This article describes steps one can take to install BookStack on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support.
BookStack is an opensource platform for creating documentation and wikis content for your users. It’s built on the LAMP or LEMP stack and great for creating professional documentations for any project.
BookStack interface is easy and simple. The page editor has a simple WYSIWYG interface, and all content is broken into three simple real-world groups:
If you currently using an antiquated documentation creator or platform, you may want to give BookStack a try. It is a great alternative to other documentation software and platform.
For more on BookStack, please visit its home page
How to install BookStack on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support
As described above, BookStack is an opensource platform for creating documentation and wikis content for your users. It’s built on the LAMP or LEMP stack and great for creating professional documentations for any project.
Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support.
Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. So, install it, since BookStack 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
MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open source database servers to use with Magento. 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 16.04 LTS
sudo systemctl stop mysql.service sudo systemctl start mysql.service sudo systemctl enable mysql.service
Run these on Ubuntu 17.10 and 18.04 LTS
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 7.1 and Related Modules
PHP 7.1 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 7.1
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
Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.1 libapache2-mod-php7.1 php7.1-common php7.1-sqlite php7.1-curl php7.1-intl php7.1-mbstring php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-mysql php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-cli php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-tidy php7.1-zip
After installing PHP 7.1, run the commands below to open PHP default config file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/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 cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0 max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
After making the change above, save the file and close out.
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.
Create BookStack Database
Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for BookStack to function, continue below to start configuring the servers.
First run the commands below to create a blank BookStack database.
To logon to MariaDB database server, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called bookstack
CREATE DATABASE bookstack;
Create a database user called bookstackuser with new password
CREATE USER 'bookstackuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON bookstack.* TO 'bookstackuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Download and Install BookStack
Run the commands below to install Composer and use it to download BookStack content.
sudo curl -sS | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/bin --filename=composer cd /var/www/html/ sudo apt install git sudo git clone --branch release --single-branch cd BookStack sudo composer install
Next, create the environment configuration file from the example file. and configure the database connection info
sudo mv .env.example .env sudo nano .env
and enter the database connection info you created above
# Database details DB_HOST=localhost DB_DATABASE=bookstack DB_USERNAME=bookstackuser DB_PASSWORD=database_user_password
Save and exit.
After that, run the commands below in the BookStack directory to create the application unique key and migrate the database
sudo php artisan key:generate sudo php artisan migrate
Next, run the commands below to change the root folder permissions.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/BookStack/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/BookStack/
Configure Apache2 BookStack Site
Finally, configure Apache2 configuration file for BookStack. This file will control how users access BookStack content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called bookstack.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/bookstack.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/BookStack/public
ServerName example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/BookStack/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.
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
Enable the BookStack Site
After configuring the Virtual Host above, enable it by running the commands below, then restart Apache2 server.
sudo a2ensite bookstack.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Next, open your brwoser and go to the URL. type in the database connection info and continue.
Type default admin user ‘[email protected]‘ with password ‘password‘, and then press the ‘Login’ button.
Login and begin using BookStack.
~Enjoy!
