Kirby is a flat file Content Management System (CMS) with no database involved. It helps you create your personal or business websites in minutes just by uploading its content to your server. Kirby CMS offers features that may not be available to other PHP based CMS, like WordPress Joomla or Drupal.
For one, it doesn’t need a database server, all its data is simply stored in the file system (file-based, flat file CMS). It also provides native mark down WYSIWYG support, SEO friendly, flexible CSS framework with no installation required.
For more about Kirby, please check it homepage.
This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Kirby on Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.10 / 18.04 LTS with Apache2 and PHP 7.2 support.
When you’re ready to get Kirby working, continue with the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. so install it, since Kirby 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.
Step 2: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories for some systems. if you need 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-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-sqlite3 php7.2-soap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-curl 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 memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
After making the change above, save the file and close out.
Step 3: Restart Apache2
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.
Step 4: Download Kirby Latest Release
Next, visit Kirby site and download the latest package. or run the commands below to download Kirby packages from github.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new Kirby root directory. After that, change into Kirby root directory to install PHP required packages.
Take notes of the branch number. if there are newer branch number, replace the one below with it.
cd /var/www/html/ sudo apt install git sudo git clone --recursive kirby
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Kirby to function properly.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/kirby/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/kirby/
Step 5: Configure Apache2 Kirby Site
Finally, configure Apache2 configuration file for Kirby. This file will control how users access Kirby content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called kirby.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/kirby.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/html/kirby/
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/kirby/>
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.
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
Step 6: Enable the Kirby Site and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below, then restart Apache2 server.
sudo a2ensite kirby.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
Restart Apache2
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Next, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see Kirby page.
Kirby is a databaseless flat file content management system. It’s structure allowed you to have just the amount of functionality you needed in a flat file CMS solution, adding extensions (blade packs) for further functionality, whilst allowing setup on simple servers with no database.
To logon to the backend panel, go to the address below:
/panel/install
You’ll be prompted to create a new admin account.
You should be able to logon with the username and password you created.
After creating the first admin account, you can return to the backend by using the URL below:
/panel/login
Enjoy!
You have successfully installed Kirby CMS on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 and 18.10. For more tutorials on Ubuntu please search our site.
