Install Contao CMS on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.2 Support

If you’re looking for a true open source enterprise content manage system, Contao might be a good place to start. It’s built using PHP server scripting language, and keeps content, modules and templates separated.

Contao is an open source, enterprise content management system that relies on the LAMP or LEMP stack. It is designed for ease of use to allow business owners and power users to create powerful and dynamic content websites.

For high performance content management platform, you may want to give Contao a test ride to manage your websites or blogs. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install Contao on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 support.

This post covers installing the latest version of Contao, which at the time of writing was at version 4.5.4

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

Step 1: Install Apache2

Contao requires a webserver and the most popular webserver in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt update 
sudo apt install apache2

After installing Apache2, run the commands below to disable directory listing.

sudo sed -i "s/Options Indexes FollowSymLinks/Options FollowSymLinks/" /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Next, run the commands below 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

Step 2: Install MariaDB

MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open source database servers to use with Contao. To install MariaDB run the commands below.

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

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

Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

sudo systemctl stop mysql.service
sudo systemctl start mysql.service
sudo systemctl enable mysql.service

Run these on Ubuntu 18.04 and 18.10 LTS

sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service
sudo systemctl start mariadb.service
sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

After that, run the commands below to secure MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

• Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter
• Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
• New password: Enter password
• Re-enter new password: Repeat password
• Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
• Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
• Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]:  Y
• Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

Restart MariaDB server

sudo systemctl restart mysql.service

Step 3: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

PHP 7.2 may not be available on Ubuntu default repositories… in order to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2

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

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-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-soap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-intl php7.2-mysql php7.2-cli php7.2-zip php7.2-curl

After install PHP, run the commands below to open Apache2 PHP default file.

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

Then make the change the following lines below in the file and save.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
max_execution_time = 180
memory_limit = 256M
post_max_size = 20M
upload_max_filesize = 100M

Step 4: Create Contao Database

Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create Contao database.

Run the commands below to logon to the database server. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called contaodb

CREATE DATABASE contaodb;

Create a database user called contaouser with new password

CREATE USER 'contaouser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON contaodb.* TO 'contaouser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

After creating the Contao database, run the commands below to open MariaDB configuration file.

sudo nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf

Then copy and paste the lines below into the file just below [mysqld]

innodb_large_prefix = 1
innodb_file_format = Barracuda
innodb_file_per_table = 1

Save and exit.

Restart MariaDB Server

sudo systemctl restart mysql.service

Step 5: Download Contao Latest Release

Next, visit Contao site and download the latest version.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Apache2 root directory.

cd /tmp && wget wget https://download.contao.org/4.5.4/zip -O contao.zip
sudo apt install unzip
unzip contao-4.5.4.zip
sudo mv contao-4.5.4 /var/www/html/contao

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Contao to function.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/contao/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/contao/

Step 6: Configure Apache2

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

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/contao.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/html/contao/web
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/contao/>
        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 7: Enable the Contao and Rewrite Module

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

sudo a2ensite contao.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Step 8 : Restart Apache2

To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below.

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

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

You should now be presented with a Contao install screen. If, instead, you see a white screen it probably means that your
server is probably not configured correct.

Type a new installation password for the installation.

Next, type the database connection info and continue.

Next, create Contao admin user for the portal.

That should create the admin account to logo to the backend. when done, logon and begin configuring Contao.

The installation assistant can then be used to guide you through the process of installing a new version of Contao.

To logon to the backend go to the URL below:

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed Contao CMS on Ubuntu server.

Remove the installation folder by running the commands below

sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/contao/contao/install.php

And you’re done.

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