How to Configure Cuppa CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

This article explains how to install Cuppa CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux.

Cuppa CMS is a powerful, adaptive, and user-friendly content management platform (CMS) that allows website owners to build and manage web content dynamically.

Cuppa lets you manage content, users, and groups, supports multiple languages with a personalized menu, and much more. With it, you get a platform with a feature-rich editor, user-friendly administration, flexible and customizable themes, a template system, and built-in support for features such as Antispam, XML/RPC, and more.

For more about Cuppa, please check their Homepage.

Install Nginx HTTP Server

Cuppa requires a web server, and the Nginx HTTP server is probably the second most popular open-source web server available today. To install the Nginx server, run the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

After installing Nginx, the commands below can be used to stop, start, and enable the Nginx service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service
sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

Now that Nginx has been installed browse your browser to the URL below to test whether the web server works.

http://localhost

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

Install MariaDB Database Server

Cuppa also requires a database server to store its content. MariaDB is a great place to start if you want a genuinely open-source database server. To install MariaDB, run the commands below:

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After installing MariaDB, the commands below can stop and start the service and enable it to start 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

Once MariaDB is installed, run the commands below to test whether the database server was installed.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Type the root password when prompted.

The server was successfully installed if you see a similar screen.

Install PHP 7.2-FPM and Related Modules

Cuppa is a PHP-based CMS, and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2-FPM may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. To run PHP 7.2-FPM 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-FPM

sudo apt update

Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2-FPM and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.2-fpm 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-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip

After installing PHP 7.2-FPM, run the commands below to open Nginx’s PHP default configuration file.

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

The lines below are a good setting 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
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

Restarting the Nginx web server whenever you change the PHP configuration would be best. To do so, run the commands below:

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Once PHP is installed, create a test file called phpinfo.php in the Nginx 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

http://localhost/phpinfo.php

You should see the PHP default test page.

Create Cuppa CMS Database

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

To log on to the MariaDB database server, run the commands below.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called Cuppa

CREATE DATABASE cuppa;

Create a database user called cuppauser with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON cuppa.* TO 'cuppauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download Cuppa’s Latest Release

To get Cuppa’s latest release, you may want to download it 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 Cuppa directory.

cd /tmp
wget http://cuppacms.com/files/cuppa_cms.zip
unzip cuppa_cms.zip
sudo mv administrator /var/www/html/cuppa

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

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

Configure Nginx

Finally, configure the Nginx site configuration file for Cuppa. This file will control how users access Cuppa content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called a cuppa.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/cuppa

Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your domain name and directory root location.

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    root /var/www/html/cuppa;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  example.com www.example.com;

    client_max_body_size 100M;

     location / {
            try_files   $uri $uri/ /index.php;
        }

    location ~ \.php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.2-fpm.sock;
         fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
         include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Save the file and exit.

Enable the Cuppa and Rewrite Module

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

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/cuppa /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

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

http://example.com

Then, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup. Validate that all requirements are met, then click Next.

On the next screen, type in the database name, username, password, and the backend administrator account. Then click Next.

After that, click the button to delete the installation folder and go to the backend login screen.

Log on to the backend with the admin account when the installation is complete, and start customizing your website.

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