BoltWire is an open-source, flat-file content management system (CMS) which doesn’t require a database and provides features not available in other PHP-based CMS. Its data is stored in the file system, and it’s equipped with WYSIWYG native markdown support, an SEO-friendly flexible CSS framework. It can be setup by installing an Apache2 server and PHP 7.2, downloading and extracting the latest BoltWire release, configuring Apache for BoltWire, and creating an admin password for security.
BoltWire is an open-source, flat-file content management system (CMS) that doesn’t require a database. Instead, it helps you create personal or business websites in minutes by uploading their content to your server.
BoltWire CMS offers features that may not be available to other PHP-based CMS, like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal.
For one, it doesn’t need a database server; all its data is stored in the file system (file-based, flat file CMS). It also provides native markdown WYSIWYG support, SEO friendly, flexible CSS framework with no installation required.
For more about BoltWire, please check its homepage.
When you’re ready to get BoltWire working, continue with the steps below:
Install Apache2 HTTP Server
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. Install it since BoltWire 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. So 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-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-tidy php7.2-intl 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 make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is an excellent 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
su
do 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 BoltWire Latest Release
Next, visit the BoltWire site and download the latest package.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new BoltWire folder on the web server.
https://www.boltwire.com/downloads
cd ~/Downloads unzip boltwire6.01.zip sudo mv boltwire /var/www/html/boltwire
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for BoltWire to function correctly.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/boltwire/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/boltwire/
Configure Apache2 BoltWire Site
Finally, configure the Apache2 configuration file for BoltWire. This file will control how users access BoltWire content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called bolt wire.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/boltwire.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/html/boltwire ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com <Directory /var/www/html/boltwire/> 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 BoltWire Site and Rewrite the Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below, then restart the Apache2 server.
sudo a2ensite boltwire.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
Restart Apache2
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Next, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address, and you should see the BoltWire page setup page.
http://example.com/start.php
You will be prompted to secure the installation by creating an admin password. You can disable the script by manually entering false in the password field to create your sites.

BoltWire is a databaseless flat file content management system. Its structure allowed you to have just the amount of functionality needed in a flat file CMS solution, adding extensions (blade packs) for further functionality whilst allowing setup on simple servers with no database.

Once your site is created, call it up in your browser and begin building your site. The link will look like http://www.domain.com/mysite/index.php. If you are using BoltWire offline, try http://example.com/mysite/index.php. You are up and running!

Enjoy!
You have successfully installed BoltWire CMS on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 and 18.10. For more tutorials on Ubuntu, please search our site.