How to install SilverStripe CMS with Apache on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Apache HTTP server on Ubuntu

You can install the 💿 Apache HTTP server on Ubuntu 24.04 by opening your terminal and running specific commands to handle incoming web traffic. This setup provides the foundation for hosting your website, allowing you to start, stop, and enable the web server to run automatically when the system boots up.

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 can 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 the MariaDB database server on Ubuntu

MariaDB database server installation on Ubuntu 24.04 gives your website a reliable place to store all content and user data securely. You can complete this setup by running terminal commands that download the database software, secure the installation, and prepare the service to handle incoming connections from your CMS.

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 SilverStripe database

Creating a dedicated SilverStripe database and user account in MariaDB gives your CMS the secure storage it needs to function properly. You can set this up by opening the MariaDB command line and running SQL queries to build a new database named silverstripedb along with a matching user account that has full permissions.

As part of the setup, we will create a silverstripedb database and a corresponding user account called silverstripedbuser.

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

Ensure to replace 'type_your_password_here 'with your password.

Install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Installing PHP on Ubuntu Linux along with necessary modules like php-intl and php-mysql allows your SilverStripe CMS to run properly and execute code. You can install all required packages at once by running a single apt command in your terminal, which configures the programming language for your Apache web server.

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-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 SilverStripe files

Downloading SilverStripe CMS files onto your Ubuntu system requires using tools like Composer to fetch the latest version directly from the official repository. You can complete this step after setting up your web server and database, placing the core application files into your web root directory so the site can load.

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

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

After installing curl and Composer above, change the directory to the Nginx root directory and download the SilverStripe packages from Github.

cd /var/www/
sudo composer create-project silverstripe/installer silverstripe

Now create a .env file in your project root (not the public/ folder).

If you used silverstripe/installer to create your project, you can rename the .env.example file to .env. It includes the minimum required environment variables.

sudo nano /var/www/silverstripe/.env

Replace the placeholders as required:

SS_DATABASE_CLASS="MySQLDatabase"
SS_DATABASE_NAME="silverstripedb"
SS_DATABASE_SERVER="localhost"
SS_DATABASE_USERNAME="silverstripedbuser"
SS_DATABASE_PASSWORD="type_database_password"
SS_DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME="superadmin"
SS_DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD="superadminPassword"
SS_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE="live"

sudo /var/www/silverstripe/vendor/bin/sake dev/build
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/silverstripe

Once you have completed all the above steps, continue configuring the Apache web server below to serve the SilverStripe content.

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

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

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

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName silverstripe.example.com
  ServerAlias www.silverstripe.example.com
  ServerAdmin admin@example.com
  DocumentRoot /var/www/silverstripe/public
    
  <Directory /var/www/silverstripe/public/>
       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 SilverStripe CMS virtual host by running the commands `sudo a2ensite silverstripe.conf` and then restart the Apache web server with `sudo systemctl restart apache2`. This action ensures that Apache recognizes and serves your SilverStripe website.

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

Setup Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS for SilverStripe

Setting up Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS for your SilverStripe CMS website on Ubuntu encrypts visitor data and keeps your site secure against common threats. You can add this security layer to your Apache web server by installing Certbot and running a command to automatically generate and configure your free SSL certificate.

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

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.

http://silverstripe.example.com

Your SilverStripe site should be set up and ready to use.

That should do it!

Conclusion

In conclusion, this comprehensive guide has provided detailed steps for installing SilverStripe CMS with Apache on Ubuntu, from setting up the Apache web server, installing the MariaDB database, configuring PHP, and downloading the SilverStripe files to setting up an Apache virtual host and obtaining an SSL/TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt for enhanced security. By following the instructions in this tutorial, you can establish a robust and secure platform for web development, leveraging the capabilities of the Apache web server while harnessing the functionalities of SilverStripe CMS.