This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install and configure SeeCMS on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 LTS servers.
SeeCMS is an open source, PHP based content management systems (CMS) that gives you all the tools and resources you need to build great websites without the need for HTML or PHP skills.
With it intuitive and powerful backend, you’ll be able to put together a website with ease. You also get a powerful search tool, backend analytics, drag n drop media panel and more.
If you are looking for a solution to to build and manage you own websites without the need for any coding skill, then SeeCMS is a great place to start.
This CMS platform is designed for ease of use to allow webmasters to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with users across multiple devices, including mobile.
For more about SeeCMS, please check their Homepage
To get started with installing SeeCMS, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server
You will need a web server to run SeeCMS and Apache2 HTTP server is the most popular open source web server available today. So go and get it for SeeCMS.
To install Apache2 server, run the commands below:
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2 webserver, 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
Now that Apache2 is installed. to test whether the web server is working, open your browser and browse to the URL below.
If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.
Step 2: Install MariaDB Database Server
SeeCMS also needs a database server to store its content. and MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open source database servers to use with SeeCMS.
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
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
To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to logon to MariaDB server
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then type the password you created above to sign on. if successful, you should see MariaDB welcome message
Step 3: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
SeeCMS is a PHP based CMS and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. To run PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 and previous, you may need to run the commands below:
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
Next, 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-sqlite3 php7.2-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-gd php7.2-bcmath php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default configuration file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
The lines below is a good settings for most PHP based CMS. Update the configuration file with these and save.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Everytime you make changes to PHP configuration file, you should also restart Apache2 web server. To do so, run the commands below:
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Now that PHP is installed, to test whether it’s functioning, create a test file called phpinfo.php in Apache2 default root directory. ( /var/www/html/)
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Next, open your browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address followed by phpinfo.php
You should see PHP default test page.
Step 4: Create SeeCMS Database
Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First create a SeeCMS database.
Run the commands below to logon to MariaDB. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called seecms
CREATE DATABASE seecms;
Create a database user called seecmsuser with new password
CREATE USER 'seecmsuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the seecms database.
GRANT ALL ON seecms.* TO 'seecmsuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download SeeCMS Latest Release
After installing the server and packages above, go and get the latest copy of SeeCMS from its download site.
After downloading, use the commands below to extract the archived content into Apache2 root directory.
cd ~/Downloads sudo mkdir -p /var/www/seecms sudo unzip 'SeeCMS v3.46.zip' -d /var/www/seecms
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for SeeCMS root directory and give Apache2 control.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/seecms/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/seecms/
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for SeeCMS. This file will control how users access SeeCMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called seecms.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/seecms.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/seecms/public
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/seecms/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
<Directory /var/www/seecms/>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*) index.php [PT,L]
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Save the file and exit.
Step 7: Enable the SeeCMS and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite seecms.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see SeeCMS setup wizard to complete.
Type in the site information and continue.
Next, type in the database username and password. and click Install
After setting up, you should be able to login and begin setting up your site.
Enjoy~
Congratulation! You have successfully installed SeeCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04
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