This brief post shows students and new users how to install and use Joomla content management system (CMS) on Ubuntu Linux with Apache HTTP web server. This post will also have a link to setup free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates to secure your Joomla websites and applications.
Joomla is a free and open source CMS based on PHP and MySQL that also has many features and thousands of plugins and template or themes. If you want to create an online website or store, Joomla might be the simplest way to do it, especially if you will need support from users to manage and maintain the site.
This tutorial is based on Ubuntu Linux. We’ll be installing Apache web server, MariaDB database server and PHP modules. We’ll also link to another post that will show you how to secure your Joomla website using Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificates.
For more about Joomla, please check its homepage
To get started with installing Joomla on Ubuntu Linux, follow the steps below:
How to install Apache on Ubuntu Linux
As mentioned above, we’re going to be using Apache web server to run Joomla. Joomla requires a web server to function, and Apache is one of the most popular open source web servers available today.
To install Apache on Ubuntu, run the commands below:
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Apache services to always start up everytime your server starts up.
sudo systemctl stop apache2.service sudo systemctl start apache2.service sudo systemctl enable apache2.service
To test whether Apache is installed and functioning, open your web browser and browse to the server’s IP address or hostname.
If you see the above page in your browser, then Apache is working as expected.
How to install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux
A database server is required for Joomla to function. Joomla stores its content in a database, and MariaDB is probably the best database server available to run Joomla.
MariaDB is fast, secure and the default server for almost all Linux servers. To install MariaDB, run the commands below:
sudo apt install mariadb-server sudo apt install mariadb-client
After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB services to always start up when the server boots.
sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service sudo systemctl start mariadb.service sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service
Next, run the commands below to secure the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during the installation.
sudo mysql_secure_installation
When prompted, use the guide below to answer:
If you've just installed MariaDB, and haven't set the root password yet, you should just press enter here. Enter current password for root (enter for none): PRESS ENTER Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] n Change the root password? [Y/n] n 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 All done!
To verify and validate that MariaDB is installed and working, login to the database console using the commands below:
sudo mysql -u root -p
You should automatically be logged in to the database server since we initiated the login request as root. Only the root can login without password, and only from the server console.
If you see a similar screen as shown above, then the server was successfully installed.
How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux
As we also mentioned above, we’re installing PHP on Ubuntu since Joomla requires it. PHP packages are added to Ubuntu repositories. The versions the repositories might not be the latest. If you need to install the latest versions, you’ll need to add a third party PPA repository.
To a third party repository with the latest versions of PHP, run the commands below.
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
At the time of this writing, the latest PHP version 8.0.
sudo apt update
Next, run the commands below to install PHP 8.0 and related modules.
sudo apt install php8.0 php8.0-common php8.0-mysql php8.0-gmp php8.0-curl php8.0-intl php8.0-mbstring php8.0-xmlrpc php8.0-gd php8.0-xml php8.0-cli php8.0-zip
Next, you’ll want to change some PHP configuration settings that work great with Joomla. Run the commands below to open PHP default configuration file.
sudo nano /etc/php/8.0/apache2/php.ini
Then change the line settings to be something line the lines below. Save your changes and exit.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0 upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
How to create Joomla database on Ubuntu
At this point, we’re ready to create Joomla database. As mentioned above, Joomla uses databases to store its content.
To create a database for Joomla, run the commands below:
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called joomladb
CREATE DATABASE joomladb;
Next, create a database user called joomladbuser and set password
CREATE USER 'joomladbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON joomladb.* TO 'joomladbuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
How to download Joomla
We’re ready to download Joomla and begin configuring it. First, run the commands below to download the latest version of Joomla from its repository.
To view Joomla releases, see this page.
At the time of this writing, the latest version is 4.0.2. Future version will have different links to download from.
Run the commands below to download and extract Joomla version 4.0.2.
cd /tmp wget sudo unzip -d /var/www/joomla /tmp/Joomla_4-0-2-Stable-Full_Package.zip
Then run command below to allow www-data user to own the Joomla directory.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/joomla/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/joomla/
How to configure Apache for Joomla
We have downloaded Joomla content into a new folder we called Joomla. Now, let’s configure Apache to create a new server block to use with our Joomla website. You can create as many server blocks with Apache.
To do that, run the commands below to create a new configuration file called joomla.conf in the /etc/apache2/sites-available/ directory to host our Joomla server block.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf
In the file, copy and paste the content below into the file and save.
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com ServerAdmin [email protected] DocumentRoot /var/www/joomla <Directory /var/www/joomla/> 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 saving the file above, run the commands below to enable the new file that contains our Joomla server block. Restart Apache after that.
sudo a2ensite joomla.conf sudo systemctl reload apache2
At this stage, Joomla is ready and can be launched by going to the server’s IP or hostname.
However, we want to make sure our server is protected with Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificates. So, continue below to learn how to generate Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for websites.
How to setup Let’s Encrypt for Joomla
We have written a great post on how to generate and manage Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for Apache web server. You can use that post, to apply it here for your Joomla website.
To read the post on how to generate Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for website, click on the link below:
How to Setup Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu Linux with Apache – Website for Students
If you were successful in generating a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, you should then reopen the server block for our Joomla website by running the commands below.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf
The new Joomla server blocks configurations should look similar to the line below. Take notes of the highlighted lines.
- The first server block listens on port 80. It contains a 301 redirect to redirect HTTP to HTTPS.
- The second server block listens on port 443. It contains a 301 redirect to redirect www to non-www domain.
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com Redirect permanent / </VirtualHost> <VirtualHost *:443> ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com DocumentRoot /var/www/joomla Protocols h2 http:/1.1 <If "%{HTTP_HOST} == 'www.example.com'"> Redirect permanent / </If> ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example.com-error.log CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example.com-access.log combined SSLEngine On SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem SSLOpenSSLConfCmd DHParameters "/etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem" SSLCipherSuite ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 SSLProtocol All -SSLv2 -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1 SSLCompression off SSLUseStapling on Header always set Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000" <Directory /var/www/joomla/> Options FollowSymlinks AllowOverride All Require all granted </Directory> </VirtualHost>
Save the file above, then restart Apache and PHP using the commands below.
sudo systemctl reload apache2
Finally, if everything went as planned, you should be able to start Joomla setup wizard by browsing to the server hostname or IP address over HTTPS.
A Joomla setup wizard should appear. Follow the wizard to complete the setup.
Select the installation language, Site Name, Super User account details, including email address, username and password.
Then click Next to continue.
On the next screen, enter the database info created above and click Next to continue.
Next, validate that all requirements and packages are installed.
After that, click Install to complete the wizard.
You can now login to the admin backend and begin setting up your website environment.
When you’re done, Joomla should be installed and ready to use. Login as admin and begin configuring your site.
That’s it!
Conclusion:
This post showed you how to install Joomla on Ubuntu Linux with link to setting up Let’s Encrypt. If you find any error above, or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
