SproutCMS is an open-source, lightweight, and beautiful web publishing platform (CMS) that you can use to create dynamic websites and blogs. With SproutCMS, you can manage your content from a single backend and publish it across all your sites.
SproutCMS allows you to build dynamic content from shared modules, revert changes to previous versions, comes with built-in search controls, and is mobile-friendly. It lets you focus on building content by leveraging its easy management portal designs and technical quality without the bloats.
Whether creating a personal or business website, SproutCMS can help you create and manage your content on every device with its modern user and admin interface.
This brief tutorial will show students and new users how to install SproutCMS on Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04, and 18.10.
When you’re ready to get SproutCMS working on Ubuntu, please continue with the steps below:
Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. Install it since SproutCMS 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 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
To test the Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address, and 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
MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with SproutCMS. 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 18.10 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 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-mysql 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-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 make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is an excellent 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 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 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.
Create SproutCMS Database
Once you’ve installed all the packages required for SproutCMS to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create a blank SproutCMS database.
To log on to the MariaDB database server, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called sproutcms
CREATE DATABASE sproutcms;
Create a database user called sproutcmsuser with a new password
CREATE USER 'sproutcmsuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON sproutcms.* TO 'sproutcmsuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Download and Install SproutCMS
Run the commands below to download SproutCMS’s latest content. Then unzip the download file and move the content to the Apache2 default root directory.
cd /tmp sudo apt install git wget https://github.com/Karmabunny/sprout3/releases/download/v3.0.0/sprout-3.0.0.tar.bz2 tar -xvf sprout-3.0.0.tar.bz2 sudo mv sprout-3.0.0 /var/www/html/sproutcms
Next, create a new file with the highlighted content below:
sudo nano /var/www/html/sproutcms/src/config/database.php
Then copy and paste the content below into the file
<?php
/**
* Database connection settings.
*
* Each array is a separate group, which can be connected to independently.
*
* The standard connection used by {@see Pdb} is the 'default' group, but
* the method {@see Pdb::connect} can be used to connect to other groups
*
* Group Options:
* connection Array of connection specific parameters:
* type Only supported value is 'mysql'
* host Hostname
* user Username
* pass Password
* port If non-empty, specifies a non-standard port
* database Database name
* character_set Database character set
**/
if (IN_PRODUCTION) {
// Live server config
$config['default'] = [
'connection' => [
'type' => 'mysql',
'user' => 'sproutcmsuser',
'database' => 'sproutcms',
'host' => 'localhost',
'port' => FALSE,
],
'character_set' => 'utf8',
];
// Rather than entering the PRODUCTION database password direct in
// the config (which would then be saved in repo history and could
// accidently become public), it's much better to include this in
// a separate file, preferably outside of DOCROOT.
//
// Example file content:
require DOCROOT . './database.config.php';
} else {
// Test server config
$config['default'] = [
'connection' => [
'type' => 'mysql',
'user' => '-- username --',
'pass' => '-- password --',
'database' => '-- database --',
'host' => 'localhost',
'port' => FALSE,
],
'character_set' => 'utf8',
];
}
Next, create another file with the database password and save it.
sudo nano /var/www/html/sproutcms/database.config.php
Copy and paste the content below into the file and save.
<?php
/*
* Copyright (C) 2017 Karmabunny Pty Ltd.
*
* This file is a part of SproutCMS.
*
* For more information, visit <http://getsproutcms.com>.
*/
$config['default']['connection']['pass'] = 'database_user_password_here';
Save the file and close.
When you’re done above, open another config file and remove the lines below:
sudo nano /var/www/html/sproutcms/src/config/config.php
Then comment out or remove the section entirely.
<?php
// .
// The following code should be found at about lines 40-42;
// make sure these lines don't begin with //
/**
* Remove these three lines once SproutCMS has been set up
**/
Sprout\Helpers\Register::modules([
'Welcome',
]);
Finally, please save the file and close it.
Next, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for SproutCMS to function correctly.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/sproutcms/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/sproutcms/
Configure Apache2 SproutCMS Site
Finally, configure the Apache2 configuration file for SproutCMS. This file will control how users access SproutCMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called sproutcms. conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/sproutcms.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/html/sproutcms/src
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/sproutcms/src/>
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.
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.
Enable the SproutCMS Site and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below, then restart the Apache2 server.
sudo a2ensite sproutcms.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
Restart Apache2
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Next, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address, and you should see the SproutCMS page setup page.
http://example.com/
You should see the page below with some tasks for your to complete. Task one should be done using the files you created above. Refresh the page, and the color should change to bright green when the task is done.
Do that for each task until you’re done. The steps must be taken in order until they’re all happy, bright green. Once they have been completed, clicking the ‘reload’ button at the bottom will send you to the home page of your new SproutCMS site.
That’s it!
To login to the backend as admin, go to the URL below:
http://example.com/admin
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