Install CMS Made Simple with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu

Nginx web server powers your CMS Made Simple site by showing your pages to visitors on Ubuntu 24.04. You can install Nginx quickly using the Ubuntu terminal with the standard package manager. Run the package list update command followed by the Nginx installation command to get the web server running on your system.

To do that, open the Ubuntu terminal and run the commands below to install the 💿 Nginx web server.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Once Nginx is installed, the commands below can start, stop, and enable the Nginx web server to start automatically when your server boots up.

sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

You can test the Nginx web server by opening your web browser and browsing to the server’s localhost or IP address.

http://localhost

When you see the Welcome to nginx!, it means the Nginx HTTP server is successfully installed.

Additional help on installing Nginx on Ubuntu is in the link below.

How to install Nginx on Ubuntu

Install the MariaDB database server on Ubuntu

MariaDB database server stores all the text, pictures, and settings for your CMS Made Simple website. You can install MariaDB on Ubuntu 24.04 using the terminal package manager. Open your terminal and run the standard package installation command to set up the database server for your new site.

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 CMSMS database

CMS Made Simple requires a dedicated database and a user account in MariaDB to save site data. You can create the database and user by logging into the MariaDB command line interface as root. Run the SQL commands to create your database, set up a new user, and grant that user full permissions.

As part of the setup, we will create a cmsmsdb database and a user account called cmsmsdbuser.

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

Ensure to replace 'type_your_password_here 'with your password.

Install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

PHP processing is required for CMS Made Simple to execute code and load pages properly on your Ubuntu 24.04 server. You need to install PHP along with the necessary modules like PHP-FPM and MySQL support. Run the apt install command in your terminal to get the required PHP packages for your web server.

Then, run the commands below to install the latest PHP version.

sudo apt install php-fpm php-intl php-mysql php-curl php-cli php-zip php-xml php-gd php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-bcmath php-json php-sqlite3 php-soap php-zip

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download CMSMS files

CMS Made Simple installation files must be downloaded and extracted into your Nginx web root directory. Check the official CMSMS download page for the latest stable release link. Use the terminal to download the archive file directly to your server before setting up file permissions.

To always install the latest version, check the download page for CMSMS. If a new version is available, replace the version number in the link below.

First, navigate to the /tmp/ directory and download CMSMS files. After unzipping the file, move the content into the CMSMS folder in the Nginx root directory.

The final step is to change the permissions. This will allow the Nginx web server to interact safely with the files, ensuring a secure environment for your CMSMS installation.

cd /tmp/
wget https://s3.amazonaws.com/cmsms/downloads/15179/cmsms-2.2.21-install.zip
sudo unzip cmsms-2.2.21-install.zip -d /var/www/cmsms
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/cmsms

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

Run the commands below to create a Nginx virtual host file for CMSMS.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/cmsms.conf

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

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    root /var/www/cmsms;
    index  index.php;
    server_name  cmsms.example.com;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?page=$request_uri;
    }

    location ~ .php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
         fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
         include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Save the file.

The commands below will activate the Nginx virtual host for CMS Made Simple and restart the Nginx server, which is necessary for the website to load correctly.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/cmsms.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS for CMSMS

Let's Encrypt SSL certificates secure your CMS Made Simple website and enable HTTPS traffic for your visitors. You can generate and install a free SSL certificate for Nginx on Ubuntu using the Certbot tool. Configure the certificate to automatically renew so your site stays secure without manual work.

Please read the post below for additional resources on installing and creating Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for Nginx.

How to set up Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Once you have restarted the Nginx web server, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address defined in the Nginx server block.

http://cmsms.example.com/cmsms-2.2.21-install.php

A CMSMS installation wizard page should appear. Select the installation language and continue.

Click the "Install" button to continue.

Type the database connection details created above and continue.

Create an admin account and continue.

Continue with the default settings and finish the installation.

Visit your site or admin panel and begin using your new site.

Once everything works correctly, run the command below to delete the installer.

sudo rm /var/www/cmsms/cmsms-2.2.21-install.php

After the installation, you can add the line below to the /var/www/cmsms/config.php file in the root directory to enable pretty URLs.

$config['url_rewriting'] = 'mod_rewrite';

That should do it!

Conclusion:

Installing CMS Made Simple (CMSMS) with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04 involves setting up the web server, database, and scripting environment. Following the steps in this article lets you have a fully functional CMSMS site.

Key Takeaways:

• Nginx Installation: Successfully installing Nginx is crucial as it serves the web pages for your CMSMS site.
• Database Setup: MariaDB provides a robust database solution to store and manage your site’s content.
• PHP Requirement: Ensuring the latest version of PHP is installed improves compatibility and security for running CMS Made Simple.
• CMSMS Deployment: Downloading the CMSMS files and configuring the server settings allows your site to function correctly.
• Secure Your Site: Implementing SSL/TLS with Let’s Encrypt enhances the security of your website.
• Post-Installation: Remember to remove the installation files to maintain security and prevent unauthorized access.

Installing CMS Made Simple with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04 brings together a web server, database, and PHP processing. Setting up Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP in the terminal gives you a fast and secure environment for your website. Following each step carefully ensures your new content management system runs without errors.