How to Install ProjectSend with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Install Nginx

To get ProjectSend working on your Ubuntu server, you first need to install Nginx, which is a web server that handles requests from browsers. Running these commands will install Nginx on your system and set it up to start automatically when your server boots.

To install Nginx HTTP on the Ubuntu 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

To test the Nginx setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address. You should see the Nginx default test page, as shown below.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB

ProjectSend requires a database to keep track of all your files and user information, and MariaDB is a solid choice for this on Ubuntu. The commands below will install the MariaDB server and client packages, allowing you to manage ProjectSend’s data.

To install MariaDB, run the commands below.

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After installing MariaDB, the commands below can stop, start, and enable the service to start when the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service
sudo systemctl start mariadb.service
sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

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

To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to log on to the MariaDB server.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, type the password you created above to sign on. If successful, you should see the MariaDB welcome message.

Install PHP 7.4-FPM

ProjectSend needs PHP to run its code, and version 7.4-FPM is required. You’ll first add a special software source to get this version, then update your system’s package list before installing PHP 7.4-FPM.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.4-FPM

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.4-FPM

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt install php7.4-fpm php7.4-common php7.4-curl php7.4-intl php7.4-mbstring php7.4-xmlrpc php7.4-mysql php7.4-gd php7.4-xml php7.4-cli php7.4-zip imagemagick php-imagick php7.4-bz2 php7.4-bcmath php7.4-gmp

After installing PHP 7.4-FPM, run the commands below to open Nginx’s PHP default config file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini

Then, save the changes on the following lines below in the file. The value below is an ideal setting to apply in your environment.

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

Create ProjectSend Database

Once MariaDB is set up, you need to create a dedicated database for ProjectSend to store all your file uploads and user details. This involves logging into MariaDB and then running commands to create the ‘projectsend’ database and a user with a password.

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

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called projectsend

CREATE DATABASE projectsend;

Create a database user called projectsenduser with a new password

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

Then, grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON projectsend.* TO 'projectsenduser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download and Install ProjectSend

Now it’s time to download the ProjectSend software itself and put it in the right place on your server. You’ll download the latest version from the official site, create a folder for it, and then extract the files into that folder.

cd /tmp
sudo wget -O projectsend.zip https://www.projectsend.org/download/387/
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/projectsend
sudo unzip projectsend.zip -d /var/www/projectsend/

Once you’re done above, run the commands below to create a ProjectSend configuration file from the sample.

sudo cp /var/www/projectsend/includes/sys.config.sample.php /var/www/projectsend/sys.config.php

After that, run the commands below to open its configuration file.

sudo nano /var/www/projectsend/sys.config.php

Then make the highlighted changes below:

/**
 Database driver to use with PDO.
 Possible options: mysql, mssql
 */
 define('DB_DRIVER', 'mysql'); 
 /** Database name */
 define('DB_NAME', 'projectsend');
 /** Database host (in most cases it's localhost) */
 define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
 /** Database username (must be assigned to the database) */
 define('DB_USER', 'projectsenduser');
 /** Database password */
 define('DB_PASSWORD', 'type_database_user_password');
 /**
 Prefix for the tables. Set to something other than tbl_ for increased
 security onr in case you want more than 1 installations on the same database. 

Save and exit.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/projectsend/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/projectsend/

Configure ProjectSend Site

To make ProjectSend work with your own web address (domain name), you need to set up Nginx. This involves creating a special configuration file where you’ll tell Nginx where ProjectSend is located on your server and how to handle requests for your domain.

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

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;

    server_name  example.com www.example.com;
    root   /var/www/projectsend;
    index  index.php;
    
    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    client_max_body_size 100M;
  
    autoindex off;

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

    location ~ .php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
         fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
         include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Save the file and exit.

The VirtualHost configuration above must be enabled by running commands, such as `sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/` to create a link, and then restarting Nginx for the changes to take effect.

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

Finally, open your browser and go to the URL.

http://example.com

You should see the ProjectSend setup wizard—type in the database name, username, and password. Then, continue with the wizard.

Next, create the site name, administrator account, and password.

After the installation, log in with the admin account created above.

That’s it!

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to install ProjectSend on Ubuntu 20.04 | 18.04. If you find any error above, please use the form below to report.