Install TYPO3 on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Nginx, MariaDB and PHP

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 17.04 | 17.10 with Nginx, MariaDB and PHP 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 to function 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 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-FPM and Related Modules

TYPO3 is based on PHP.. so you’ll need to install it. To install PHP-FPM and related modules run the commands below

sudo apt install php-fpm 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-FPM, run the commands below to open the default PHP-FPM configurations file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/fpm/php.ini # Ubuntu 17.10
sudo nano /etc/php/7.0/fpm/php.ini # Ubuntu 17.04

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 Apache2 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;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  example.com www.example.com;

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

    location ~ \.php$ {
    try_files $uri = 404;
    fastcgi_split_path_info  ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
    fastcgi_pass             unix:/var/run/php/php7.1-fpm.sock; #Ubuntu 17.10
  # fastcgi_pass             unix:/var/run/php/php7.0-fpm.sock; #Ubuntu 17.04
    fastcgi_index            index.php;
    include                  fastcgi_params;
    fastcgi_param   PATH_INFO       $fastcgi_path_info;
    fastcgi_param   SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

    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.

Type the database connection credentials above and select the database you created earlier below.

Type the site name and admin credentials for the backend and continue.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed TYPO3 on Ubuntu

Enjoy!