phpwcms (content management system) is a flexible and robust CMS based on PHP and MySQL, and great for web admins who wish to create and manage their websites and blogs quickly.
phpwcms is free to download and use and comes with features that you’ll find in other PHP-based CMSs, including user and group administration and responsive design that supports all modern devices.
Suppose you’re a small or medium size company or professional looking for a platform that is easy to install, simple to maintain, and flexible. In that case, phpwcms is an excellent place to start. It is a perfect CMS platform to showcase your brand.
For more about phpwcms, please check their Homepage
This brief tutorial will show students and new users how to install phpwcms on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 LTS.
To get started with installing phpwcms, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server
phpwcms requires a web server, and Apache2 HTTP server is the most popular open-source web server available today. To install the Apache2 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
Now that Apache2 is installed browse your browser to the URL below to test whether the web server works.
http://localhost
If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.
Install MariaDB Database Server
phpwcms also requires a database server to store its content. MariaDB is a great place to start if you want a genuinely open-source database server. To install MariaDB run the commands below:
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client
After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the MariaDB service always 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 18.10 and 18.04 LTS
sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service sudo systemctl start mariadb.service sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service
Next, run the commands below to secure the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during the installation.
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
Once MariaDB is installed, run the commands below to test whether the database server was installed.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Type the root password when prompted.
The server was successfully installed if you see a similar screen.
Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
phpwcms is a PHP-based CMS, and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu’s default repositories. To run PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 and previous, you may need to run the commands below:
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-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-gd php7.2-soap php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open the PHP default configuration file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
The lines below are a good setting for most PHP-based CMS. Update the configuration file with these and save.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Every time you change the PHP configuration file, you should restart the Apache2 web server. To do so, run the commands below:
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Once PHP is installed, create a test file called phpinfo.php in Apache2 default root directory to test whether it’s functioning. ( /var/www/html/)
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Next, open your browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address, followed by phpinfo.php
http://localhost/phpinfo.php
You should see the PHP default test page.
Create phpwcms CMS Database.
Now that you’ve installed all the packages required for phpwcms to function continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create a blank phpwcms database.
To log on to the MariaDB database server, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called phpwcms
CREATE DATABASE phpwcms;
Create a database user called phpwcmsuser with a new password
CREATE USER 'phpwcmsuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON phpwcms.* TO 'phpwcmsuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Download phpwcms Latest Release.
To get phpwcms latest Release, you may want to go and download from its download page. Or use the commands below to use wget and get it downloaded.
Once downloaded, extract the downloaded content into the newly created phpwcms directory.
cd /tmp wget https://github.com/slackero/phpwcms/archive/v1.9.8.zip unzip v1.9.8.zip sudo mv phpwcms-1.9.8 /var/www/phpwcms
Next, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for the phpwcms root directory and give Apache2 control.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/phpwcms/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/phpwcms/
Configure Apache2
Finally, configure the Apache2 site configuration file for phpwcms. This file will control how users access phpwcms content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called phpwcms. conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/phpwcms.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/phpwcms
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/phpwcms/>
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 phpwcms and Rewrite Module.
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.
sudo a2ensite phpwcms.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see the phpwcms setup wizard complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.
http://example.com/
Then follow the on-screen instruction to complete the setup. Select the new installation button and continue.
Type in the database username/password and the database name, and continue.
On the next page, create the admin account
After that, validate all configuration changes.
http://example.com/setup/get_conf_file.php
Download the config file above and copy it to /var/www/phpwcms/include/config/conf.inc.php
sudo cp ~/Downloads/conf.inc.php /var/www/phpwcms/include/config/
Another possible way is to connect to run the commands below to copy and place this file /var/www/phpwcms/setup/setup.conf.inc.php in /var/www/phpwcms/include/config.
sudo cp /var/www/phpwcms/setup/setup.conf.inc.php /var/www/phpwcms/include/config/conf.inc.php
After that, delete the setup folder.
sudo rm -rf /var/www/phpwcms/setup/
After that, phpwcms should be ready to use.
Log in and begin setting up your environment!
http://example.com/login.php
Congratulation! You have successfully installed phpwcms on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04.
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