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Seafile is a powerful on-premise cloud solution. Jack Wallen walks you through the process of installing this solution on Ubuntu Server 20.04.

Image: Jack Wallen

In 2016, I outlined the process for installing the Seafile cloud storage solution on Ubuntu Server 16.04. The platform has continued to mature and the installation process has changed. So I thought I'd revisit the process, only this time on Ubuntu Server 20.04.

Seafile still includes the same features (with a few additions). The feature list includes the likes of:

Built-in file encryption

Easy collaboration

Team Wiki

Small footprint server, for high performance

AD/LDAP integration

Create groups with file syncing, online file editing, and more

Create libraries (for separate syncing)

Automatic file conflict resolution

Share libraries, subdirectories, links, files, and more

Let's make this happen on the latest server release from Canonical.

SEE:Serverless computing: A guide for IT leaders(TechRepublic Premium)

The first thing we're going to do is install the necessary dependencies. Log in to your Ubuntu Server and install MySQL with the command:

Start and enable MySQL with the commands:

Now we'll install the NGINX web server with the command:

With NGINX installed, start and enable it with the commands:

Next install the remaining dependencies with the commands:

Before we create the database, we need to secure the MySQL installation with the command:

Give the admin user a strong/unique password and answer "y" to the remaining questions.

At this point, you can create the database and a Seafile user. Log in to the MySQL prompt with the command:

At the MySQL console, issue the following commands:

CREATE DATABASE seafile_server;

CREATE DATABASE ccnet_server;

CREATE DATABASE seahub_server;

CREATE USER 'seafile'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'PASSWORD';

GRANT ALL ON seafile_server.* TO 'seafile'@'localhost';

GRANT ALL ON ccnet_server.* TO 'seafile'@'localhost';

GRANT ALL ON seahub_server.* TO 'seafile'@'localhost';

QUIT;

Where PASSWORD is a strong/unique password.

We need to download the latest version of Seafile. Do that with the command:

With the file download complete, unpack it with the command:

Change into the newly-created directory with the command:

Create a new directory to house Seafile with the command:

Move the entire contents of the unpacked file into the newly-created directory with the command:

Change into the Seafile directory with the command:

Issue the command:

You will be asked to answer a few questions regarding your server (name, address, port, etc.). You will also be asked about initializing a database. Make sure to type 1 for creating a new database. You will then be asked to answer another round of questions. The questions and answers should be:

mysql server host: localhost

mysql server port: 3306

root password: the root password for the MySQL server

mysql user for Seafile: seafile

password for Seafile user: PASSWORD

ccnet database name: ccnet-db

Seafile database name: seafile-db

Seahub database name: seahub-db

Where PASSWORD is a strong/unique password.

We can now configure our NGINX web server. To do that, create a new configuration file with the command:

In that file, paste the following:

Where SERVERADDRESS is either the domain or IP address of the hosting server.

Save and close the file. Restart NGINX with the command:

There are two services to start for Seafile. In order to start them both, issue the following two commands:

When you run the seahub service for the first time, you will be prompted to create a new admin user. For this you'll need to use an email address and strong password. After seahub starts, you can then log in to your Seafile instance by pointing it to http://SERVER_IP (where SERVER_IP is the IP address or domain of the hosting server). You will be prompted to log in with the credentials you created during the first run of the seahub service (Figure A).

Figure A

Once you've logged in, you'll find yourself on the Seafile main page, where you can start configuring the platform to perfectly suit your needs (Figure B).

Figure B

Congratulations, you now have your very own, self-hosted cloud platform. Enjoy.

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How to install the Seafile cloud storage solution on Ubuntu Server 20.04 - TechRepublic