Install Piwigo on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx

Install Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu

You need to install the Nginx web server to get Piwigo running on Ubuntu 24.04. Open your terminal and run ‘sudo apt update’ followed by ‘sudo apt install nginx’. This prepares your system to serve web pages, which is essential for your Piwigo installation.

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

Your Piwigo photos need a place to be stored, and the MariaDB database server is perfect for that. Install it on Ubuntu by opening your terminal and running ‘sudo apt update’ then ‘sudo apt install mariadb-server’. This sets up the database system that Piwigo will use to manage your photos.

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 Piwigo database

Before Piwigo can store your photos and information, you need to create a dedicated database for it. You’ll log into MariaDB and set up a database named ‘piwigodb’ and a user called ‘piwigodbuser’. This user will then get full permissions to manage this specific database.

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

The piwigodbuser must have full access to the piwigodb database. Granting this full access ensures the Piwigo application can read, write, and manage all data within the piwigodb database without any permission errors.

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 piwigodb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER piwigodbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'type_your_password_here';
GRANT ALL ON piwigodb.* TO piwigodbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Piwigo is built using PHP, so you need to install it on your Ubuntu 24.04 system. Use the command ‘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 php-ldap php-i’ in your terminal. This installs the necessary PHP components for Piwigo to work correctly.

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 php-ldap php-imap

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download Piwigo files

Now it’s time to get the Piwigo software itself. Go to the official Piwigo download page to find the latest version. Download the archive file, then extract its contents into your web server’s main folder, which is typically ‘/var/www/html/piwigo’ on Ubuntu 24.04.

To always install the latest version, check the download page for Piwigo. Get the download link and download the archived package to your computer. Then, extract it.

First, navigate to the /tmp/ directory and download the Piwigo files. Next, extract the content into the Piwigo folder in the Nginx root directory.

Nginx root folder permissions are changed using the commands below to allow the Piwigo application to function correctly. This ensures that the Piwigo app can read and write files within the web server's designated directory, which is essential for its operation.

cd /tmp
wget https://piwigo.org/download/dlcounter.php?code=latest -O piwigo.zip
sudo unzip piwigo.zip -d /var/www
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/piwigo/

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

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

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

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

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

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;   
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    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.

To enable the virtual host for Piwigo on Ubuntu 24.04 and restart the Nginx server, run these commands: `sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/piwigo.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/` followed by `sudo systemctl restart nginx`. This action makes the Piwigo website accessible through your web browser.

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

Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS for Piwigo

To make your Piwigo photo gallery secure and trustworthy, you should set up an SSL/TLS certificate using Let’s Encrypt. This allows your site to use HTTPS, encrypting the connection between visitors and your server. It’s a crucial step for any website, including your Piwigo installation.

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://piwigo.example.com

The Piwigo installation wizard should appear.

Type in the database name, password, and admin account. Click the Start installation button when done.

Piwigo should be ready to use.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

Installing Piwigo on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx is a straightforward process that provides an efficient platform for managing your photo galleries. Here are the key takeaways:

• Prerequisites: Ensure your system has Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP installed.
• Database Setup: Create a dedicated database and user for Piwigo to manage your data securely.
• Nginx Configuration: Properly configure Nginx to efficiently serve your Piwigo installation.
• SSL/TLS Security: Utilize Let’s Encrypt to secure your Piwigo site with HTTPS.
• User-Friendly Interface: You can access a comprehensive photo management tool after installation.

This Piwigo setup on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx allows you to enjoy a powerful platform for sharing and organizing your photographic content, making your photo management more efficient.