How to Use Nextcloud as a Backup Target with WebDAV

Every backup strategy benefits from geographic diversity—storing copies in a separate location from the original data. Nextcloud, with its standard WebDAV endpoint, is an excellent backup target. It's S3-backed for durability, EU-hosted for compliance, and accessible from any platform.

This guide shows how to automate backups to Nextcloud from common environments.

Why Use Nextcloud for Backups?

• Standard protocol: WebDAV is supported by every major OS and backup tool
• S3-backed durability: DanubeData Storage Share uses S3 object storage behind the scenes
• EU data residency: Backups stay in Germany (GDPR-compliant)
• Access control: Create dedicated backup users with restricted folder access
• Cost-effective: 1 TB for €4.99/mo, 5 TB for €14.99/mo

Prerequisites

• A DanubeData Storage Share instance (create one here)
• A Nextcloud user account for backups (recommended: create a dedicated backup user)
• Your instance URL: https://your-subdomain.storage.danubedata.ro

Create a Dedicated Backup User

1. Log in to your Nextcloud admin panel
2. Go to Users and create a new user called backup
3. Set a strong password
4. Create a /Backups folder and share it with the backup user

The WebDAV endpoint for this user will be:

https://your-subdomain.storage.danubedata.ro/remote.php/dav/files/backup/

Linux Server Backups with rclone

rclone is the Swiss Army knife of cloud storage. It supports WebDAV natively and handles retries, checksums, and bandwidth limiting.

Install rclone

curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash

Configure the Remote

# Create rclone config
cat >> ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf << 'EOF'
[nextcloud]
type = webdav
url = https://your-subdomain.storage.danubedata.ro/remote.php/dav/files/backup/
vendor = nextcloud
user = backup
pass = YOUR_ENCRYPTED_PASSWORD
EOF

# Or use interactive config:
rclone config

Backup Script

#!/bin/bash
# /opt/backup-to-nextcloud.sh

set -e
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
BACKUP_DIR="/tmp/backup-$DATE"

# Create backup archive
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Backup database
mysqldump -u root --all-databases | gzip > "$BACKUP_DIR/databases.sql.gz"

# Backup configuration files
tar czf "$BACKUP_DIR/etc-config.tar.gz" /etc/nginx /etc/systemd/system/*.service

# Backup application data
tar czf "$BACKUP_DIR/app-data.tar.gz" /var/www/html

# Sync to Nextcloud
rclone sync "$BACKUP_DIR" nextcloud:Backups/$DATE/ --progress

# Clean up local temp files
rm -rf "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Remove backups older than 30 days from Nextcloud
rclone delete nextcloud:Backups/ --min-age 30d

echo "Backup completed: $DATE"

# Make executable and schedule
chmod +x /opt/backup-to-nextcloud.sh

# Run daily at 2 AM
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "0 2 * * * /opt/backup-to-nextcloud.sh >> /var/log/nextcloud-backup.log 2>&1") | crontab -

macOS Backups

Mount as Network Drive

1. Open Finder
2. Press Cmd+K (Connect to Server)
3. Enter: https://your-subdomain.storage.danubedata.ro/remote.php/dav/files/backup/
4. Enter your backup user credentials

The Nextcloud storage appears as a network drive. Use any backup tool (Time Machine alternative, rsync, or Arq) to write to this location.

Automated with rsync

# Install rclone via Homebrew
brew install rclone

# After configuring rclone (see Linux section above):
rclone sync ~/Documents nextcloud:Backups/MacBook/Documents/ --progress
rclone sync ~/Desktop nextcloud:Backups/MacBook/Desktop/ --progress

Windows Backups

Map as Network Drive

1. Open File Explorer
2. Right-click This PC > Map network drive
3. Enter: https://your-subdomain.storage.danubedata.ro/remote.php/dav/files/backup/
4. Check "Connect using different credentials" and enter backup user credentials

Once mapped, use Windows Backup, robocopy, or any backup software to write to the mapped drive.

Automated with robocopy

:: backup.bat - Run via Task Scheduler
robocopy "C:UsersYourUserDocuments" "Z:BackupsWindowsDocuments" /MIR /R:3 /W:10 /LOG:C:Logsackup.log

Docker Volume Backups

Back up Docker volumes to Nextcloud using rclone in a container:

# docker-compose.yml addition
services:
  backup:
    image: rclone/rclone:latest
    volumes:
      - app-data:/data/app:ro
      - db-data:/data/db:ro
      - ./rclone.conf:/config/rclone/rclone.conf:ro
      - ./backup.sh:/backup.sh:ro
    entrypoint: /bin/sh
    command: /backup.sh
    profiles:
      - backup

# Run backup manually
docker compose run --rm backup

# Or schedule via cron on the host
0 3 * * * cd /opt/myapp && docker compose run --rm backup

Nextcloud Desktop Client Sync

The simplest backup method for end users: install the Nextcloud desktop client and configure it to sync specific folders. Changes are backed up automatically.

1. Download the Nextcloud desktop client
2. Connect to your instance URL
3. Choose folders to sync
4. Files sync automatically in the background

Backup Best Practices

Storage Plans for Backups

Get Started

Nextcloud's WebDAV endpoint turns any managed instance into a reliable, EU-hosted backup target. Combined with rclone or native OS tools, you get automated offsite backups with minimal setup.

Create your DanubeData account and deploy a Storage Share instance for your backups. Plans start at €4.99/month for 1 TB.