How to Install Sitemagic CMS on Ubuntu with Apache

This article explains how to install Sitemagic CMS with Apache on Ubuntu Linux.

Sitemagic is an open-source, flat-file content management system (CMS) with a slick design that allows you to create beautiful and captivating websites.

Installing Sitemagic CMS with Apache on Ubuntu Linux allows you to create beautiful and captivating websites quickly and easily. Sitemagic is an open-source, flat-file content management system (CMS) that is fully extensible and super-fast, even on small servers.

It provides features that may not be available to other PHP-based CMS, like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. One of its unique features is that it doesn’t need a database server to function since it’s a flat-file CMS. Additionally, it offers native markdown WYSIWYG support, SEO-friendly, flexible CSS framework, and easy installation and management.

Following the steps outlined in the article, you can have Sitemagic CMS on your Ubuntu Linux server.

For more about Sitemagic, please check out its homepage.

Install Apache HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server. So, install it since Sitemagic needs it.

To install Apache2 HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

After installing Apache2, the commands below can 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. You should see the Apache2 default test page,e as shown below.

http://localhost

Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories for some systems. So, you will have to get it from third-party repositories if you need it.

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-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-soap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-curl 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
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.

After installing PHP and related modules, you must restart Apache2 to reload PHP configurations.

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.

Download Sitemagic’s Latest Release

Next, visit the Sitemagic site and download the latest package. Or run the commands below to download Sitemagic packages.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new Sitemagicroot directory.

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

Then, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Sitemagic to function correctly.

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

Configure Apache Sitemagic Site

Finally, configure the Apache2 configuration file for Sitemagic. This file will control how users access Sitemagic content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called site magic.conf

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

     <Directory /var/www/html/sitemagic/>
          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.

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

Enable the Sitemagic Site

After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below, then restart the Apache2 server.

sudo a2ensite sitemagic.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Restart Apache2

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Next, open your browser and browse the server hostname or IP address. You should see the Sitemagic page.

http://example.com

You have successfully installed Sitemagic CMS on Ubuntu. Login with username and password = admin

Enjoy!

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