How to Install Perch CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Apache

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Perch CMS on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2 HTTP server.

Perch is paid (free on localhost) content management system (CMS) that is simple, flexible and user friendly. It is designed to make building and editing small sites a breeze.

Perch is HTML 5 compatible and offers you a choice of Markdown, Textile or HTML – with or without an editor plugin. It is easy to install and manage and will help you simplify the process of building and maintaining a website for businesses or individuals.

If you’re looking for a content management platform that is extensible and easy to use, then look no further than Perch CMS.

Perch also has built-in modules that extend its functionality, and the platform is actively being developed and maintained with support from users and developers as well.

For more about Perch, please check its homepage

To get started with installing Perch, follow the steps below:

Install Apache2 HTTP

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. so install it since Perch 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.


apache2 ubuntu install

Install MariaDB Database Server

Perch 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 Perch.

To install MariaDB run the commands below.

sudo apt 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 php7.2-sqlite

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 Perch Database

Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First create a Perch 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 perch

CREATE DATABASE perch;

Create a database user called perchuser with new password

CREATE USER 'perchuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Then grant the user full access to the perch database.

GRANT ALL ON perch.* TO 'perchuser'@'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.

PHP 7.2 ubuntu nginx

Download Perch Latest Release

To download and install Perch, visit its download page here.

Or use the commands below to download and install via the command line. At the time or this writing, the latest version is 3.1.5.

cd ~/Downloads
unzip perch_v3.1.5.zip
sudo mv perch_v3.1.5/perch /var/www/perch

Since you just ran the web server as root, you should make sure any newly created files are owned by the www-data user and group.

To do that, run the commands below:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/perch/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/perch/

Configure Apache2

Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for Perch. This file will control how users access Perch content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called perch.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/perch.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/perch
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/perch/>
        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 Perch and Rewrite Module

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below

sudo a2ensite perch.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name or hostname. This is often localhost but can be a host name or IP address. Your server admin or hosting company will have this information available.


Type in the database name, username and password. Then click the Test Settings button.

Perch Ubuntu Install

If you have a license key, you can set the software up fully licensed and ready to go live. If you’d like to test things out locally first, you can do that without a license. You’ll need to get a license before your site goes live.

Perch Ubuntu Setup

Next, create an admin account to use to manage Perch.

Perch Ubuntu install

After installing, login and start building your site

perch ubuntu setup

Conclusion:

You have learned how to install Perch on Ubuntu with Apache2 HTTP server. If you find any errors above, please leave a comment below

Thanks,

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