How to install Magento with Apache on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Apache HTTP server on Ubuntu Linux

Apache is a popular web server that Magento needs to run. You can install Apache on your Ubuntu system using a couple of commands in the terminal. This sets up the web server software so Magento can work.

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

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

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

sudo systemctl stop apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2

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

http://localhost

When you see the Apache2 Default Page, it means the Apache HTTP server is successfully installed.

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

How to install Apache on Ubuntu

Install MariaDB database server on Ubuntu Linux

Magento needs a database to store all its information. MariaDB is a common and good choice for this on Ubuntu. Installing MariaDB on your Ubuntu system is straightforward using the terminal.

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 Magento database

After setting up MariaDB, you need to create a specific database for Magento to hold all its data. This database is important because it will store all your Magento application content and information.

The Magento database serves as the central storage for all Magento application content and data. This database is crucial for the Magento setup process.

As part of the setup, we will create a database named ‘magentodb ‘and a corresponding user account named ‘magentodbuser ‘.

The magentodbuser now receives full access to the magentodb database, which is a necessary step for Magento to function correctly.

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 magentodb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER magentodbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'type_your_password_here';
GRANT ALL ON magentodb.* TO magentodbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Magento is built using PHP, so you need to install it on your Ubuntu system. Along with PHP itself, we’ll install some essential extensions that Magento requires to function correctly. You can install PHP with a single command.

Run the commands below to install PHP.

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-intl php-mysql php-curl php-cli php-zip php-gd php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-json php-sqlite3 php-zip php-soap php-bcmath php-xml

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download Magento files

Now it’s time to get the Magento files onto your server. You’ll also need to install Composer, a tool that helps manage Magento’s code. These steps prepare your system for the Magento installation.

Run the command below to install these packages and start installing Magento.

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

Before you can download Magento packages from its repository, you must create a new access key for Magento. The key is free.

To create authentication keys:

Log in to the Commerce Marketplace. If you don’t have an account, click Register. Click your account name in the top right of the page and select My Profile.

Click Access Keys in the Marketplace tab.

Click Create a New Access Key. Enter a specific name for the keys and click OK.

You can click to copy the new public and private keys associated with your account. Save this key information or keep the keys page open when working on your project.

Your Apache root directory is where you will install the Magento project. Use your Access key to access the command line, then run the command below. This command clones the Magento project and creates a new site named "magento," or any other name you choose for your site.

cd /var/www/
sudo composer create-project --repository=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition magento

Copy and paste the authentication key. (Your public key is your username; your private key is your password).

Enter the Username (your Access public key) and Password (your Access private key) from your marketplace account.

Output:
Authentication required (repo.magento.com):
Username: 234f2343435d190983j0ew8u3220
Password: 
Do you want to store credentials for repo.magento.com in /opt/magento/.config/composer/auth.json ? [Yn] Y

After downloading Magento packages, run the commands below to install Magento with the following options:

cd /var/www/magento
sudo bin/magento setup:install --base-url-secure=https://magento.example.com/ --db-host=localhost --db-name=magentodb --db-user=magentodbuser --db-password=db_user_password_here --admin-firstname=Admin --admin-lastname=User --admin-email=admin@example.com --admin-user=admin --admin-password=admin123 --language=en_US --currency=USD --timezone=America/Chicago --use-rewrites=1

• The Magento software is installed in the root directory on localhost. Admin is admin; Your storefront URL is https://magento.examaple.com
• The database server is on the same localhost as the webserver.
• The database name is magentodb, and the magentodbuser and password are db_user_password_here.
• Uses server rewrites
• The Magento administrator has the following properties:
  • First and last name are: Admin User
  • Username is: admin
•  and the password is admin123
• E-mail address is: admin@example.com
• Default language is: (U.S. English)
• Default currency is: U.S. dollars
• Default time zone is: U.S. Central (America/Chicago)

During the installation, text will move quickly up the screen. When it is done, you will see a message similar to the one below.

[Progress: 1448 / 1448]
[SUCCESS]: Magento installation complete.
[SUCCESS]: Magento Admin URI: /admin_f97ul2i
Nothing to import.

If you encounter trouble installing Elasticsearch, read the article below to learn how to install It on Ubuntu.

How to install Elasticsearch on Ubuntu Linux

Ensure the Elasticsearch service is started.

After setting correct permissions, generating a crontab, and running Magento indexing with the commands below, you ensure Magento's scheduled tasks and data processing function correctly. This step is crucial for site performance, as incomplete indexing can lead to slow loading times and display errors for your customers.

Finally, clear the cache of your Magento installation.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/magento/
sudo -u www-data bin/magento cron:install
sudo -u www-data bin/magento cron:run --group index
sudo -u www-data bin/magento cache:clean

Configure Apache for Magento

With Magento downloaded, you need to tell Apache how to find and serve your Magento website files. This involves creating a configuration file for Apache that points to your Magento installation. This tells the web server where to find your site.

Run the commands below to create an Apache virtual host file for Magento.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/magento.conf

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

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName magento.example.com
  ServerAlias www.magento.example.com
  ServerAdmin admin@example.com
  DocumentRoot /var/www/magento
    
  <Directory /var/www/magento/>
       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.

Enable the server block for your Magento website and restart the Apache web server. This ensures Apache recognizes the new configuration and starts serving your website. Run the following commands: sudo a2ensite your_magento_site.conf && sudo systemctl restart apache2

sudo a2ensite magento.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS for Magento

To make your Magento site secure with HTTPS, you can set up a free SSL certificate using Let’s Encrypt. This process helps protect your website and visitor data. The Certbot tool makes setting up Let’s Encrypt easier.

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

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

After installing, the Certbot Apache plugin automatically configures the Apache server block file /etc/apache2/sites-available/magento.conf with HTTPS.

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

https://magento.example.com

Magento default welcome page will appear.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• In this tutorial, you learned how to successfully install and configure the Magento eCommerce platform with Apache on Ubuntu 24.04.
• Following these comprehensive steps, you have set up a robust and secure environment to run your e-commerce website.
• Integrating the Apache web server, MariaDB database server, and PHP provides a stable foundation for hosting Magento.
• Additional resources for setting up Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for Apache have been provided to secure your Magento installation.