Vanilla Forums is a free and open-source community forum software written in PHP. It is a simple, flexible, customizable and multi-lingual that provides all of the features you need to run a successful forum. It offers lots of add-ons, excellent integration options, and themes to choose from. It comes with a rich set of features including, Single-Sign On, Embeddable forums, Social media login, Import from other forums, Integrates with other FOSS projects and many more.
In this tutorial, we will learn how to install Vanilla Forum software with Apache and Let's Encrypt on Ubuntu 20.04.
Prerequisites
- A server running Ubuntu 20.04.
- A valid domain name pointed with your server.
- A root password is configured on your server.
Install LAMP Server
First, you will need to install Apache web server, MariaDB, PHP and other required extensions in your system. You can install all of them with the following command:
apt-get install apache2 mariadb-server php7.4 libapache2-mod-php7.4 php7.4-common php7.4-mysql php7.4-cli php7.4-opcache php7.4-gd php7.4.intl php7.4-curl php7.4-cli php7.4-imap php7.4-mbstring php7.4-soap php7.4-xmlrpc php7.4-xml php7.4-zip unzip git wget -y
Once all the packages are installed, edit the php.ini and set some desired values:
nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
Change the following lines:
memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Save and close the file when you are finished.
Configure MariaDB Database
Next, secure the MariaDB installation and set the MariaDB root password using the following script:
mysql_secure_installation
You will be prompt for several questions as shown below:
Enter current password for root (enter for none): 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 the MariaDB is secure, log in to the MariaDB with root user:
mysql -u root -p
Once login, create a database and user for Vanilla using the following command:
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE vanilladb;
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER vanilla@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
Next, grant all the privileges to the Vanilla database with the following command:
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON vanilladb.* TO vanilla@localhost;
Next, flush the privileges and exit from the MariaDB shell with the following command:
MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB [(none)]> EXIT;
At this point, your MariaDB database is configured for Vanilla.
Download Vanilla
First, you will need to download the latest version of Vanilla from their official website. At the time of writing this tutorial, the latest available version is Vanilla 3.3. You can download it with the following command:
wget https://open.vanillaforums.com/get/vanilla-core-3-3.zip
Once the download is completed, unzip the downloaded file using the following command:
unzip vanilla-core-3-3.zip
Next, move the package directory to the Apache web root directory:
mv package /var/www/html/vanilla
Next, change the ownership of the vanilla directory to www-data and give proper permissions with the following command:
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/vanilla
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/vanilla
Once you are done, you can proceed to the next step.
Configure Apache for Vanilla Forum
Next, you will need to create a new Apache virtual host configuration file to serve Vanilla Forum.
You can create it with the following command:
nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/vanilla.conf
Add the following lines:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin admin@example.com
ServerName vanilla.linuxbuz.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/vanilla/
<Directory /var/www/html/vanilla/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/vanilla_error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/vanilla_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Save and close the file when you are finished. Then, enable the virtual host file and restart the Apache service to implement the changes:
a2ensite vanilla.conf
systemctl reload apache2
You can also verify the Apache service status using 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 Thu 2020-06-25 07:42:29 UTC; 4min 35s ago
Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
Process: 16070 ExecReload=/usr/sbin/apachectl graceful (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 13697 (apache2)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 2353)
Memory: 23.5M
CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
??13697 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??16074 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??16075 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??16076 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??16077 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??16078 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
Jun 25 07:42:29 ubuntu20 systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...
At this point, the Apache webserver is configured to serve Vanilla Forum.
Secure Vanilla Forum with Let's Encrypt
You can also secure your Vanilla Forum website with Let's Encrypt SSL. Before starting, you will need to install the Certbot in your system. Certbot is a Let's Encrypt client used to install and manage Let's Encrypt SSL.
You can install the Certbot client by running the following command:
apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
Once the Certbot is installed, run the following command to install the Let's Encrypt SSL for your website.
certbot --apache -d vanilla.linuxbuz.com
You will be asked to provide your valid email address and accept the term of service as shown below:
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to cancel): hitjethva@gmail.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 Obtaining a new certificate Performing the following challenges: http-01 challenge for vanilla.linuxbuz.com Enabled Apache rewrite module Waiting for verification... Cleaning up challenges Created an SSL vhost at /etc/apache2/sites-available/vanilla-le-ssl.conf Enabled Apache socache_shmcb module Enabled Apache ssl module Deploying Certificate to VirtualHost /etc/apache2/sites-available/vanilla-le-ssl.conf Enabling available site: /etc/apache2/sites-available/vanilla-le-ssl.conf
Next, you will also need to choose 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 domain:
Enabled Apache rewrite module Redirecting vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/vanilla.conf to ssl vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-available/vanilla-le-ssl.conf - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://vanilla.linuxbuz.com You should test your configuration at: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=vanilla.linuxbuz.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IMPORTANT NOTES: - Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/vanilla.linuxbuz.com/fullchain.pem Your key file has been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/vanilla.linuxbuz.com/privkey.pem Your cert will expire on 2020-09-23. 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" - Your account credentials have been saved in your Certbot configuration directory at /etc/letsencrypt. You should make a secure backup of this folder now. This configuration directory will also contain certificates and private keys obtained by Certbot so making regular backups of this folder is ideal. - 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 - We were unable to subscribe you the EFF mailing list because your e-mail address appears to be invalid. You can try again later by visiting https://act.eff.org.
Now, your Vanilla Forum website is secured with Let's Encrypt SSL.
Access Vanilla Forum
Now, open your web browser and type the URL https://vanilla.linuxbuz.com. You should see the following screen:
Provide your database details, application title, email, admin username, password and click on the Continue button. You should see the Vanilla dashboard in the following screen:
Now, click on the VISIT SITE button. You should see the following screen:
Conclusion
Congratulations! you have successfully installed Vanilla Forum software with Apache and secure it with Let's Encrypt free SSL. You can now host your own community forum within a minute. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.