Install BlogoText CMS on Ubuntu 20.04

Introduction

BlogoText is an open-source, lightweight blog engine for creating small blogs and websites. Some of its significant features are:

• Blog with comments and RSS feeds.

• Links sharing.

• RSS Reader.

• Images/Files uploading and sharing.

• JSON/ZIP/HTML import-export.

• Support for add-ons.

This article explains how to install BlogoText CMS on Ubuntu 20.04 server.

Prerequisites

• Deploy a fully updated Vultr Ubuntu 20.04 Server.

• Create a non-root user with sudo access.

• PHP > 5.5.

• SQLite or MySQL with PDO support.

1. Install Required Packages

1. SSH to your server as a non-root user with sudo access.

2. Update the system package list to update all packages to the latest available versions.

   $ sudo apt update
   

3. Install PHP 7.4 and more modules.

   $ sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php7.4 libapache2-mod-php7.4 php7.4-json php7.4-common php7.4-gmp php7.4-curl php7.4-mysql php7.4-intl php7.4-sqlite3 php7.4-mbstring php7.4-xmlrpc php7.4-gd php7.4-cli php7.4-xml php7.4-zip php7.4-imap wget unzip -y
   

4. List available time zones and choose your preference.

   $ sudo timedatectl list-timezones
   

5. Edit the PHP configuration file.

   $ sudo nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
   

   Change the following values, and replace Africa/Nairobi with your timezone save and close the file. To search for a specific line, use CTRL+W, enter search phrase then press ENTER.

   max_execution_time = 360
   
   memory_limit = 256M
   
   upload_max_filesize = 100M
   
   date.timezone = Africa/Nairobi
   

6. Restart Apache2 service for all changes made to take effect.

   $ sudo systemctl restart apache2
   

2. Create BlogoText Database

1. Log in to MySQL shell. At the password prompt, just press ENTER to continue.

   $ sudo mysql -u root -p
   

2. Create a database called blogotext.

   CREATE DATABASE blogotext;
   

3. Create a database user called blogotextuser with a password StrongPassword.

   CREATE USER 'blogotextuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword';
   

4. Grant the user full access to the database.

   GRANT ALL ON blogotext.* TO 'blogotextuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
   

5. Save the changes made to the database.

   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   

6. Exit MySQL shell.

   exit;
   

3. Install BlogoText

1. Download the latest version of BlogoText. Get the latest version from the official releases page.

   $ wget https://github.com/BlogoText/blogotext/archive/3.7.6.zip
   

2. Unzip the downloaded files.

   $ sudo unzip 3.7.6.zip
   

3. Crate the installation directory /var/www/html/blogotext.

   $ sudo mkdir /var/www/html/blogotext
   

4. Move the extracted files into the installation directory.

   $ sudo mv blogotext-3.7.6/* /var/www/html/blogotext
   

5. Change ownership of the installation directory.

   $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/blogotext
   

6. Change access permissions for the directory.

   $ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/blogotext
   

4. Configure Apache2

1. Create a new Apache configuration file called blogotext.conf.

   $ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/blogotext.conf
   

   Copy and paste the code below to the file. Then, save and exit the file.

   <VirtualHost *:80>
   
       ServerAdmin admin@example.com
   
       DocumentRoot /var/www/html/blogotext
   
       ServerName example.com
   
   
   
       <Directory /var/www/html/blogotext/>
   
           Options FollowSymlinks
   
           AllowOverride All
   
           Require all granted
   
       </Directory>
   
   
   
       ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
   
       CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
   
   </VirtualHost>
   

2. Disable Apache default configuration file.

   $ sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
   

3. Enable BlogoText Apache configuration file.

   $ sudo a2ensite blogotext.conf
   

4. Enable Apache rewrite mode.

   $ sudo a2enmod rewrite
   

5. Restart Apache service.

   $ sudo systemctl restart apache2
   

5. Access BlogoText Web Interface

To access the BlogoText Web Interface, go to your browser and visit http://Server_IP/. For example:

http://192.0.2.10/

Conclusion

You have installed BlogoText on your server. Access the installation page and complete the process by creating an administrator account and connecting your database.