How to Setup Directus CMS with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

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

Directus CMS is an open-source, headless content management system (CMS) built on the LAMP or LEMP stack. It comes with a flat, crisp, and clear design to help you create great content. 

It decouples content for apps, websites, or other data-driven projects.

Directus CMS works excellently with an Apache2 HTTP server. However, if you prefer Nginx with your setup, the steps below should be a great place to start. Then, you’ll learn how to install Directus with Nginx support instead.

For more on Directus, please visit its home page.

How to install Directus CMS on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support

As described above, Directus CMS is an open-source, headless content management system (CMS) built on the LAMP or LEMP stack. It comes with a flat, crisp, and clear design to help you create great content. 

Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux.

Install Nginx HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Nginx HTTP Server is the second most popular web server in use. Install it since Directus 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, and 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 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 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 on to 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-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-sqlite 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 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 Directus Database

Once you’ve installed all the packages required for Directus 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 directus

CREATE DATABASE directus;

Create a database user called directususer with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON directus.* TO 'directususer'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download and Install Directus

Run the commands below to download Directus content. You can always find the latest version from this link.

cd /tmp && wget https://github.com/directus/directus/releases/download/6.4.9/directus-build-6.4.9-20180403074820.zip
sudo mkdir /var/www/html/directus
sudo unzip directus-build-6.4.9-20180403074820.zip -d /var/www/html/directus

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

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

Configure Nginx Directus Site

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

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

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/directus;
    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 /api {
    if (!-e $request_filename) {
        rewrite ^/1/extensions/([^/]+) /api/api.php?run_extension=$1 last;
      }
    rewrite ^ /api/api.php?run_api_router=1 last;
       }

    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 Directus 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/directus /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/

Click Next to start the installation wizard and select the language.

Next, create an administrator account to manage the platform in the backend. and continue

Afterward, type in the database connection info you created above and continue.

Finally, click Install to complete the setup. After that, you are prompted to log on.

Don’t forget to delete the installation directory.

sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/directus/installation/

Enjoy!