Lavalite is an open source, flexible and extensible platform based on Laravel framework that helps you quickly set up a content management system (CMS) or a cloud-based application..
Lavalite comes with everything you need to make a super and beautify website and application.
If you want a content management system (CMS) that is easy to use and manage, then Lavalite is a good place to start. Lavalite 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 Lavalite, please check their Homepage
This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install Lavalite on Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.10 and 18.04 LTS.
To get started with installing Lavalite, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server
Lavalite 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.
If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.
Step 2: Install MariaDB Database Server
Lavalite 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.
If you see a similar screen as shown above, then the server was successfully installed.
Step 3: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
Lavalite 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-bcmath 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.
Step 4: Create Lavalite Database
Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for Lavalite to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a blank Lavalite database.
To logon to MariaDB database server, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called lavalite
CREATE DATABASE lavalite;
Create a database user called lavaliteuser with a new password
CREATE USER 'lavaliteuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON lavalite.* TO 'lavaliteuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download Lavalite Latest Release
To get Lavalite latest release you may want to use Github repository. Install Composer, Curl and other dependencies to get started.
sudo apt install curl curl -sS | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Apache2 root directory and download Lavalite packages from Github.
cd /var/www/html sudo composer create-project LavaLite/cms --prefer-dist lavalite
After that run the commands below to begin Lavalite setup.
cd /var/www/html/lavalite sudo php artisan lavalite:install php artisan key:generate
When you run the commands above, you will be prompted to answer series of questions. use the guide below to complete.
********************************* * Lavalite Installation * ********************************* ************************************** * Application In Production! * ************************************** Do you really wish to continue the installation? (yes/no) [no]: > yes Enter your database host. [127.0.0.1]: > Enter your database username. [homestead]: > lavaliteuser Enter your database password (type blank for no password).: > Enter your database name. [homestead]: > lavalite Database successfully configured. [Config files] Publishing config files Do you want to publish config files? [No]: [0] No [1] Yes [2] Overwrite [3] Ask > Yes [View files] Publishing view files Do you want to publish view files? [No]: [0] No [1] Yes [2] Overwrite [3] Ask > Yes [Lang files] Publishing lang files Do you want to publish lang files? [No]: [0] No [1] Yes [2] Overwrite [3] Ask > Yes [Public files] Publishing public files Do you want to publish public files? [Yes]: [0] No [1] Yes [2] Overwrite [3] Ask > Yes Migration table not found. Migration table created successfully. Migrating: 2015_01_05_100001_create_clients_table Migrated: 2015_01_05_100001_create_clients_table Migrating: 2015_01_05_100001_create_users_table Migrated: 2015_01_05_100001_create_users_table Migrating: 2015_01_05_100010_create_password_resets_table Migrated: 2015_01_05_100010_create_password_resets_table Migrating: 2015_08_05_100011_create_pages_table Migrated: 2015_08_05_100011_create_pages_table Migrating: 2016_07_07_100001_create_tasks_table Migrated: 2016_07_07_100001_create_tasks_table Migrating: 2016_07_08_100001_create_messages_table Migrated: 2016_07_08_100001_create_messages_table Migrating: 2016_07_14_100001_create_blocks_table Migrated: 2016_07_14_100001_create_blocks_table Migrating: 2016_07_18_100001_create_calendars_table Migrated: 2016_07_18_100001_create_calendars_table Migrating: 2017_01_02_100001_create_contacts_table Migrated: 2017_01_02_100001_create_contacts_table Migrating: 2017_05_05_100001_create_menus_table Migrated: 2017_05_05_100001_create_menus_table Migrating: 2017_05_23_100001_create_settings_table Migrated: 2017_05_23_100001_create_settings_table Migrating: 2017_11_09_100001_create_roles_table Migrated: 2017_11_09_100001_create_roles_table Migrating: 2017_11_09_100002_create_role_user_table Migrated: 2017_11_09_100002_create_role_user_table Migrating: 2017_11_09_100003_create_permissions_table Migrated: 2017_11_09_100003_create_permissions_table Migrating: 2017_11_09_100004_create_permission_user_table Migrated: 2017_11_09_100004_create_permission_user_table Migrating: 2017_11_09_100005_create_permission_role_table Migrated: 2017_11_09_100005_create_permission_role_table Migrating: 2018_02_05_100001_create_activity_log_table Migrated: 2018_02_05_100001_create_activity_log_table Seeding: Litepie\MenuTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\UserTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\RoleTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\ClientTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\MessageTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\SettingTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\CalendarTableSeeder Seeding: Litepie\TaskTableSeeder Seeding: Litecms\BlockTableSeeder Seeding: Litecms\ContactTableSeeder Seeding: Litecms\PageTableSeeder Database seeding completed successfully. Please enter email for superuser [[email protected]]: > [email protected] Please enter password for superuser: > Application key set successfully. Lavalite is ready. You can now login with your username and password at [/admin]
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Lavalite root directory and give Apache2 control.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/lavalite/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/lavalite/
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for Lavalite. This file will control how users access WebsiteBaker content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called lavalite.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/lavalite.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/lavalite/public
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/lavalite/public/>
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/lavalite/public/>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*) index.php [PT,L]
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Save the file and exit.
Step 7: Enable the Lavalite and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite lavalite.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see Lavalite setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.
You should see Lavalite default homepage. No setup is required. it is already done above.
To logon to the admin, go to the URL
/admin
Then logon with the admin account created above.
Enjoy~
Congratulation! You have successfully installed Lavalite on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 and 18.10.
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