Install PrestaShop on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP

PrestaShop is a popular and widely used open source and free eCommerce platform based on PHP. It has comprehensive product features for small, medium and large businesses to create and manage their online stores for free.
If you’re looking for a functional, high performance eCommerce platform to manage your online store front that’s 100% free, you’ll find PrestaShop to be useful. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install PrestaShop on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP support.
This post covers installing the latest version of PrestaShop, which at the time of writing was at version 1.7.2.4
To get started with installing PrestaShop, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2
PrestaShop requires a webserver to function and the most popular webserver in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:
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
PrestaShop 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
PrestaShop also requires PHP to function. To install PHP and related modules run the commands below
sudo apt install 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 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
Step 4: Create PrestaShop 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 PrestaShop 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 prestashop
CREATE DATABASE prestashop;
Create a database user called prestashopuser with new password
CREATE USER 'prestashopuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON prestashop.* TO 'prestashopuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download PrestaShop Latest Release
Next, visit PrestaShop site and register for a free account. You must register before you’re allowed to download a copy. The community edition is what you’ll want to download.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Apache2 root directory.
cd /tmp && curl -O https://download.prestashop.com/download/releases/prestashop_1.7.2.4.zip unzip prestashop_1.7.2.4.zip sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/prestashop sudo unzip prestashop.zip -d /var/www/html/prestashop/
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for PrestaShop to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/prestashop/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/prestashop/
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for PrestaShop. This file will control how users access PrestaShop content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called prestashop.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/prestashop.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/prestashop/ ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com <Directory /var/www/html/prestashop/> 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 PrestaShop and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite prestashop.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 PrestaShop setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.
http://localhost

Follow the onscreen wizard until you’ve successfully installed PrestaShop

Enter the database connection info and connect.

If everything is right, you should be able to connect and install PrestaShop.
After installing, run the commands below to delete the install folder.
sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/prestashop/install/
Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed PrestaShop.
You may also like the post below:
“`sudo unzip prestapshop.zip -d /var/www/html/prestashop/“`
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“`sudo unzip prestashop.zip -d /var/www/html/prestashop/“`
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Hi there.
Thanks for tutorial.
It is very good explained.
But, I am having many issues to install prestashop.
Is it possible to need to change to olders php versions?
Now, I am running php7.3 in 1.7.6.1 prestashop version.
The problem might not really be the php version you are using. There might be some few glitches in how you have set up your server and the theme. So, what kind of a problem do you exactly have???
When I install non of the default modules of prestashop appear and I can’t install a theme by the same reason… how to fix?