Manage the forum via command line.

The way you run OCC commands depends on your Nextcloud installation method. Replace <command> with the actual forum command you want to run.

If Nextcloud is installed directly on your server:

cd /var/www/html/nextcloud
sudo -u www-data php occ <command>

Example:

sudo -u www-data php occ forum:repair-seeds

Development Docker (docker-compose):

docker exec --user www-data -i nextcloud-nextcloud-1 php occ <command>

Nextcloud All-in-One (AIO):

docker exec --user www-data -it nextcloud-aio-nextcloud php occ <command>

Find your container name first

docker ps | grep nextcloud

Then run the command

docker exec --user www-data -it <container-name> php occ <command>

Examples:

docker exec --user www-data -i nextcloud-nextcloud-1 php occ forum:rebuild-all-stats
docker exec --user www-data -it nextcloud-aio-nextcloud php occ forum:set-role alice admin

If Nextcloud is installed via Snap:

sudo nextcloud.occ <command>

Example:

sudo nextcloud.occ forum:repair-seeds

Notes

• Always run OCC commands as the web server user (www-data on most systems)
• Use -i flag for non-interactive mode, -it for interactive mode
• Adjust container names based on your Docker setup
• Check your Nextcloud documentation if commands don't work as expected

forum:repair-seeds

Initialize or repair forum data. Safe to run multiple times as it will skip data that already exists.

What it does:

• Creates default roles (Admin, Moderator, User) if missing
• Creates category headers if missing
• Creates default categories if missing
• Sets up category permissions for all roles
• Creates default BBCodes if missing
• Assigns user roles as needed
• Creates welcome thread if missing

When to use:

• After initial installation
• To repair incomplete installations
• After failed migrations
• To restore missing default data

forum:rebuild-all-stats

Rebuild all statistics including users, categories, threads, and posts.

What it does:

• Rebuilds user statistics (post count, thread count, first/last post dates)
• Rebuilds category statistics (thread count, post count)
• Rebuilds thread statistics (post count, last post reference)

When to use:

• When statistics appear incorrect or out of sync
• After manual database modifications
• After data import/migration

forum:rebuild-user-stats

Rebuild user statistics only.

What it does:

• Recalculates post count for all users
• Recalculates thread count for all users
• Updates first and last post timestamps
• Creates missing user stats records
• Updates existing user stats records

Output: Shows number of users processed, created, and updated

forum:rebuild-thread-stats

Rebuild statistics for categories, threads, and posts.

What it does:

• Recalculates thread count per category
• Recalculates post count per category
• Recalculates post count per thread
• Updates last post references

Output: Shows number of categories and threads processed and updated

forum:set-role <username> <role>

Assign a forum role to a user.

Parameters:

• username (required) - The Nextcloud username of the user
• role (required) - Either a role ID (numeric) or role name (case-insensitive)

Examples:

php occ forum:set-role alice admin
php occ forum:set-role bob moderator

php occ forum:set-role charlie 1

Notes:

• Validates that the user exists in Nextcloud
• Checks if role exists before assignment
• Prevents duplicate role assignments
• For multiple roles with same name, use numeric ID

forum:test-notifier

Test the forum notification system.

What it does:

• Instantiates the forum notifier
• Creates a test notification
• Attempts to prepare and format the notification
• Displays notification details (subject, link, icon)

When to use:

• To verify notification system is working
• To debug notification issues
• After notification configuration changes

Output: Shows notifier ID, name, and test notification details, or error messages if something fails

• All rebuild commands are safe to run and won't damage data

• Statistics commands can be run periodically via cron for maintenance

• Use forum:repair-seeds as a first troubleshooting step for most issues

• Check Nextcloud logs after running commands:

    tail -f /var/www/html/data/nextcloud.log