How to Install TYPO3 with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

For students and new users looking for help installing the latest version of TYPO3 ( v9.4.0 ) from GitHub using Composer with Apache2, MariaDB, and PHP 7.2 support, the steps below should be a great place to start.

When you use Composer to install TYPO3 packages, you can easily upgrade from the command line with Composer, which is much simpler.

TYPO3 also has a built-in tool that allows web admins to upgrade easily. but it must be configured first, which may be intimidating for new users and students.

To get started with installing TYPO3, follow the steps below:

Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server, so install it since TYPO3 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 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 MariaDB Database Server

MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers for Magento. To install MariaDB run the commands below.

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

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

Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

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

Run these on Ubuntu 18.04 and 18.10 LTS

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 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 MariaDB server

Type the commands below to log into the MariaDB server to test if MariaDB is installed.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then type the password you created above to sign on. If successful, you should see MariaDB 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-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli 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 excellent 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
max_input_vars = 1500
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.

Create TYPO3 Database

Once you’ve installed all the packages required for TYPO3 to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create a blank TYPO3database.

To log on to the MariaDB database server, run the commands below.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called typo3

CREATE DATABASE typo3;

Create a database user called typo3user with a new password

CREATE USER 'typo3user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON typo3.* TO 'typo3user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download TYPO3 Latest Release

To get TYPO3’s latest release, you may want to use the GitHub repository. Install Composer, Curl, and other dependencies to get started.

sudo apt install curl git
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Apache2 root directory and download TYPO3 packages from Github. Always replace the release number with the latest release.

cd /var/www/html
sudo composer create-project typo3/cms-base-distribution typo3 ^9
sudo touch /var/www/html/typo3/public/FIRST_INSTALL

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for TYPO3 to function.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/typo3/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/typo3/

Configure Apache2

Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for TYPO3. This file will control how users access TYPO3 content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called typo3.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/typo3.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/typo3/public
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/typo3/public/>
        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 TYPO3 and Rewrite Module

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

sudo a2ensite typo3.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 TYPO3 setup wizard complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com/

Then follow the on-screen instructions and select the installation language here.

Next, type the database username and password, then continue.

On the next screen, select the database you created above and continue.

Then create an admin account and the TYPO3 site info and finish the installation. After a brief moment, you should see your new site created.

Congratulation! You have successfully installed TYPO3 on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04, and it may work on 18.10.

In the future, when you want to upgrade to a newly released version, run the commands below to upgrade.

cd /var/www/html/typo3
sudo composer install
sudo composer require typo3/cms:^9.4 --update-with-dependencies
sudo composer require typo3/minimal

That’s it!