Install OctoberCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 Support
When looking for a great content management systems, don’t ignore OctoberCMS… Although WordPress is the king of CMS, OctoberCMS has some benefits that probably not available on WordPress and other CMS out there.
OctoberCMS is a free, open source, self-hosted and secure content management platform based on Laravel PHP framework. It is simple and modular, built from the ground up for ease of use to allow webmasters and editors create powerful and dynamic content websites.
If you’re looking for a robust, secure and easy to use content management platform to manage your websites or blogs that’s 100% free, you’ll find OctoberCMS to be useful. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install OctoberCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 support.
This post covers installing the latest version of OctoberCMS.
To get started with installing OctoberCMS, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 Web Server
Since a web server is required… go and install the most popular web server, which is Apache2.. to do that, run the commands below :
sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, run the commands below to disable directory listing globally.
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 Database Server
OctoberCMS 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 mysql.service sudo systemctl start mysql.service sudo systemctl enable mysql.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 mysql.service
Step 3: Install PHP and Related Modules
PHP 7.1 isn’t 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 7.1
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
Run the commands below to install PHP 7.1 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.1 libapache2-mod-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 install PHP 7.1, run the commands below to open Apache2 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 = 64M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Step 4: Create OctoberCMS Database
Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First go and create a blank OctoberCMS 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 october
CREATE DATABASE october;
Create a database user called octoberuser with new password
CREATE USER 'octoberuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant stripeuser full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON october.* TO 'octoberuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download OctoberCMS Latest Release
Next, visit OctoberCMS site and download the latest version.
After downloading, run the commands below to create a root directory for OctoberCMS and extract the downloaded file into Apache2 root directory.
cd /tmp && wget http://octobercms.com/download -O octobercms.zip sudo unzip octobercms.zip sudo mv install-master /var/www/html/octobercms
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for OctoberCMS to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/octobercms/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/octobercms/
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for OctoberCMS. This file will control how users access OctoberCMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called octobercms.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/octobercms.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/octobercms ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com <Directory /var/www/html/octobercms/> 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 OctoberCMS and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite octobercms.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. You should see OctoberCMS setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.
Then follow the on-screen instructions… you will be asked to input your database configuration, administrative details and other configuration settings. When complete you may sign-in and start using OctoberCMS. Return to http://example.com/backend/ anytime thereafter to sign-in.

Enter the database info and continue

Create the administrator login for the site and continue

After that select to install with a theme, then sit and relax and wait for the installation to complete.

Enjoy!
You may also like the post below:
Hi, !Robot.
Really nice tutorial, it was really helpful for me as an initiated in the CMS world and specifically in the October CMS world.
I would have a suggestion, because I’ve followed your tutorial, but at some point I had an issue. I’ve installed the project in a “Projects” directory outside “/var/www/html/” and I didn’t wanted to give ownership to www-data, the apache user, because it will lock me outside and I will not be able to edit the October CMS files in any way. So I’ve used a different command:
sudo chown -R :www-data
But then I had a problem, because the October CMS sent an exception. Because the www-data user will not have write permissions. So I’ve altered the permissions command also, to give write permissions to the group(chmod 775)
sudo chmod -R 775
I’ve saw that you mention it in a video tutorial also. But I thought that I could remind you to maybe put this as a comment in this tutorial.
Thanks again.