Install Drupal on Ubuntu with Apache2, MariaDB, PHP and Let’s Encrypt SSL

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Drupal is a powerful and popular content management systems (CMS) use by many webmasters to create powerful websites and blogs. For those webmasters and website owners looking to run and manage dynamic, PHP-based websites and blogs easily may want to take a look at Drupal CMS.

In today’s environments, Drupal is frequently being installed with SSL/TLS encryption so that all traffic to and from the website is protected over HTTPS. Also, websites that use HTTPS may rank better with Google and other search engine providers.

This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install Drupal on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Apache2, MariaDB, PHP and Let’s Encrypt support. When you’re done, your website will automatically be configured to use HTTPS for all traffic.

To get started with installing Drupal with Let’s Encrypt support, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Install Apache2

Drupal requires a webserver to function and the second most popular webserver in used today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt install apache2

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

Drupal also requires a database server to function.. and MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it run the commands below.

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

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

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.

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 mariadb.service

Step 3: Install PHP and Related Modules

Drupal also requires PHP to function. To install PHP and related modules run the commands below

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php libapache2-mod-php php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-soap php-gd php-xml php-intl php-mysql php-cli php-mcrypt php-ldap php-zip php-curl

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

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini      # Ubuntu 17.10
sudo nano /etc/php/7.0/apache2/php.ini      # Ubuntu 17.04

Then change the following lines below in the file and save. You may increase the value to suite your environment.

max_execution_time = 180
max_input_time = 60
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 64M
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0

Step 4: Create Drupal 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 Drupal 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 drupal

CREATE DATABASE drupal;

Create a database user called drupaluser with new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON drupal.* TO 'drupaluser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Download Drupal Latest Release

Next, visit Drupal site and download the latest package…. or run the commands below to download and extract Drupal content.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new Drupal root directory.

cd /tmp && cd /tmp && wget https://ftp.drupal.org/files/projects/drupal-8.4.2.tar.gz
tar -zxvf drupal*.gz
sudo mv drupal-8.4.2 /var/www/html/drupal

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

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

Step 6: Configure Apache2 Drupal Site

Finally, configure Apache2 configuration file for Drupal. This file will control how users access Drupal content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called drupal.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/drupal.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/drupal
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

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

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

      <Directory /var/www/html/drupal>
            RewriteEngine on
            RewriteBase /
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
            RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L,QSA]
      </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Save the file and exit.

Step 7: Enable the Drupal Site

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

sudo a2ensite drupal.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod env
sudo a2enmod dir
sudo a2enmod mime

Step 8 : Restart Apache2

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

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Step 9: Obtain and Configure Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificates

Now that the Drupal configuration is done, continue below to get Let’s Encrypt installed and configured. Let’s Encrypt now provides a Apache2 module to automate this process. To get the client/module installed on Ubuntu, run the commands below

sudo apt-get install python-certbot-apache

After that run the commands below to obtain your free Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate for your site.

sudo certbot --apache -m admin@example.com -d example.com -d www.example.com

After running the above commands, you should get prompted to accept the licensing terms. If everything is checked, the client should automatically install the free SSL/TLS certificate and configure the Apache2 site to use the certs.

Please read the Terms of Service at
https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must
agree in order to register with the ACME server at
https://acme-v01.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A)gree/(C)ancel: A

Choose Yes ( Y ) to share your email address

Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit
organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about EFF and
our work to encrypt the web, protect its users and defend digital rights.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Y)es/(N)o: Y

This is how easy is it to obtain your free SSL/TLS certificate for your Nginx powered website.

Please choose whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, removing HTTP access.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1: No redirect - Make no further changes to the webserver configuration.
2: Redirect - Make all requests redirect to secure HTTPS access. Choose this for
new sites, or if you're confident your site works on HTTPS. You can undo this
change by editing your web server's configuration.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2

Pick option 2 to redirect all traffic over HTTPS. This is important!

After that, the SSL client should install the cert and configure your website to redirect all traffic over HTTPS.

Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://example.com and
https://www.example.com

You should test your configuration at:
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=example.com
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.example.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT NOTES:
 - Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at:
   /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
   Your key file has been saved at:
   /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem
   Your cert will expire on 2018-02-24. To obtain a new or tweaked
   version of this certificate in the future, simply run certbot again
   with the "certonly" option. To non-interactively renew *all* of
   your certificates, run "certbot renew"
 - If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by:

   Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt:   https://letsencrypt.org/donate
   Donating to EFF:                    https://eff.org/donate-le

The highlighted code block should be added to your Apache2 Drupal site configuration file automatically by Let’s Encrypt certbot. Your Drupal site is ready to be used over HTTPS.

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

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

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

       <Directory /var/www/html/drupal/>
            RewriteEngine on
            RewriteBase /
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
            RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L,QSA]   
       </Directory>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =example.com [OR]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =www.example.com
RewriteRule ^ https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [END,NE,R=permanent]
</VirtualHost>

A new configuration file for the domain should also be created named /etc/apache2/sites-available/drupal-le-ssl.conf. This is Apache2 SSL module configuration file and should contain the certificate definitions defined in it.

<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost *:443>
     ServerAdmin admin@example.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/drupal/
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

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

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

      <Directory /var/www/html/drupal/>
            RewriteEngine on
            RewriteBase /
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
            RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L,QSA]
      </Directory>

SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem
Include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-apache.conf
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>

After that, open your browser and browse to your domain name to start Drupal configuration wizard. You should see Drupal setup wizard… Please follow the wizard carefully.

https://example.com
drupal ubuntu let's encrypt

Follow the onscreen wizard until you’re done.

ubuntu drupal let's encrypt

Enter the database connection info and continue.

drupal ubuntu let's encrypt

Create your Drupal site admin account and website name.

drupal let's encrypt

Finish

drupal let's encrypt

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed Drupal with Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificates.

To setup a process to automatically renew the certificates, add a cron job to execute the renewal process.

sudo crontab -e

Then add the line below and save.

0 1 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew & > /dev/null

The cron job will attempt to renew 30 days before expiring

Enjoy!

You may also like the post below:

Install Joomla on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Apache2, MariaDB PHP and Let’s Encrypt SSL

Published by Richard Zayzay

Hi, I'm Richard. In my spare time, I research topics that are interesting and worthwhile for users and students who want to try something new. I, too, am a student and my focus here is to help other students and new users get started with managing Ubuntu Linux, Windows, Content Management Systems (CMS) and others. I try to do my best explaining the topics and detailing the instructions so that anyone can understand. These tutorials may not work in all situations and for all users. However, if you run into trouble, please ask your questions below and I or someone from the community may help you resolve. Thanks for reading and hope you come back. ~Richard

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