How to Install InlineCMS on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install InlineCMS on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2 HTTP server.

For the uninitiated, InlineCMS is a flat-file content management system (CMS) based on PHP that is easy to install and setup. No database, just PHP — plain and simple!

InlineCMS can use any HTML/CSS template and allows you to edit pages right in place. See final result immediately, right as your visitors will see it.

If you are looking for a solution to edit your website live and with ease and don’t want to fiddle with SQL, then InlineCMS is a great place to start. It comes with support for any templates, inline editing, drop ‘n drop, any language with no backend and more.

This CMS platform is designed for ease of use to allow webmasters to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with users across multiple devices, including mobile.

For more about InlineCMS, please check their Homepage

To get started with installing InlineCMS, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server

InlineCMS requires a web server and Apache2 HTTP server is the most popular open source web server available today. To install Apache2 server, run the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop apache2.service
sudo systemctl start apache2.service
sudo systemctl enable apache2.service

Now that Apache2 is installed. to test whether the web server is working, open your browser and browse to the URL below.

http://localhost

If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.

Step 2: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

InlineCMS is a PHP based CMS and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. To run PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 and previous, you may need to run the commands below:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2

sudo apt update

Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-sqlite3 php7.2-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-gd php7.2-bcmath php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip

After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default configuration file for Apache2.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini

The lines below is a good settings for most PHP based CMS. Update the configuration file with these and save.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
short_open_tag = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

Everytime you make changes to PHP configuration file, you should also restart Apache2 web server. To do so, run the commands below:

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Now that PHP is installed, to test whether it’s functioning, create a test file called phpinfo.php in Apache2 default root directory. ( /var/www/html/)

sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Then type the content below and save the file.

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

Next, open your browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address followed by phpinfo.php

http://localhost/phpinfo.php

You should see PHP default test page.

Step 3: Download InlineCMS Latest Release

After installing the server and packages above, go do InlineCMS download page and get the latest. Or use the commands below to download version 1.01 from its download page.

cd /tmp
wget http://www.inlinecms.com/files/inlinecms-1.0.1.zip
sudo unzip inlinecms-1.0.1.zip -d /var/www/inlinecms

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for InlineCMS root directory and give Apache2 control.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/inlinecms/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/inlinecms/

Step 4: Configure Apache2

Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for InlineCMS. This file will control how users access InlineCMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called inlinecms.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/inlinecms.conf

Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your own domain name and directory root location.

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin admin@example.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/inlinecms
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/inlinecms/>
          Options FollowSymlinks
          AllowOverride All
          Require all granted
     </Directory>

     ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Save the file and exit.

Step 5: Enable the InlineCMS and Rewrite Module

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below

sudo a2ensite inlinecms.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see InlineCMS setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com/

The wizard will check your server and ask for some details about the site. Please select which language would you like to use:

Provide some details for your new site and continue

Since there’s no database requirement, simply create and admin account and continue.

Now Layout Editor will be started, where you can choose which parts of each of your layouts should be editable. After that you will be able to begin filling content to your site

Complete the setup and start building your site.

Enjoy~

Congratulation! You have successfully installed InlineCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 and 18.10.

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