How to install Flarum with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu

To install Nginx on Ubuntu, open your terminal and run the standard package manager commands. First, update your local software list by running sudo apt update, then run sudo apt install nginx to download and set up the web server. After the installation finishes, use systemctl commands to start Nginx and make sure it runs automatically whenever your server boots up.

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 the Nginx web server by opening your web browser and browsing to the server’s local host or IP address.

http://localhost

When you see "Welcome to nginx!" the Nginx HTTP server has been 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 database server on Ubuntu Linux, open your terminal and update your package list. Run sudo apt update followed by sudo apt install mariadb-server to download and install the database software. Once the setup completes, start the database service and secure your installation so your Flarum forum has a working backend to store user accounts, posts, 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 Flarum database

To create a Flarum database, log into your MariaDB command line interface as the root user. Run the SQL commands to create a dedicated database named flarumdb, set up a new user called flarumdbuser with a secure password, and grant that user full permissions to manage the database so your forum can save data properly.

As part of the setup, we will create a database named 'flarumdb' and a corresponding user account called 'flarumdbuser.'

Finally, we'll grant the flarumdbuser full access to the flarumdb 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 flarumdb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER flarumdbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'type_your_password_here';
GRANT ALL ON flarumdb.* TO flarumdbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Ensure to replace 'type_your_password_here 'with your password.

Install PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux

To install PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux for your forum, run the apt install command with all the required PHP extensions. Flarum requires specific modules like php-mysql, php-mbstring, and php-xml to function correctly. Paste the full installation command into your terminal to add PHP-FPM and every required extension to your server in one go.

Run the commands below to install PHP-FPM.

sudo apt install php-fpm php-intl php-mysql php-curl php-cli php-zip php-xml php-gd php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-json php-sqlite3 php-soap php-zip

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download Flarum files

To download Flarum files onto your Ubuntu server, install Composer and Git as prerequisites using your terminal. Run the official curl installer script for Composer, then use Composer to fetch the latest Flarum release files into your web root directory so you can begin the browser-based setup wizard.

You may want to use the GitHub repository to get Flarum's latest release. Install Composer, Curl, and other dependencies to get started.

sudo apt install curl git
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

Always replace the release number with the latest release.

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/{.cache,.config,flarum}
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/{.cache,.config,flarum}
cd /var/www/flarum/
sudo -u www-data composer create-project flarum/flarum .
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/flarum/

Once all the steps are done, configure the Nginx webserver to serve the Flarum content.

Run the commands below to create a Nginx virtual host file for Flarum.

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

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

server {
        listen 80;
        listen [::]:80;
        server_name flarum.example.com;

        root /var/www/flarum/public;
        index index.php;
   
        error_log /var/log/nginx/flarum.error;
        access_log /var/log/nginx/flarum.access;

        include /var/www/flarum/.nginx.conf;

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

Save the file.

You can enable the Flarum virtual host by running the command `sudo a2ensite flarum.conf` and then restart the Nginx server with `sudo systemctl restart nginx` to apply the changes.

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

Setup Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS for Flarum

To set up Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS for Flarum, secure your website traffic by generating a free security certificate using Certbot. Install the Certbot tool for Nginx, request a certificate for your forum domain, and configure automatic certificate renewals so your visitors always connect over a secure HTTPS connection.

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

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://flarum.example.com

A Flarum installation wizard page should appear. Enter the forum name database connection info and create an administrator account. Then, click "Install Flarum."

Your Flarum site should be ready to use.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Setting up a Flarum site on Ubuntu with Nginx support offers numerous benefits, including enhanced performance and security.
• The comprehensive guide provided detailed steps for installing Nginx, MariaDB, PHP-FPM, and Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS for a seamless Flarum installation.
• Users were walked through essential tasks such as creating a Flarum database, downloading Flarum files, and setting up the Nginx virtual host.
• Additional resources and external links were included for further reference and troubleshooting.
• The post invites readers to provide feedback and report any errors for continuous improvement.