How to Install webEdition CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Apache

The webEdition CMS (content management system) is based on PHP and MySQL and great for users who wish to manage their websites and blogs with ease. This CMS has a large function spectrum and can be customized easily.

webEdition is free to download and use and comes with intuitive user interface, granularly administer users and groups and a responsive design that supports all modern devices.

If you’re a small or medium size company or professional looking for a platform that is easy to install, simple to maintain and flexible, then webEdition is a good place to start. It is a perfect CMS platform to showcase your brand.

This platform is fast and lightweight, gives webmasters modular and extensible features, extensible via plugins to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with users across multiple devices, including mobile.

For more about webEdition, please check their Homepage

This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install webEdition on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 LTS.

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

Install Apache2 HTTP Server

webEdition requires a web server and Apache2 HTTP server is the most popular open source web server available today. To install Apache2 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

Now that Apache2 is installed. to test whether the web server is working, open your browser and browse to the URL below.


Apache2 Test Page

If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.

Install MariaDB Database Server

webEdition also requires a database server to store its content. If you’re looking for a truly open source database server, then MariaDB is a great place to start. 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 18.10 and 18.04 LTS

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, 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

Now that MariaDB is installed, to test whether the database server was successfully installed, run the commands below.

sudo mysql -u root -p

type the root password when prompted.

mariadb welcome

If you see a similar screen as shown above, then the server was successfully installed.

Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

webEdition is a PHP based CMS and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. To run PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 and previous, you may need to run the commands below:

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-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-gd php7.2-soap php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip

After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default configuration file for Apache2.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini

The lines below is a good settings for most PHP based CMS. Update the configuration file with these and save.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
short_open_tag = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

Everytime you make changes to PHP configuration file, you should also restart Apache2 web server. To do so, run the commands below:

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Now that PHP is installed, to test whether it’s functioning, create a test file called phpinfo.php in Apache2 default root directory. ( /var/www/html/)

sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Then type the content below and save the file.

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

Next, open your browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address followed by phpinfo.php

/phpinfo.php

You should see PHP default test page.

PHP Test Page

Create webEdition CMS Database

Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for webEdition to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a blank webEdition database.

To logon to MariaDB database server, run the commands below.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called webedition

CREATE DATABASE webedition;

Create a database user called webeditionuser with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON webedition.* TO 'webeditionuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download webEdition Latest Release

To get webEdition latest release you may want to go and download from its download page. Or use the commands below to use wget and get it downloaded.

Once downloaded extract the downloaded content into the newly created webEdition directory.

cd /tmp
wget 
unzip OnlineInstaller.zip
sudo mkdir /var/www/webedition
sudo cp OnlineInstaller.php /var/www/webedition

Next, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for webEdition root directory and give Apache2 control.

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

Configure Apache2

Finally, configure Apache2 site configuration file for webEdition. This file will control how users access webEdition content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called webedition.conf

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

     <Directory /var/www/webedition/>
          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 webEdition and Rewrite Module

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

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

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see webEdition setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.


Then follow the on-screen instruction to complete the setup. Select the installation language then continue.

webEdition Ubuntu install

Here you can select the stable or pre-release version. For production sites, the stable version is best.

webEdition Ubuntu install

On the next page, validate that all requirements are met and continue.

webEdition Ubuntu install

Select a DocumentRoot path for the installation. If the current setting is correct, then leave blank and continue.

webEdition Ubuntu install

Next, type in the database connection info created above. the database name, username and password. then continue

webEdition Ubuntu install

Next, accept the default and continue

webEdition Ubuntu install

After that, create an admin account that will be used to manage the backend portal.

webEdition Ubuntu Setup

Next, wait for all packages to be downloaded, installed and configured.

webEdition Ubuntu Setup

After that webEdition should be ready to use.

webEdition Ubuntu Setup

Login and begin setting up your environment!

webEdition Ubuntu Setup

Congratulation! You have successfully installed webEdition CMS on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04.

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