This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Coaster CMS on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2 HTTP server.
Coaster CMS is a next generation Laravel based content management system (CMS) designed to be flexible and user friendly that you’ll want to use to power your websites and blogs.
It is a new, lightweight blogging platform written entirely in the Laravel PHP Framework which will help you simplify the process of building and maintaining a website for businesses or individuals.
When you use Composer to install Coaster CMS packages, you can easily upgrade from the command line with Composer, which is much simpler.
Coaster CMS also has built-in modules that extend its functionality and the platform is actively being developed.
For more about Coaster CMS, please check its homepage
To get started with installing Coaster CMS, follow the steps below:
Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. so install it since Coaster CMS needs it.
To install Apache2 HTTP on Ubuntu server, run the commands below.
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, 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
To test Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.
Install MariaDB Database Server
Coaster CMS 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 Coaster CMS.
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
Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
PHP 7.2 may not be available in 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 7.2
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-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default config file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below are great settings to apply in your environments.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 max_input_vars = 1500 date.timezone = America/Chicago
After making the change above, save the file and close out.
Create Coaster CMS Database
Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First create a Coaster CMS 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 coastercms
CREATE DATABASE coastercms;
Create a database user called coastercmseuser with new password
CREATE USER 'coastercmsuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the coastercms database.
GRANT ALL ON coastercms.* TO 'coastercmsuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
After installing PHP and related modules, all you have to do is restart Apache2 to reload PHP configurations.
To restart Apache2, run the commands below
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in Apache2 root directory by running the commands below
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Save the file. then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php
/phpinfo.php
You should see PHP default test page.
Download Coaster CMS Latest Release
To get Coaster CMS latest release you may want to use Github repository. Install Composer, Curl and other dependencies to get started.
sudo apt install curl git curl -sS | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Apache2 root directory and download Coaster CMS packages from Github.
cd /var/www sudo composer create-project web-feet/coastercms coastercms
After that, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Coaster to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/coastercms/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/coastercms/
Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for Coaster CMS. This file will control how users access Coaster CMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called coastercms.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/coastercms.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 [email protected]
DocumentRoot /var/www/coastercms/public
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/coastercms/public/>
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.
Enable the Coaster CMS and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite coastercms.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see Coaster CMS setup wizard.
Verify that all is good and continue.
On this screen, enter the database name, database user and password and continue
Next, create an admin account and continue.
After that, select a theme to use and complete the installation.
Now to access the admin portal, go to:
admin
Start building your site
Conclusion:
You have learned how to install Coaster CMS on Ubuntu with Apache2 HTTP server. If you find any error above, please leave a comment below
Thanks,
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