How to Install FluxBB with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install and configure FluxBB bulletin board Forum software on Ubuntu.

FluxBB is a free, open-source, flat-forum bulletin board software based on phpBB. It enables individuals and web admins to set up community bulletin boards in minutes to stay in touch with groups of people or ideas.

FluxBB is a high customization with tons of features. It is designed as a lighter, faster alternative to some of the traditional feature-heavy forum applications like the original phpBB platform.

This brief tutorial will show students and new users how to install and use FluxBB Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2, MySQL, and PHP support.

Some of the features included with FluxBB are:

phpBB bulletin board and permission system
CMS features allow the creation of new pages and blocks
Clean administration interface
Many ready-to-use features: Photo Gallery, Downloads, Knowledge Base, Links, and Chat.
Multi-language and multi-template ready
Lots of community modifications
.and many others.

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

Install Apache2

FluxBB is PHP-based and requires a webserver. The most popular open-source web server in use today is Apache2. To install Apache2, run the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get 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 MySQL Database Server

A MySQL database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source databases to use with FluxBB. To install MySQL run the commands below.

sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client

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

Run these on Ubuntu

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

After that, run the commands below to secure the MySQL 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 MySQL server

To test if MySQL is installed, type the commands below to log on to the server.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then type the password you created above to sign on. If successful, you should see MySQL 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-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-pgsql php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-imagick php7.2-bcmath php7.2-gmp 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, please save the file and close it.

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 FluxBB Database

Now that you’ve installed all the required packages, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, create a FluxBB database.

Run the commands below to log on to MySQL. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called fluxbb

CREATE DATABASE fluxbb;

Create a database user called fluxbbuser with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the fluxbbuser database.

GRANT ALL ON fluxbb.* TO 'fluxbbuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download FluxBB Latest Release

Next, continue below to download the FluxBB package. To download, go to the link below and download the latest version.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file into the Apache2 root directory.

wget https://fluxbb.org/download/releases/1.5.11/fluxbb-1.5.11.zip
unzip fluxbb-1.5.11.zip
sudo mv fluxbb-1.5.11 /var/www/fluxbb

Change or modify the directory permission to fit the Apache2 configuration.

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

Configure Apache2

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

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/fluxbb.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/fluxbb
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/fluxbb/>
          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 FluxBB and Rewrite Module

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

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

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name, followed by Install. You should see the FluxBB setup wizard complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com

Type in the database name, username, and password.

In the Administrator section, create a new admin account and password. Then click Install

That’s it!

After that, all should be installed and ready to use

Enjoy!

Run the commands below to delete the install directory

sudo rm -rf /var/www/fluxbb/install

Congratulation! You have successfully installed the FluxBB bulletin board on Ubuntu 18.04.