A database server is required for Joomla to work. 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 following commands:
Then run the following commands to protect the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during installation.
To verify and validate that MariaDB is installed and working, log into the database console using the following commands:
It should automatically log into the database server as we started the login request as root. Only root can login without password and only from server console.
If you see a screen similar to the one shown above, then the server installed successfully.
How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux
As we also mentioned earlier, we are installing PHP on Ubuntu as Joomla requires it. The PHP packages are added to the Ubuntu repositories. Repository versions may not be the latest. If you need to install the latest versions, you will need to add a third-party PPA repository.
In a third-party repository with the latest versions of PHP, run the following commands.
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
At the time of writing, the latest version of PHP 8.0.
sudo apt update
Then run the following commands 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 following commands to open the default PHP configuration file.
sudo nano /etc/php/8.0/apache2/php.ini
Then change the line settings to be somewhat aligned with 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 a Joomla database in Ubuntu
At this point, we are ready to create a Joomla database. As mentioned above, Joomla uses databases to store its content.
To create a database for Joomla, run the following commands:
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called joomladb
CREATE DATABASE joomladb ;
Next, create a database user named 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 are ready to download Joomla and start configuring it. First, run the following commands to download the latest version of Joomla from your repository.
To see the Joomla releases, see this page .
At the time of writing this article, the latest version is 4.0.2 . The future version will have different links to download.
Run the following commands to download and extract the Joomla version 4.0.2.
cd /tmp
wget https://downloads.joomla.org/cms/joomla4/4-0-2/Joomla_4-0-2-Stable-Full_Package.zip
sudo unzip -d /var/www/joomla /tmp/Joomla_4-0-2-Stable-Full_Package.zip
Then run the command below to allow www-data user 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 the Joomla content into a new folder called Joomla. Now, let’s configure Apache to create a new server block to use with our Joomla website. You can create so many server blocks with Apache.
To do that, run the following commands to create a new configuration file called joomla.conf at / etc / apache2 / sites-available / directory to host our Joomla server block.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf
In the archive, copy and paste the content below in the archive and save it.
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
ServerAdmin admin@example.com
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 close.
After saving the above file, run the following commands to enable the new file that contains our Joomla server block. Restart Apache after that.
sudo systemctl reload apache2
At this stage, Joomla is ready and can be started by going to the IP or hostname of the server.
http://localhost
However, we want to make sure our server is protected with free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates. So, continue below to learn how to generate Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for websites.
How to configure Let’s Encrypt for Joomla
We have written an excellent 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 the website, click the link below:
How to configure Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu Linux with Apache
If you managed to generate a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, you need to reopen the server block for our Joomla website by running the following commands.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf
The new Joomla server block configurations should look similar to the following line. Take notes on 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 a domain other than www.
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
Redirect permanent / https://example.com/
</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 / https://example.com/
</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 according to plan, you should be able to start the Joomla setup wizard by navigating to the server’s hostname or IP address via HTTPS.
https://example.com/
A Joomla setup wizard should appear. Follow the wizard to complete the setup.
Select the installation language, site name, superuser account details, including email address, username, and password.
Then click Next to continue.
On the next screen, enter the information for the database created earlier and click Next to continue.
Then validate that all the requirements and packages are installed.
After that, click Install on pc to complete the wizard.
Now you can log into the administration backend and start setting up your website environment.
When you’re done, Joomla should be installed and ready to go. Log in as an administrator and start setting up your site.
That is all!
Conclusion:
In this tutorial we have seen how to install Joomla on Ubuntu Linux with a link to configure Let’s Encrypt. If you find any errors above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.