I recently installed Ubuntu 18.04 LTS version for testing purposes… for new users and students looking for help installing Joomla CMS on Ubuntu 18.04, the steps below should be a great place to start…
This post shows students and new users how to install Joomla on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. For those who don’t know, Joomla is an open source content management system (CMS) that helps webmasters and bloggers create dynamic and power websites.
Like many other content management systems, Joomla runs on top of the LAMP stack and might be the second or third most popular CMS in use today, right behind WordPress. So, if WordPress isn’t meeting your needs, you may want to give Joomla a try.
This post should be easy to follow even for new users.
To get started with installing and configuring Joomla on Ubuntu, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2
Joomla needs a web server 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
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
Step 2: Install MariaDB
Joomla also requires a database server… and MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it run the commands below.
sudo apt 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
After configuring above, restart MariaDB server by running the commands below
sudo systemctl restart mariadb.service
Step 3: Install PHP 7.1 and Related Modules
PHP 7.1 may not be available in 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 7.1
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1
sudo apt update
Finally, run the commands below to install PHP 7.1 and related modules..
sudo apt install php7.1 php7.1-common php7.1-mbstring php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-intl php7.1-mysql php7.1-cli php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-zip php7.1-curl
After installing PHP 7.1, run the commands below to open PHP default file.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini
Then make the change the following lines below in the file and save.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_input_vars = 1500 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Step 4: Create Joomla Database
Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a blank database for Joomla.
To logon to MariaDB, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called joomla
CREATE DATABASE joomla;
Create a database user called joomlauser with new password
CREATE USER 'joomlauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON joomla.* TO 'joomlauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download Joomla Latest Release
Next, run the commands below to download Joomla latest release.
cd /tmp && wget https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/releases/download/3.8.0/Joomla_3.8.0-Stable-Full_Package.zip
Then run the commands below to install unzip package, create Joomla folder in Apache2 root folder and extract the Joomla archived file.
sudo apt-get install unzip sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/joomla sudo unzip Joomla*.zip -d /var/www/html/joomla
Change modify the directory permission.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/joomla sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/joomla
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for Joomla. This file will control how users access Joomla content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called joomla.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.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/joomla/
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
<Directory /var/www/html/joomla/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Save the file and exit.
Step 7: Enable the Joomla Site and Redirect Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite joomla.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 browse to the domain name and you should see Joomla site setup wizard.
ex. http://example.com
Follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully configured Joomla.
Enjoy!
You may also like the post below:
Setup Drupal CMS on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 Support
Great guide.
At the end of step 8, with you configuration of apache, the url should be “localhost/joomla”, not only the site/localhost, but also the “/joomla”
Wonderful job on this article. Best I’ve come across to get this done right.
(We’re now at Joomla 3.8.12).
Your instructions for setting up apache2 and php are more clear than the ubuntu lamp/getting started tutorials. Thanks for taking the time to write this up!
Your article was a great help but I am stuck on the final step as I cannot seem to open a browser from the server. Every command I have tried has failed! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
On a new install, I had to add php location block with parameters into default as well as ensure root directory was set properly in that file.
Hi,
Thank you very much, very helpful. One last thing I am stuck on, the joomla http://localhost/joomla/installation/index.php is displaying “Error”. I don’t know where I have gone wrong, if you can kindly help I will be grateful.