This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Mantis Bug Tracker (MantisBT) on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with an Apache2 HTTP server.
MantisBT is an open-source issue tracker platform designed to be flexible and user-friendly. It helps a tool you collaborate with different teams to resolve bugs and issues as quickly and professionally as possible.
For more about Mantis, please check its homepage
To get started with installing Mantis, follow the steps below:
Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server, so install it since Mantis 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, as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.
http://localhost
Install MariaDB Database Server
Mantis also needs a database server to store its content. The MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with Mantis.
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 service to start when the server boots.
Run these on Ubuntu
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
To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to log on to the MariaDB server.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then, type the password you created above to sign on. If successful, you should see a 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 ideal 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, save the file and closet.
Create Mantis Database
Now that you’ve installed all the required packages continue below to start configuring the servers. First, create a Mantis database.
Run the commands below to log on to MariaDB. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then, create a database called Mantis
CREATE DATABASE mantis;
Create a database user called mantisuser with a new password
CREATE USER 'mantisuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then, grant the user full access to the mantis database.
GRANT ALL ON mantis.* TO 'mantisuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
While still connected to the MariaDB database server, the steps below allow the MariaDB root user to connect from the app to the databases.
You’ll need the root account and password to set up Mantis. The steps below will turn off plugin authentication for the root user.
use mysql; update user set plugin='' where User='root'; flush privileges; exit
Restart and run the commands below to set a new password.
sudo systemctl restart mariadb.service
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 Mantis Latest Release
To download and install Mantis, run the commands below to get the latest as of this writing from this link.
On the Ubuntu server, simply run the commands below to get it to download. Then, extract its content into the Apache2 root directory.
cd /tmp wget https://excellmedia.dl.sourceforge.net/project/mantisbt/mantis-stable/2.22.1/mantisbt-2.22.1.zip unzip mantisbt-2.22.1.zip sudo mv mantisbt-2.22.1 /var/www/mantis
After that, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Mantis to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mantis/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/mantis/
Configure Apache2
Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for Mantis. This file will control how users access Mantis content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called Mantis. conf.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/mantis.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/mantis ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com <Directory /var/www/mantis/> 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 Mantis and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.
sudo a2ensite mantis.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see the Mantis setup wizard.
http://example.com/
Type in the database name, username, and root credentials.
After that, Mantis BT should be installed and ready to use.
Login with default:
Username: administrator
Password: root
Log in and begin configuring your environment.
Conclusion:
You have learned to install the Mantis bug tracker on Ubuntu with the Apache2 HTTP server. If you find any error above, please leave a comment below.
Thanks,
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