How to install Nextcloud Exchange connector without a container
Sometimes, due to policies in place or for convenience, it may be desirable to install the Nextcloud Exchange Connector without using containers.
These are the system requirements which are needed in order to run:
- NET 8.0 needes to be available on the machine.
- PostgreSQL database must be made available.
This article does not include on how to setup PostgreSQL, documentation can be found here.
Particularly if you wish to run everything within Linux and use Microsoft Exchange On-Premise.
- libgssapi-krb5-2
This is generally available on Linux distributions and is only applicable if it's a stripped-down distribution.
Installing .NET 8
Download .NET 8 from Microsoft it's official website.
If you wish to run the Nextcloud Exchange Connector using IIS, please install the following.
Additional information regarding IIS deployment can be found here.
Alternatively, if you prefer to run the Nextcloud Exchange Connector on Linux or as a standalone Windows application, please download the following.
Configuration
Extract the by Sendent provided ZIP file. The contents of the ZIP file include an appsettings.json file. This file must be modified in order to configure the Nextcloud Exchange Connector.
Before we modify the appsettings.json file read these articles.
- How to configure Exchange (section Microsoft Exchange)
- Overview of settings
In the appsettings.json file there are two sections that must be configured.
- ConnectionStrings
- Service
ConnectionStrings Section
Set the value of DatabaseConnectionString with the connection string of your PostgreSQL database. Make sure that the database is already created (but empty!).
The connection string looks like:
Host=<database_ip_or_fqdn>;Port=<database_port>;Username=<database_user>;Password=<database_user_password>;Database=<database_name>;
| Key | Placeholder Value | Description |
| Host | <database_ip_or_fqdn> | The ip address or FQDN of your database server. |
| Port | <database_port> | The port used by your database server. |
| Username | <database_user> | The database user, that can access later the <database_name>. |
| Password | <database_user_password> | The password belonging to the database user. |
| Database | <database_name> | The database that the Nextcloud Exchange Connector can use. |
Example: Host=192.168.100.1;Port=3844;Username=db_user;Password=my_password;Database=sync_database;
Service Section
The overview of settings article explains which variables to set.
Running
In case you want to setup the Nextcloud Exchange Connector using IIS, see the following Microsoft article.
Without going into details with proxy configuration and how to automatically start the service, the application can be started using the following command. Make sure that your terminal window is set to the right directory, which has the extracted ZIP file and updated appsettings.json.
In your terminal run the following command: dotnet Sendent.Synchronisation.Service.dll