How to Install TYPEMILL CMS with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install and configure TYPEMILL CMS on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with an Apache2 HTTP server.

TYPEMILL is an open-source, fast, responsive, flat content management system (CMS) and template engine written in PHP. All its content is stored in text files instead of a database.

TYPEMILL is great for publishing text works like prose, lyrics, manuals, documentation, studies, and more than other popular CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal may not offer.

For one, it doesn’t need a database server; call it database-less CMS. Its browser-based dashboard offers an intuitive way of managing your sites. Configure system settings, upload images or write a blog post using a clean and responsive user interface.

For more about TYPEMILL, please check its homepage.

When you’re ready to get TYPEMILL working, continue with the steps below:

Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. Install it since TYPEMILL needs it.

To install Apache2 HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop apache2.service
sudo systemctl start apache2.service
sudo systemctl enable apache2.service

To test the Apache2 Setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address, and you should see the Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

http://localhost

Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories for some systems. You will have to get it from third-party repositories if you need it.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2

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

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-sqlite3 php7.2-soap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-curl php7.2-zip

After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open the PHP default config file for Apache2.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/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
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

After making the change above, please save the file and close it.

After installing PHP and related modules, you must restart Apache2 to reload PHP configurations.

To restart Apache2, run the commands below

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in the Apache2 root directory by running the commands below

sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Then type the content below and save the file.

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

Save the file. Then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php

http://localhost/phpinfo.php

You should see the PHP default test page.

Download TYPEMILL Latest Release

Next, visit the TYPEMILL site and download the latest package. Or run the commands below to download Automad packages from github.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new TYPEMILL root directory. After that, change into TYPEMILL root directory to install PHP required packages.

cd /tmp/
wget https://typemill.net/typemill-1.2.16.zip
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/typemill
sudo unzip typemill-1.2.16.zip -d /var/www/typemill

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for TYPEMILL to function correctly.

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

Configure Apache2 TYPEMILL Site

Finally, configure the Apache2 configuration file for TYPEMILL. This file will control how users access TYPEMILL content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called typemill.conf.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/typemill.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.

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

     <Directory /var/www/typemill/>
          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 and exit.

After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.

Enable the TYPEMILL Site and Rewrite Module

After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below, then restart the Apache2 server.

sudo a2ensite typemill.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Next, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address, and you should see the TYPEMILL page.

http://example.com

Click Setup to begin the Setup.

TYPEMILL is a database-less flat file content management system. Its structure allowed you to have the functionality you needed in a flat file CMS solution, adding extensions (blade packs) for additional functionality while allowing Setup on simple servers with no database.

Create the admin account username and password.

After that, the platform should be ready to use. Log in and start configuring your site.

That’s it!

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