How to Install Joomla with Apache and Let's Encrypt SSL on Debian 10
This tutorial exists for these OS versions
- Debian 12 (Bookworm)
- Debian 10 (Buster)
- Debian 9 (Stretch)
On this page
Joomla is a free and open-source content management system used to create, modify and manage the content of a website. It is simple and easy to use so you don't need to have any HTML or CSS knowledge to build the website. It is written in PHP and uses MySQL as a database. It offers a wide range of features that make it a flexible content management system right out of the box. It comes with hundreds of free extensions that allow you to customize and extend the functionality.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to install Joomla CMS with Apache and Let's Encrypt on Debian 10.
Prerequisites
- A server running Debian 10.
- A valid domain name pointed with your server IP.
- A root password is configured the server.
Getting Started
First, update the system packages to the updated version by running the following command:
apt-get update -y
Once all the packages are updated, you can proceed to the next step.
Install LAMP Server
Next, you will need to install the Apache web server, MariaDB database, PHP and other PHP extensions to your system. You can install all of them with the following command:
apt-get install apache2 mariadb-server php openssl php-imagick php-common php-curl php-gd php-imap php-intl php-json php-ldap php-mbstring php-mysql php-pgsql php-smbclient php-ssh2 php-sqlite3 php-xml php-zip -y
Once all the packages are installed, you can proceed to the next step.
Create a Database for Joomla
Joomla uses MySQL or MariaDB to store its content. So you will need to create a database and user for Joomla.
First, connect to the MariaDB with the following command:
mysql
Once connected, create a database and user with the following command:
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE joomladb;
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL ON joomladb.* TO 'joomlauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
Next, flush the privileges and exit from the MariaDB with the following command:
MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB [(none)]> EXIT;
Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Install Joomla
Next, download the latest version of Joomla with the following command:
wget https://downloads.joomla.org/cms/joomla3/3-9-25/Joomla_3-9-25-Stable-Full_Package.tar.bz2
Once the download is completed, create a directory for Joomla inside the Apache web root:
mkdir /var/www/html/joomla
Next, run the following command to extract the downloaded file to the Joomla directory:
bunzip2 Joomla_3-9-25-Stable-Full_Package.tar.bz2
tar -xvf Joomla_3-9-25-Stable-Full_Package.tar -C /var/www/html/joomla/
Next, set proper permission and ownership to the Joomla directory with the following command:
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/joomla
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/joomla
Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Configure Apache Web Server
Next, you will need to create an Apache virtual host configuration file to host the Joomla.
You can create it with the following command:
nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf
Add the following lines:
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName joomla.example.com ServerAdmin [email protected] DocumentRoot /var/www/html/joomla <Directory /var/www/html/joomla> Allowoverride all </Directory> </VirtualHost>
Save and close the file then enable the Apache virtual host with the following command:
a2ensite joomla
Next, restart the Apache service to apply the changes:
systemctl restart apache2
Next, verify the status of the Apache with the following command:
systemctl status apache2
You should get the following output:
? apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2021-03-22 09:26:20 UTC; 4s ago
Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
Process: 14495 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/apachectl start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 14499 (apache2)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 4701)
Memory: 18.8M
CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
??14499 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??14500 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??14501 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??14502 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??14503 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??14504 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
Mar 22 09:26:20 debian10 systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...
Access Joomla
Now, open your web browser and access the Joomla web interface using the URL http://joomla.example.com. You will be redirected to the following page:
Now, provide your site name, email address, admin username, password, and click on the Next button. You should see the following page:
Provide your database name, database username, password, and click on the Next button. You should see the following page:
Now, confirm all the settings and click on the Install button to start the installation. Once the installation has been completed, you should see the following page:
Click on the Remove installation folder. You should see the following page:
Now, click on the Administrator button, you should see the Joomla login page:
Provide your Admin credentials and click on the Login button, you should see the Joomla Control Panel in the following image:
Secure Joomla with Let's Encrypt SSL
It is always a good idea to secure your website with Let's Encrypt SSL. You will need to install the Certbot client to install and manage the SSL. You can install it with the following command:
apt-get install python3-certbot-apache -y
Once the Certbot is installed, run the following command to secure your website with Let's Encrypt SSL:
certbot --apache -d joomla.example.com
You will be asked to provide your email and accept the term of service as shown below:
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log Plugins selected: Authenticator standalone, Installer None Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to cancel): [email protected] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please read the Terms of Service at https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must agree in order to register with the ACME server at https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (A)gree/(C)ancel: A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about our work encrypting the web, EFF news, campaigns, and ways to support digital freedom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Y)es/(N)o: Y Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache Obtaining a new certificate Performing the following challenges: http-01 challenge for joomla.example.com Enabled Apache rewrite module Waiting for verification... Cleaning up challenges Created an SSL vhost at /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla-le-ssl.conf Enabled Apache socache_shmcb module Enabled Apache ssl module Deploying Certificate to VirtualHost /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla-le-ssl.conf Enabling available site: /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla-le-ssl.conf
Next, select whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS as shown below:
Please choose whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, removing HTTP access. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1: No redirect - Make no further changes to the webserver configuration. 2: Redirect - Make all requests redirect to secure HTTPS access. Choose this for new sites, or if you're confident your site works on HTTPS. You can undo this change by editing your web server's configuration. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2
Type 2 and hit Enter to install the Let's Encrypt SSL for your website:
Enabled Apache rewrite module Redirecting vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/joomla.conf to ssl vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla-le-ssl.conf - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://joomla.example.com You should test your configuration at: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=joomla.example.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IMPORTANT NOTES: - Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/joomla.example.com/fullchain.pem Your key file has been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/joomla.example.com/privkey.pem Your cert will expire on 2020-10-23. To obtain a new or tweaked version of this certificate in the future, simply run certbot again with the "certonly" option. To non-interactively renew *all* of your certificates, run "certbot renew" - If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by: Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt: https://letsencrypt.org/donate Donating to EFF: https://eff.org/donate-le
Conclusion
Congratulations! you have successfully installed Joomla CMS on Debian 10 server. You can now build your own website easily using Joomla. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.
