Install TYPO3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Nginx, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 Support

Although WordPress is the #1 content management system, other CMS might provide some values that are not available to WordPress users… If you’re looking for an alternative CMS to WordPress, make sure to give TYPO3 a try first..

TYPO3 is an enterprise open source content management system based on PHP. It is designed for ease of use to allow enterprises and owners to create powerful and dynamic content websites.

If you’re looking for a functional, high performance content management platform to manage your websites or blogs and 100% free, you’ll find TYPO3 to be useful. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install TYPO3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Nginx, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 support.

This post covers installing the latest version of TYPO3, which at the time of writing was 8.7.8 LTS

To get started with installing TYPO3, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Install Nginx

TYPO3 requires a webserver and the second most popular webserver in use today is Nginx. So, go and install Nginx on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt install nginx

Next, run the commands below to stop, start and enable Nginx service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service
sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

Step 2: Install MariaDB

TYPO3 also requires a database server.. 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-FPM 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 FPM and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.1-fpm 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-ldap php7.1-zip php7.1-curl

After install PHP-FPM, run the commands below to open the default PHP-FPM configurations file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/fpm/php.ini

Then change the following lines below in the file and save… you can increase the value to suite your environments.

memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 64M
max_execution_time = 240
max_input_vars = 1500
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0

Step 4: Create TYPO3 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 TYOP3 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 typo3

CREATE DATABASE typo3;

Create a database user called typo3user with new password

CREATE USER 'typo3user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON typo3.* TO 'typo3user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Download TYPO3 Latest Release

Next, visit TYPO3 site and download the latest version.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Nginx root directory.

cd /tmp && wget https://get.typo3.org/8.7.8 -O typo3.tar.gz
tar xzf typo3.tar.gz
sudo mv typo3_src-8.7.8 /var/www/html/typo3

Prepare TYPO3 for installation by creating a blank file call FIRST_INSTALL

sudo touch /var/www/html/typo3/FIRST_INSTALL

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Concrete5 to function.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/typo3/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/typo3/

Step 6: Configure Nginx TYPO3 Site

Finally, configure Nginx site configuration file for TYPO3. This file will control how users access TYPO3 content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called typo3

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/typo3

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.

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    root /var/www/html/typo3/public;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  example.com www.example.com;

    location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ @sfc;       
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

    location =/ {
      recursive_error_pages on;
      error_page 405 = @sfc;
      return 405;
    }

    location @t3frontend {
      try_files $uri /index.php$is_args$args;
    }

   location @sfc {
     error_page 405 = @t3frontend;
    # Query String needs to be empty
    if ($args != '') {
        return 405;
    }

    # We can't serve static files for logged-in BE/FE users
    if ($cookie_nc_staticfilecache = 'fe_typo_user_logged_in') {
        return 405;
    }
    if ($cookie_be_typo_user != '') {
        return 405;
    }

    # Ensure we redirect to TYPO3 for non GET/HEAD requests
    if ($request_method !~ ^(GET|HEAD)$ ) {
        return 405;
    }

    charset utf8;
    try_files /typo3temp/tx_ncstaticfilecache/${scheme}/${host}${uri}/index.html
          /typo3temp/tx_ncstaticfilecache/${scheme}/${host}${uri}
          =405;
   }

   location /typo3temp/tx_ncstaticfilecache {
     deny all;
  }

}

Save the file and exit.

Step 7: Enable the Nginx Site

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

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/typo3 /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 8 : Restart Nginx

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

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name followed by install. You should see TYPO3 setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com

Then follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully installed TYPO3.