset

Troubleshooting

`There are no commands defined in the "files_external" namespace`

`Not enough arguments (missing: "authentication_backend")`

Mount shows but is empty, or uploads fail

Next steps

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