How to Install ProcessWire CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

ProcessWire CMS might have features unavailable on other content management systems. If you’re looking for an open-source CMS to run your dynamic PHP-based content, don’t ignore ProcessWire.

ProcessWire is a flexible, lightweight, and simple content management system based on PHP. It is designed for ease of use to allow web admins 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 ProcessWire helpful.

This post covers installing the latest version of ProcessWire, which at the time of writing is 3.0.62

How to install ProcessWire on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support

As described above, ProcessWire is a flexible, lightweight, and simple content management system based on PHP. It is designed for ease of use to allow web admins and owners to create powerful and dynamic content websites.

Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

Step 1: Install Nginx

ProcessWire requires a webserver to function, and the second most popular web server in use today is Nginx. So, go and install Nginx on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt install nginx

Next, run the commands below to stop, start and enable the Nginx service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service
sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

Install MariaDB

ProcessWire 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 to always start up when the server boots.

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

Install PHP-FPM and Related Modules

PHP 7.1 isn’t available on 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 7.1

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1

sudo apt update

Run the commands below to install PHP 7.1 and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.1-fpm php7.1-common php7.1-mbstring php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-intl php7.1-mysql php7.1-cli php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-zip php7.1-curl

After installing PHP 7.1, run the commands below to open the PHP-FPM default file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/fpm/php.ini

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 ProcessWire 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 ProcessWire 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 processdb

CREATE DATABASE processdb;

Create a database user called processuser with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON processdb.* TO 'processuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download ProcessWire Latest Release

Next, visit the ProcessWire site and download the latest version.

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

cd /tmp && wget https://github.com/processwire/processwire/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip
sudo mv processwire-master /var/www/html/processwire

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for ProcessWire to function.

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

Configure Nginx

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

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/processwire

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.

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

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?it=$uri&$args;        
    }

  
    location ~ \.php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.1-fpm.sock;
         fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
         include fastcgi_params;
         fastcgi_buffer_size 32k;
         fastcgi_busy_buffers_size 64k;
         fastcgi_buffers 4 32k;
    }

}

Save the file and exit.

Enable the ProcessWire and Rewrite Module

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

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/processwire /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Restart Nginx by running the commands below to load all the settings above.

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. Next, you should see the ProcessWire setup wizard complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com

Then follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully installed ProcessWire.

Choose the Classic profile to install

Then validate that all the requirements are met

Then type in the database connection information and continue

Then create an admin username and password

Finish the process and enjoy ProcessWire

To access the admin page, go to http://example.com/processwire/

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