How to Install Canopy CMS with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

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Canopy, formerly known as phpWebSite, is an open-source content management system (CMS) that allows users to construct PHP-based websites on servers. The post provides detailed instructions on how to install and configure Canopy along with necessary components like Apache2 HTTP Server, MariaDB database server, and PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu. It also explains how to create…

Canopy (previously known as phpWebSite) is an open-source content management system (CMS) that lets you build professional, PHP-based websites on your servers.

Canopy is also the CMS used at Appalachian State University.

This cm enables you to build robust websites for your school, company, or any group looking to collaborate around the same ideas or issues.

Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use today since Canopy CMS needs it to go and install it on Ubuntu.

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 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. You should see the Apache2 default test page, as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB Database Server

MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with Canopy. 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 17.10 and 18.04 LTS

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

After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access.

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

Restart MariaDB server

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 a MariaDB welcome message.

Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. To install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.

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-sqlite3 php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli 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
short_open_tag = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

After making the change above, save the file and closet.

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.

Create Canopy Database

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

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

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called Canopy.

CREATE DATABASE canopy;

Create a database user called canopy user with a new password

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

Then, grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON canopy.* TO 'canopyuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download and Install Canopy CMS

To get Canopy’s latest release, you may use the GitHub repository… Install Composer, Curl, and other dependencies to get started…

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 into the /temp directory. Next, download and extract Canopy content to the Apache2 root directory…

After that, use Composer to install its dependencies.

cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/AppStateESS/canopy/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip
sudo mv canopy-master /var/www/html/canopy
sudo mkdir /var/www/html/canopy/images/
cd /var/www/html/canopy
sudo composer install

Next, run the commands below to change the root folder permissions.

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

Configure Apache2 Canopy CMS Site

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

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/canopy.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/canopy
     ServerName example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/canopy/>
          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 Canopy 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 canopy.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Next, open your browser, go to the URL, and continue with the installation.

http://example.com

You should see the Canopy installation wizard page. Type in the database name, user, and password. then continue

After that, create an admin account for the back end and continue.

After that, Canopy should be installed and ready to use.

Remove the setup directory after installing.

sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/canopy/setup/

Enjoy!

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