Install eZ Platform on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 | 18.10 with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.2

eZ Platform helps you design and develop content-driven websites and applications. It’s great for secure extranet portals, online databases, e-commerce and multilingual sites.

If you want a Content Management System (CMS) that has enterprise-class features, scalable, and performs at a high level, then eZ Platform is a good place to start. eZ Platform is built on an open source core with support for open standards, which might be very useful in helping you run your digital content.

This CMS platform is designed for ease of use to allow enterprises and business owners to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with users across multiple devices, including mobile.

For more about eZ Platform, please check their Homepage

This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install eZ Platform on Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.10 and 18.04 LTS.

To get started with installing eZ Platform, follow 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 eZ Platform 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 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 18.04 and 18.10 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

Step 3: 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

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
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: Create eZ Platform Database

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

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

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called ezplatform

CREATE DATABASE ezplatform;

Create a database user called ezplatformuser with new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON ezplatform.* TO 'ezplatformuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Download eZ Platform Latest Release

To get eZ Platform latest release you may want to use Github repository. Install Composer, Curl and other dependencies to get started.

sudo apt install curl git
curl -sS  | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Apache2 root directory and downaload eZ Platform packages from Github. Always replace the version number with the latest branch.

sudo mkdir /var/www/html/ezplatform
cd /var/www/html/ezplatform
sudo composer create-project --no-dev --keep-vcs ezsystems/ezplatform . v2.3.0

After a moment the installer will ask you to provide a few parameters:

1. Choose a secret; it should be a random string, made up of up to 32 characters, numbers, and symbols. This is used by Symfony when generating CSRF tokens, encrypting cookies, and for creating signed URIs when using ESI (Edge Side Includes).
2. You can accept the default options for database_driver, database_host and database_port.
3. Select a database_name or accept the default one.
4. Provide your database_user and database_password.

After that, run the commands below to install eZ Platform.

sudo composer require sensio/generator-bundle
sudo composer ezplatform-install

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for eZ Platform to function.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/ezplatform/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/ezplatform/

Step 6: Configure Apache2

Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for eZ Platform by copying a vhost template file.

This file will control how users access eZ Platform content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called ezplatform.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/ezplatform.conf

Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save.

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin [email protected]
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/ezplatform/web
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/ezplatform/web/>
          Options FollowSymlinks
          AllowOverride All
          Require all granted
     </Directory>

     ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
    
     <Directory /var/www/html/ezplatform/web/>
            RewriteEngine on
            RewriteBase /
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
            RewriteRule ^(.*) app.php [PT,L]
    </Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Save the file and exit.

Step 7: Enable the eZ Platform and Rewrite Module

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

sudo a2ensite ezplatform.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Step 8 : Restart Apache2

To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below.

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

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

Open your project in the browser and you should see the welcome page.

To logon to the admin portal, go to the URL below:

admin

Login with:

Username: admin
Password: publish

Congratulation! You have successfully installed eZ Platform on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 and may work on upcoming 18.10.

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