User data location in SD card but files in external HD?

Last night I tried to install DietPi on my Raspberry pi 4, ended up asking chatgpt which had me manually change user data location directory, then I ran commands to uninstall to later find it’s in the software menu instead, ended up this morning to just start over flashing DietPi to the SD card again.

I have a 256gb micro SDXC card, not sure if overkill but my intention is use several softwares on the DietPi.
Then I have an external drive that’s maybe 3 TB, powered via a powered USB-hub and into the Raspberry pi.

I searched yesterday on google finding the forum here but I can’t find, if it’s possible to have the user data files on my card, while have a folder in my external hard drive where files being uploaded in nextcloud?
Because lets say I remove the hard drive sometime for a small while, there wont be any connection to nextcloud, or one wont be able login right?
And I feel it would be just a nice structure to have all settings and such on the actual card and only filestorage on the hard drive, as long it’s possible and unless it’s something I don’t know which strongly recommend me to just have all the files related to nextcloud on the hard drive?

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

We have a configuration option that would need to be set before installing Nextcloud

This would move whole NC stuff to your external drive

Another possibility is a NC configuration option. In NC you can add/specify external drives.

Oh alright, I see, there is plugins I needed in nextcloud to add external drive.
I’m reinstalling dietpi for third time now as I messed up something else along the way, can’t trust chatgpt anymore how I do anything with dietpi.
If I understand correct, all installation is on the sim card anyway and if I choose my external hard drive in that software_nextcloud_datadir it will still end up be the way I want, I guess. Assumed just it would be two settings for where I want it installed and where files that are uploaded would be put

What do you mean by this. Usually files are stored within the NC data directory at the end.

I have an SD card in the raspberry pi. The wish was to install the system on the SD card and all its things, while using the external HDD to store files that are being uploaded on nextcloud.
The whole confusion I find is when I install, I think it’s 4th or 5th time I make a fresh install again, trying get back to where it worked decently.

When I install DietPi, it asks some user data location, then when I install nextcloud it asks really the same thing yet again. I am not sure if these two are the same, if it just change or if on DietPi I first install, shall be on SD card and next time I run the installer, after formatting the HDD, I am to install nextcloud on HDD?

I tried the SD card location just recently, but found it a hassle in nextcloud as it seems like one upload to the SD card primarly, especially when I sync from app I didn’t see any setting to choose folder, maybe I didn’t look enough.

But now I try get back to where I was few installations ago, which I am unsure but all I know is files I uploaded in nextcloud always went into the HDD.

What I don’t want to happen though is, if I unplug the HDD that everything will stop working, so that if I install some other software that it will stop working because installation end entirely up on the HDD.

Usually this is not the case. There is no such question during initial setup.

Can you share the example. Usually there no question on data location

In this case, use the NC data location and adjust setting within dietpi.txt before installing NC

During upload, files are stored on a temp place by the web server first, before putting files in place in NC data location. But this is a web server setting and not something within NC.

Okay thanks for clarification.
Well, when going to dietpi-software, somewhere under the browse software, there’s option of where the data location are to be put. Now I don’t seem have remote connection to anything anymore since router restarted, well that’s another issue.

Anyway with current setup, I chose to install it the default way, once I was choose nextcloud I chose location on the external HDD, and it ends up be the way I want anyway, kind of. I tried unplug the HDD and the main page that shows apache2 works fine still though /nextcloud gets error and aren’t available, it would have been nice to still be able login to nextcloud even if the HDD would be pulled out.
But when I install it in default way on SD card, it seem like it will let by default let users upload files on the SD card which I wouldn’t want.