How to Install Drupal with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu

To install Nginx on Ubuntu for your Drupal site, open your terminal and run the commands sudo apt update followed by sudo apt install nginx. This downloads and sets up the Nginx web server so it can serve your website pages to visitors.

To do that, open the Ubuntu terminal and run the commands below to install the 💿 Nginx web server.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Once Nginx is installed, the commands below can start, stop, and enable the Nginx web server to start automatically when your server boots up.

sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

You can test that the Nginx HTTP server is running by opening your web browser and browsing to the server’s localhost or IP address.

http://localhost

When you see the Welcome to nginx! page, it means the Nginx HTTP server is successfully installed.

Additional help on installing Nginx on Ubuntu is in the link below.

How to install Nginx on Ubuntu

Install MariaDB database server on Ubuntu Linux

To install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux for your Drupal database, run sudo apt install mariadb-server in your terminal. This sets up the database server that stores all your Drupal site content, user accounts, and settings.

To install and use the MariaDB database server, use the instructions below.

Open the Ubuntu terminal and run the commands below to install the MariaDB database server.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-server

Once the MariaDB database server is installed, use the commands below to stop, start, and enable the MariaDB server to start automatically when the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop mariadb
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Run the following commands to validate and test if the MariaDB database server is installed successfully.

sudo mariadb

Once you run the commands above, it will log you onto the MariaDB console and display a message similar to the one below.

Welcome to the MariaDB monitor.  Commands end with ; or g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 32
Server version: 10.11.2-MariaDB-1 Ubuntu 23.04

Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or 'h' for help. Type 'c' to clear the current input statement.

MariaDB [(none)]> 

The message tells you that the server is installed successfully.

Additional help on installing MariaDB.

• How to install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux
• MariaDB without password prompt

Create a Drupal database

To create a Drupal database in MariaDB, open the database prompt by running sudo mysql and execute the SQL commands to create a dedicated database and user. This gives Drupal a secure space to store all your application content and data.

This database will store the Drupal application content and data.

We will create a database called drupaldb. We will also create a database user account called drupaldbuser.

The drupaldbuser receives full control over the drupaldb database, allowing drupaldbuser to create, modify, and delete data within the drupaldb database.

All the database steps above can be done using the commands below:

But first, log on to the MariaDB database server:

sudo mariadb

Then run the commands below to complete the steps:

CREATE DATABASE drupaldb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER drupaldbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'type_your_password_here';
GRANT ALL ON drupaldb.* TO drupaldbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Install PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux

To install PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux for Drupal, run sudo apt install php-fpm along with required extensions like php-mysql and php-curl. This allows your server to process Drupal's PHP code and connect properly to the database.

Run the commands below to install PHP-FPM and related modules.

sudo apt install php-fpm php-intl php-mysql php-curl php-cli php-zip php-gd php-common php-mbstring php-xml php-opcache php-readline php-sqlite3 php-zip php-apcu

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download Drupal files

To download Drupal files on your Ubuntu server, use wget to grab the latest release archive from the official site and extract it into your web root folder at /var/www/html. This places the core application files where Nginx can read and serve them.

The command block below will download and create a new Drupal folder in the Nginx root directory.

First, create a Drupal folder in the Nginx root directory.

Please change it to the /tmp directory and download Drupal files. Unzip the file and move the content into the created Drupal folder.

Permissions for Drupal's web root directory **must** be changed so the Nginx HTTP server can read and write files. Set ownership to the `www-data` user and group, the user Nginx typically runs as on Ubuntu 24.04, to grant the necessary access for Drupal to function correctly.

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/drupal
cd /tmp/
wget https://www.drupal.org/download-latest/tar.gz -O drupal.tar.gz
tar -xvf drupal.tar.gz
sudo mv drupal-*/* /var/www/drupal
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/drupal/   
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/drupal/

Once you have completed all the above steps, continue below to configure the Nginx web server to serve the Drupal content.

Run the commands below to create a Nginx server block file for Drupal.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/drupal.conf

Then, copy and paste the content block below into the Nginx server block.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name drupal.example.com;
    root /var/www/drupal;

    index index.php;

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

    location @rewrite {
        rewrite ^/(.*)$ /index.php?q=$1;
    }

    location ~ '.php$|^/update.php' {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

    location ~* /sites/.*/files/styles/ {
        try_files $uri @rewrite;
    }

    location ~ ^/sites/.*/files/ {
        try_files $uri @rewrite;
    }

    location ~* .(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg)$ {
        expires max;
        log_not_found off;
    }
}

When you're done, save the file.

Enable the Nginx server block for your Drupal site by running the command `sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/drupal /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/` and then restart the Nginx server using `sudo systemctl restart nginx`. This ensures Nginx recognizes and serves your new Drupal installation.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/drupal.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS for Drupal

To set up Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS for Drupal on Nginx, install the Certbot tool using snap and run sudo certbot --nginx. This automatically generates a free security certificate and updates your Nginx configuration to force secure HTTPS connections.

Please read the post below for additional resources on installing and creating Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for Nginx.

How to set up Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

After installing, the Nginx server block file /etc/nginx/sites-available/drupal.conf will automatically be configured with HTTPS, done by the Certbot Nginx plugin.

Once you have restarted the Nginx web server, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address defined in the Nginx server block.

http://drupal.example.com

A new Drupal installation wizard will appear. Choose the site's language and continue.

Next, select the installation profile.

Next, confirm all requirements are met and continue.

Then, type in the database name, username, and password created above.

Finally, set up your site name and create an admin account to login in.

Your new Drupal site should be created and ready to use.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Setting up a Drupal site with Nginx support on Ubuntu enhances performance and user experience.
• Nginx's efficient web request handling and high traffic tolerance make it an excellent choice for hosting Drupal websites.
• The combination of Drupal with Nginx on Ubuntu ensures a secure and reliable web environment, adding value to your projects.
• Securing the Drupal installation with the Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate further enhances the website's security and trustworthiness.
• The detailed steps in this article guide you through seamlessly installing and configuring each component, resulting in a fully functional Drupal site ready for use.