How to Setup Chamilo CMS with Nginx Platform on Ubuntu Linux

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Chamilo is a free e-Learning Management System that allows users to create an educational community, offering features such as course management, user authentication, and strong privacy settings. This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide to install Chamilo LMS on Ubuntu with Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP 7.2-FPM support, followed by setup and configuration of Chamilo database and…

This article explains setting up Chamilo CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

Chamilo is a free e-Learning Management System (LMS) platform built on the LAMP / LEMP stack, which allows users to create an educational community and empower students to publish and work together while improving access to education and knowledge globally.

Setting up Chamilo CMS with Nginx support on Ubuntu Linux can benefit educational organizations or individuals who want to create an e-Learning Management System (LMS) platform. Chamilo is a free and open-source LMS platform that allows users to create an educational community and empower students to publish and work together while improving access to education and knowledge globally.

Nginx is a high-performance web server that can handle many concurrent connections, making it an ideal choice for handling Chamilo’s traffic.

By setting up Chamilo with Nginx support on Ubuntu Linux, users can take advantage of the platform’s features, including course management, user and authentication, and enrollment, allowing students to quickly post to the site, use hashtags, view and edit posts from any device, and many more.

For more about Chamilo LMS, please check its Homepage

When you’re ready to get Chamilo installed, follow the steps below

Install Nginx HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Nginx HTTP Server is the second most popular web server in use. Install it since Chamilo LMS 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, as shown below. When you see that, then Nginx 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 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

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 a MariaDB welcome message.

Install PHP 7.2-FPM and Related Modules.

PHP 7.2-FPM 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-FPM

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

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2-FPM

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt install php7.2-fpm php7.2-common php7.2-sqlite3 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-ldap php7.2-apcu php7.2-zip

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

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/fpm/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
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
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 Nginx to reload PHP configurations.

To restart Nginx, run the commands below

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Create Chamilo Database

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

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

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called Camilo.

CREATE DATABASE chamilo;

Create a database user called chamilouser with a new password

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

Then, grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON chamilo.* TO 'chamilouser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download and Install Chamilo LMS

Run the commands below to download Chamilo LMS content. Then, unzip the download file and move the content to the Nginx default root directory.

cd /tmp && wget https://github.com/chamilo/chamilo-lms/releases/download/v1.11.6/chamilo-1.11.6-php7.zip
unzip chamilo-1.11.6-php7.zip
sudo mv chamilo-1.11.6 /var/www/html/chamilo

Next, run the commands below to change the root folder permissions.

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

Configure Nginx Chamilo LMS Site

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

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

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

    client_max_body_size 100M;

    location / {
          try_files $uri /index.php$is_args$args;
    }
    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass       unix:/var/run/php/php7.2-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 Chamilo LMS 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/chamilo /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Next, open your browser, go to the URL, and continue with the installation.

http://example.com/

Start the setup wizard by clicking the Install Chamilo button. Next, select the installation language and continue.

Confirm that all the required packages are installed.

Your server must provide the following libraries to enable all features of Chamilo. The missing libraries in orange letters are optional, but some parts of Chamilo might be disabled if not installed. You can still install those libraries later on to enable the missing features.

When you’re ready, click New Installation.

Type in the site name and the database connection info.

Chamilo needs a single MySQL database with a user that can connect. They recommend that this is a user you have created just for Chamilo rather than one you share with other applications.

It would be best to make your database before entering the details here. If you’re using a shared host, you may have an option called “MySQL Database Wizard” to speed you through the process.

Create the admin account to complete the setup.

Enjoy!

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3 responses to “How to Setup Chamilo CMS with Nginx Platform on Ubuntu Linux”

  1. Carlos segura yoquigue Avatar
    Carlos segura yoquigue

    thank you, this works vey fine. i got a problem and i think so maybe you know a solution, this is the prlblem, when i create a course and then i try go to the course chamilo says “404 not found” , the course is created without problem but can’t navigate until them, i did read than is a problem of nginx, maybe do’u have this file? or experience with this, in google can’t find a solution, thanks again and congrats for your blog is very usefull and did help me for the installation.

    1. Ron Margalit Avatar
      Ron Margalit

      I have the same problem. Anyone have a solution?

      1. Roguer Paredes Falconi Avatar
        Roguer Paredes Falconi

        This works for me :

        https://support.chamilo.org/attachments/5775

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