How to Install Cachet with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Cachet on Ubuntu with Apache2, MariaDB, and PHP 7.2 support.

Cachet is an open-source status page system written in PHP that you can use to show the status of your apps and services and better communicate with your customers during downtime.

Cachet is an excellent place to start when you’re looking for a status page system to provide application services status for your customers.

This open-source status system uses Bootstrap 3, is responsive, works beautifully on your desktop, tablet, and phone, and offers features that help you run your business and collaborate with your customers and employees.

For more about Cachet, please check its homepage.

To get started with installing Cachet, follow the steps below:

Install Apache2 HTTP Server

Cachet requires a web server, and the Apache2 HTTP server is the most popular open-source web server available today. To install the Apache2 server, run the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

After installing Apache2, the commands below can 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

Now that Apache2 has been installed browse your browser to the URL below to test whether the web server works.

http://localhost

If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.

Install MariaDB Database Server

Cachet also requires a database server to store its content. MariaDB is a great place to start if you want a genuinely open-source database server. To install MariaDB, run the commands below:

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

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

Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

sudo systemctl stop mysql.service
sudo systemctl start mysql.service
sudo systemctl enable mysql.service

Run these on Ubuntu 18.10 and 18.04 LTS

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

Next, run the commands below to secure the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during the installation.

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

Once MariaDB is installed, run the commands below to test whether the database server was installed.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Type the root password when prompted.

The server was successfully installed if you see a similar screen.

Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

Cachet is a PHP-based CMS, and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu’s default repositories. To run PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 and previous, you may need to run the commands below:

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-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-gd php7.2-bcmath php7.2-imap php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip

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

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini

The lines below are a good setting for most PHP-based CMS. Update the configuration file with these and save.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
short_open_tag = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

Every time you change the PHP configuration file, you should restart the Apache2 web server. To do so, run the commands below:

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Once PHP is installed, create a test file called phpinfo.php in the Apache2 default root directory to test whether it’s functioning. ( /var/www/html/)

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

Then, type the content below and save the file.

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

Next, open your browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address, following the server’s pinfo.php

http://localhost/phpinfo.php

You should see the PHP default test page.

Create Cachet Database

Once you’ve installed all the packages for Cachet to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create a blank Cachet database.

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

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called cachetdb

CREATE DATABASE cachetdb;

Create a database user called cachetdbuser with a new password

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

Then, grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON cachetdb.* TO 'cachetdbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download Cachet’s Latest Release

You may want to use theCachet’srepository to get Cachet’s latest release. Then, install the git tool to download Cachet packages.

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

After installing the curl above, change it into the Apache2 root directory and download the cachet packages from Github.

cd /var/www/html
sudo git clone -b 2.4 --single-branch https://github.com/cachethq/Cachet.git cachet

Next, the commands below create a Cachet .env file.

sudo cp /var/www/html/cachet/.env.example /var/www/html/cachet/.env
sudo nano /var/www/html/cachet/.env

Then, update the database connection setting and save the file.

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=http://localhost
APP_TIMEZONE=UTC
APP_KEY=
DEBUGBAR_ENABLED=false

DB_DRIVER=mysql
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_UNIX_SOCKET=null
DB_DATABASE=cachetdb
DB_USERNAME=cachetdbuser
DB_PASSWORD=new_password_here
DB_PORT=null
DB_PREFIX=null

CACHE_DRIVER=file
SESSION_DRIVER=file
QUEUE_DRIVER=sync

After that, run the commands below to use Composer to install all required packages.

cd /var/www/html/cachet
sudo composer install --no-dev -o

Set up the application key by running and installing Cachet:

cd /var/www/html/cachet
sudo php artisan key:generate
sudo php artisan cachet:install

Then, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for the Cachet root directory and give Apache2 control.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/cachet/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/cachet/

Configure Apache2

Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for Cachet. This file will control how users access Cachet content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called Cachet. conf.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/cachet.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 [email protected]
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/cachet/public
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/cachet/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 and exit.

Enable the Cachet and Rewrite Module

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

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

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. Next, you should see the Cachet setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.