MODX is an open-source, lightweight, secure, fast content management system based on PHP. It is designed for ease of use to allow webmasters and owners to create powerful and dynamic content websites.
If you’re looking for a simple content management platform to manage your websites or blogs and 100% free, you’ll find MODX to be helpful.
This brief tutorial will show students and new users how to install MODX CMS on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Apache2, MariaDB, and PHP support.
This post covers installing the latest version of MODX, which at the time of writing was 2.6.1
To get started with installing MODX, follow the steps below:
Install Apache2
MODX requires a webserver to function, and the most popular web server in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:
sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, run the commands below to disable the directory listing.
sudo sed -i "s/Options Indexes FollowSymLinks/Options FollowSymLinks/" /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
Next, run the commands below 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
Install MariaDB
MODX also requires a database server to function. And MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it, run the commands below.
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client
After installing, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the MariaDB service always to start up when the server boots.
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.
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
sudo systemctl restart mariadb.service
Install PHP and Related Modules
MODX is based on PHP., so you’ll need to install it. To install PHP and related modules, run the commands below.
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php libapache2-mod-php php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-soap php-gd php-xml php-intl php-mysql php-cli php-mcrypt php-ldap php-zip php-curl php-sqlite3
After installing PHP, run the commands below to open the Apache2 PHP default file.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini # Ubuntu 17.10 sudo nano /etc/php/7.0/apache2/php.ini # Ubuntu 17.04
Then change to the following lines below in the file and save.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 64M max_execution_time = 240 max_input_vars = 1500
Create MODX Database
Now that you’ve installed all the required packages continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create the MODX database.
Run the commands below to log on to the database server. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called modx
CREATE DATABASE modx;
Create a database user called modxuser with a new password
CREATE USER 'modxuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON modx.* TO 'modxuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Download MODX Latest Release
Next, visit the MODX site and download the latest version.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file into the Apache2 root directory.
cd /tmp && wget https://modx.com/download/direct?id=modx-2.6.1-pl.zip unzip direct?id=modx-2.6.1-pl.zip sudo mv modx-2.6.1-pl /var/www/html/modx
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for MODX to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/modx/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/modx/
Configure Apache2
Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for MODX. This file will control how users access MODX content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called modx.conf.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/modx.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/modx
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/modx/>
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 MODX and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.
sudo a2ensite modx.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
Restart Apache2 by running the commands below to load all the settings above.
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see the MODX setup wizard complete.
Please follow the wizard carefully.
http://example.com/setup
Then follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully installed MODX.
Select your language and continue
Then choose new install and continue
Next, enter the database information you created above and continue
Then click the link to create or test the selection of your database. this will allow you to create the site admin account
Finally, install MODX
Enjoy!
Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed MODX CMS on Ubuntu with Apache2, MariaDB, and PHP.
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