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How to Setup Anchor CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

The article provides a step-by-step guide to installing Anchor CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support. Anchor CMS is an open-source content management system preferred by bloggers for its lightweight codebase and unique features. The installation process includes setting up Nginx HTTP Server, MariaDB, PHP 7.1-FPM, the Anchor Database, and configuring the Nginx Anchor Site.…

This article describes the steps to install Anchor CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

For several reasons, one may want to set up Anchor CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux. Anchor CMS is a simple, open-source content management system (CMS) with a slick admin interface. Its lightweight codebase is designed with performance in mind. It is an excellent platform for bloggers who want to write and offers features that may not be available to other PHP-based CMS like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal.

On the other hand, Nginx is a high-performance web server known for handling large numbers of simultaneous connections with low memory usage. It is also known for handling static files better than Apache, making it an excellent choice for the static content many CMSs generate.

Combining Anchor CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux can provide a fast, reliable, and secure platform for bloggers and other content creators to share their ideas and work. It can also provide a scalable platform to handle significant traffic without slowing down or crashing.

Setting up Anchor CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux is an excellent choice for creating a fast, reliable, secure website or blog.

For more about Anchor CMS, check out its homepage.

How to install Anchor CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support

As described above, Anchor is a simple, open-source content management system (CMS) with a slick admin interface. Its lightweight codebase is designed with performance in mind.

Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx

Install Nginx HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Nginx HTTP Server is the second most popular web server in use. Instsince Anchor needs it.

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

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

After installing Nginx, the commands below can be used 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

To test the Nginx setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address. You should see the Nginx default test page.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB

Anchor CMS 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 MariaDB, the commands below can stop, start, and enable the service to start 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 17.10 and 18.04 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

sudo systemctl restart mariadb.service

Install PHP 7.1-FPM and Related Modules

PHP 7.1-FPM 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 7.1-FPM

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

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1-FPM

sudo apt update

Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.

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

After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open Nginx’s PHP default config file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/fpm/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
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

After making the change above, please save the file and close it out.

Create Anchor Database

Now that you’ve installed all the required packages, continue below to start configuring the servers.

First, run the commands below to create an Anchor CMS 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 anchor.

CREATE DATABASE anchor;

Create a database user called anchoruser with a new password

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

Then, grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON anchor.* TO 'anchoruser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download Anchor Latest Release

Next, visit the Anchor site and download the latest package. You can also run the command below to install git, which is required to download Anchor packages from GitHub.

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

sudo apt install git curl

Next, run the commands below to install the composer package and install. You must have the curl package installed for the commands to work. If not, just run sudo apt install curl to install it…

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

After that, change it to the Anchor root directory to install the PHP-required packages.

cd /tmp && sudo composer create-project anchorcms/anchor-cms
sudo mv anchor-cms /var/www/html/anchor

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

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

Configure Nginx Anchor Site

Finally, configure the Nginx configuration file for Anchor. This file will control how users access Anchor content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called an anchor.

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

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/anchor;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  example.com www.example.com;

    client_max_body_size 100M;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$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;
     }

}

Save the file and exit.

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

Enable the Anchor Site

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

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

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

http://example.com

Next, enter the database connection details you created above. The anchor needs them to store your blog’s information, so you must fill these in correctly. Again, you’ll need to contact your WebHost if you don’t know what these are.

Next, create an admin account for the backend and complete the installation.

Enjoy!

Don’t forget to run the commands below to delete the install folder.

sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/anchor/install/

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