Welcome to the NZRT Wiki Podcast. Today we’re looking at 📚 Nextcloud Overview.

So, what is Nextcloud? At its core, Nextcloud is an open-source platform that handles file hosting, team collaboration, and communication — all in one place. Think of it as NZRT’s self-hosted alternative to something like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. The key word there is self-hosted, which means NZRT owns and controls the infrastructure rather than relying on a third-party cloud provider. That matters for privacy, security, and integration flexibility.

For NZRT specifically, the Nextcloud instance runs on the Hoopla cPanel server — that’s the live, online server, not anything local. You can reach it at cloud dot nzrtnetwork dot com forward slash nextcloud. If you’re on the desktop, you’ll also find it synced locally to a folder called Nextcloud2 under the main user profile. So changes you make on the server show up on your machine and vice versa — that’s the sync client doing its job.

Now let’s walk through what Nextcloud actually does. There are six main capability areas worth knowing.

First, file sync and sharing. This is the bread and butter. You get cross-platform sync clients, so whether you’re on Windows, Mac, or mobile, your files follow you. You can create secure sharing links and set granular permissions, meaning you can control exactly who can view, edit, or download a file.

Second, collaboration tools. Nextcloud includes a built-in chat feature called Talk, which handles both text messaging and video calls. There are also shared calendars and something called Deck, which is a task board tool — similar to Trello if you’ve used that. So team coordination happens inside Nextcloud without jumping to external apps.

Third, the office suite. Nextcloud integrates with OnlyOffice, which lets you create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly in the browser. No sending files to Google Docs or Microsoft 365 — it all stays within the NZRT ecosystem.

Fourth, document management and Dolibarr integration. This is a big one for NZRT. Nextcloud syncs with Dolibarr, which is the ERP system used for invoices, contracts, and project management. That connection means documents like invoices and contracts can be stored in Nextcloud with full version control, and Dolibarr can reference or manage them through its document module. It creates a proper approval and versioning workflow without manual file juggling.

Fifth, the API and WebDAV support. Nextcloud exposes a RESTful API and supports the WebDAV protocol. In plain terms, that means other systems and automation scripts can talk to Nextcloud programmatically — uploading files, reading folder contents, creating share links, all without a human clicking through the interface. This is how NZRT’s agents and scripts interact with Nextcloud behind the scenes.

Sixth, security. Nextcloud offers end-to-end encryption for sensitive files, supports single sign-on and LDAP directory integration, two-factor authentication, and keeps audit logs so you can track who accessed or changed what.

Now, zooming out to the NZRT picture — Nextcloud sits at the centre of NZRT’s self-hosted infrastructure and acts as the collaboration backbone. It’s the central file hub that the whole team works from, which means there’s no dependence on external cloud services for day-to-day document work. It bridges into Dolibarr for things like invoice storage, contract versioning, and document approval workflows. It also ties into WordPress, helping manage media assets and supporting author collaboration on content. And as mentioned, the Talk feature replaces external chat tools like Slack for internal team communication. Calendars and contacts round it out, feeding into scheduling and CRM use cases.

The service code for Nextcloud within NZRT’s systems is 000NCL — you’ll see that referenced in tickets, repos, and documentation whenever something relates to the Nextcloud platform.

If you want to go deeper, there are related wiki notes covering the architecture and tech stack, installation and setup, the admin dashboard, and NZRT-specific Nextcloud configuration. Those are worth exploring if you’re working on anything infrastructure-related or need to understand how the system was put together.

The short version: Nextcloud is NZRT’s self-hosted Google Workspace equivalent, running live on Hoopla, synced to your desktop, wired into Dolibarr and WordPress, and accessible via API for automation. It’s not just file storage — it’s the connective tissue for how the team works, shares, and communicates.

That’s it for this episode of the NZRT Wiki Podcast. Thanks for listening.