Nextcloud Won't Work After Enabling Email Management in UI Settings

[dalbring (Dirk Albring)]

2026-09-10T15:47:02-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-db] 2026-09-10 19:47:02 0 [Note] Server socket created on IP: '::'.
2026-09-10T15:47:02-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-db] 2026-09-10 19:47:02 0 [Note] mariadbd: ready for connections.
2026-09-10T15:47:02-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-db] Version: '10.6.27-MariaDB-ubu2204'  socket: '/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock'  port: 3306  mariadb.org binary distribution
2026-09-10T15:47:06-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-db] 2026-09-10 19:47:06 3 [Warning] Access denied for user 'root'@'::1' (using password: NO)
2026-09-10T15:47:06-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Started Podman nextcloud-db.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:06-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-app.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:07-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Started libcrun container.
2026-09-10T15:47:07-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] => Configuring PHP session handler...
2026-09-10T15:47:07-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] ==> Using Redis as PHP session handler...
2026-09-10T15:47:08-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] edc7d66c282eff4731b1a405df01736f039ea5633dd70f0ce90f5ec812efed8a
2026-09-10T15:47:08-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] => Searching for hook scripts (*.sh) to run, located in the folder "/docker-entrypoint-hooks.d/before-starting"
2026-09-10T15:47:08-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] ==> Skipped: the "before-starting" folder is empty (or does not exist)
2026-09-10T15:47:08-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:runagent] wait-startup: waiting for nextcloud-app (1)
2026-09-10T15:47:08-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] 2026-09-10 19:47:08,527 CRIT Supervisor is running as root.  Privileges were not dropped because no user is specified in the config file.  If you intend to run as root, you can set user=root in the config file to avoid this message.
2026-09-10T15:47:08-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] 2026-09-10 19:47:08,527 CRIT Supervisor is running as root.  Privileges were not dropped because no user is specified in the config file.  If you intend to run as root, you can set user=root in the config file to avoid this message.
2026-09-10T15:47:09-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] crond: crond (busybox 1.37.0) started, log level 8
2026-09-10T15:47:09-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] [10-Sep-2026 19:47:09] NOTICE: fpm is running, pid 51
2026-09-10T15:47:09-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] [10-Sep-2026 19:47:09] NOTICE: ready to handle connections
2026-09-10T15:47:42-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:runagent] setup-ldap: rasi-tech.com configuration completed
2026-09-10T15:47:43-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Started Podman nextcloud-app.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:43-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-nginx.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:43-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-notify_push.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] Error: lsetxattr(label=system_u:object_r:container_file_t:s0) /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md: operation not permitted
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=126/n/a
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] 00d53b5f96d25aae67be249968cb51434cc294bd71318eee8d1bfb7aa4372ee3
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Failed to start Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:agent@nextcloud1] Job for nextcloud-nginx.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:agent@nextcloud1] See "systemctl --user status nextcloud-nginx.service" and "journalctl --user -xeu nextcloud-nginx.service" for details.
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Started libcrun container.
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Stopped Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-nginx.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-notify_push] [2026-09-10 19:47:45.161734 +00:00] ERROR [notify_push] src/main.rs:87: Self test failed: Error while communicating with nextcloud instance: error sending request for url (http://127.0.0.1/index.php/apps/notify_push/test/version)
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] 1039a499e011df8aec3cb55e280df1f148852188749ee60e822d3bb15cfe4d6c
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Started Podman nextcloud-notify_push.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:45-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:agent@nextcloud1] task/module/nextcloud1/f1161c2b-0b97-46ed-9ec0-a3887817b097: action "configure-module" status is "aborted" (1) at step 50systemd
2026-09-10T15:47:46-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] Error: lsetxattr(label=system_u:object_r:container_file_t:s0) /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md: operation not permitted
2026-09-10T15:47:46-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=126/n/a
2026-09-10T15:47:46-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] c27da6b8f84c85e704f9b13f91deed0a437a5bfa34532a0e6905abf798d7a697
2026-09-10T15:47:46-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2026-09-10T15:47:46-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Failed to start Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:47-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
2026-09-10T15:47:47-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Stopped Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:47-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-nginx.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:47-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] Error: lsetxattr(label=system_u:object_r:container_file_t:s0) /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md: operation not permitted
2026-09-10T15:47:47-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=126/n/a
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-redis] 1:M 10 Sep 2026 19:47:48.016 * 10000 changes in 60 seconds. Saving...
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-redis] 1:M 10 Sep 2026 19:47:48.017 * Background saving started by pid 16
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-redis] 16:C 10 Sep 2026 19:47:48.333 * DB saved on disk
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-redis] 16:C 10 Sep 2026 19:47:48.334 * Fork CoW for RDB: current 1 MB, peak 1 MB, average 0 MB
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-redis] 1:M 10 Sep 2026 19:47:48.419 * Background saving terminated with success
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] 5cbaca131dabc720ee2f24bc33b09012948c78235626267d502789ac80327c30
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Failed to start Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Stopped Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:48-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-nginx.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:49-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] Error: lsetxattr(label=system_u:object_r:container_file_t:s0) /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md: operation not permitted
2026-09-10T15:47:49-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=126/n/a
2026-09-10T15:47:50-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] c12bbd485b9c1d22dee9cd5a44f66cf96f22b66902cdeec5d9ab07ae6d549126
2026-09-10T15:47:50-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2026-09-10T15:47:50-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Failed to start Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:50-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 4.
2026-09-10T15:47:50-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Stopped Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:50-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Starting Podman nextcloud-nginx.service...
2026-09-10T15:47:51-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] Error: lsetxattr(label=system_u:object_r:container_file_t:s0) /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md: operation not permitted
2026-09-10T15:47:51-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=126/n/a
2026-09-10T15:47:51-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] 7e3284b93f6c0346ce69133d157fbde6a4ec2180725e825f60565bfb90e98ea8
2026-09-10T15:47:51-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2026-09-10T15:47:51-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Failed to start Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:52-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
2026-09-10T15:47:52-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Stopped Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:47:52-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
2026-09-10T15:47:52-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] nextcloud-nginx.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2026-09-10T15:47:52-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:systemd] Failed to start Podman nextcloud-nginx.service.
2026-09-10T15:50:00-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:nextcloud-app] crond: USER www-data pid 147 cmd php -f /var/www/html/cron.php
2026-09-10T15:50:40-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:agent@nextcloud1] task/module/nextcloud1/efb9846c-5f2d-458c-b824-5e19f9ad56bf: get-name/50get_name is starting
2026-09-10T15:50:40-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:agent@nextcloud1] task/module/nextcloud1/53abaa53-14e1-4863-9b5a-5286473afec8: get-status/20read is starting

Excerpt from system log for nextcloud1 shown above. Looks like Podman nextcloud-nginx.service is failing to start.I tried rebooting the Rocky 9 VM that I’m running NS8 on, but it didn’t help. Nextcloud was working beautifully. It was just sending test mails from the Nextcloud basic settings page to the ns8 user, rather than the Nextcloud user’s profile email. I figured if I switched on the manage email sending from Nextcloud admin panel, from within the NS8 UI for nextcloud1, I would test it out again. I thought no harm. However, when I try to access nextcloud in my browser, now I get bad gateway in my browser window. So, I tried restoring a backup I had made 3 days ago, of nextcloud1, from within the NS8 UI. It created another instance, i.e., nextcloud2. I’m afraid to uninstall nextcloud1 and try using nextcloud2 instead. Any guidance you might have?

[mrmarkuz (Markus Neuberger)]

Hi Dirk,

it seems there’s a permission error.
Did you manually add/change the file /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md?

@dalbring

2026-09-10T15:47:44-04:00 [1:nextcloud1:podman] Error: lsetxattr(label=system_u:object_r:container_file_t:s0) /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md: operation not permitted

The path doesn’t exist in my installation, it’s nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeleton/Readme.md (skeleton without trailing “s”)

Please remove the file…

rm /home/nextcloud1/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/nextcloud-app-data/_data/core/skeletons/Readme.md

…and restart Nextcloud.

@dalbring

I’m afraid to uninstall nextcloud1 and try using nextcloud2 instead. Any guidance you might have?

You could set another FQDN for the nextcloud2 instance in the NS8 UI so you can test the restored Nextcloud without removing/touching the original instance.

[dalbring (Dirk Albring)]

Excellent pickup, Markus! I should do a better job of slowing down and reading each line in my logs. I had redirected nextcloud to use the newly created ‘skeletons’ directory and placed just the readme file in it, so that all new users would see only that in their documents folder, when logging into our nextcloud. I did this a week ago and changed the permissions to match the original ‘skeleton’ directory. It was working, apparently until I tried setting the ‘manage email sending from nextcloud admin panel’ switch in the NS8 UI yesterday.

Question: When doing a restore of an app in the NS8 UI, does it restore to the next consecutive instance of the app, rather than replace the original instance that was backed up? I didn’t have a nextcloud2 instance until after I tried restoring nextcloud1.

I’ll create a different post to see if anyone knows why my nextcloud test emails get sent to the nethserver user (via LDAP) that’s logged into nextcloud, rather than their email entered in their nextcloud profile. These are two different email addresses. The nethserver user has the domain associated with ns8’s mail server. The email entered in their nextcloud profile is a different mail server. That’s why I experimented with the switch in my nextcloud1 UI settings.

[mrmarkuz (Markus Neuberger)]

@dalbring

It was working, apparently until I tried setting the ‘manage email sending from nextcloud admin panel’ switch in the NS8 UI yesterday.

I guess it was working until the next container restart which was triggered by changing the UI settings.

@dalbring

Question: When doing a restore of an app in the NS8 UI, does it restore to the next consecutive instance of the app, rather than replace the original instance that was backed up?

Yes, the instance number is increased.