freebsd-installation
This article is a guide detailing how to install Joomla! Content
Management System on a FreeBSD based system.
This guide details installation of the following application versions of
the FAMP stack:
FreeBSD 13.0
Apache 2.4
MySQL 8.0
PHP 8.0
Joomla! 3.9.x
NOTE: Intended as a quick-start installation guide, this article does not address optimal security settings, performance tuning, etc.
Preparations
Open a terminal and log on to the FreeBSD system as root.
If you will be installing the required ports using pkg then skip to
the next section to begin the installation.
If you intend to compile the ports from sources then ensure the file
/etc/make.conf exists and contains DEFAULT_VERSIONS that reflect the
versions you intend to install on the system.
DEFAULT_VERSIONS+= php=8.0 python=3.9 python3=3.9 perl5=5.32 mysql=8.0
Installing Apache Web Server
Execute the following command to install apache24 as your webserver.
pkg install apache24 or
make -C /usr/ports/www/apache24/ install clean -DBATCH
Add the following lines to /etc/rc.conf:
apache24_enable="YES"
apache24_http_accept_enable="YES"
Start the apache server.
service apache24 start
Installing PHP
The following commands will install PHP 8.0 to your system.
pkg install php80 or
make -C /usr/ports/lang/php80 install clean -DBATCH
Also install Apache PHP module mod_php80.
pkg install mod_php80 or
make -C /usr/ports/lang/php80 install clean -DBATCH
As instructed by the post-install message, add the following lines to
/usr/local/etc/apache24/httpd.conf:
SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
SetHandler application/x-httpd-php-source
Also modify the following line:
DirectoryIndex index.html
changing it to:
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html
Installing Required PHP Extensions
Joomla requires the following PHP extensions:
- CURL
- MYSQLI
- SESSION
- SIMPLEXML
- XML
- XMLREADER
- ZIP
- ZLIB
To install the required extensions via pkg:
pkg install php80-curl php80-mysqli php80-session php80-simplexml php80-xml php80-xmlreader php80-zip php80-zlib
To simplify installation from sources, the php80-extensions meta-port
can be used:
make -C /usr/ports/lang/php80-extensions/ config
select the required extensions and deselect all others then:
make -C /usr/ports/lang/php80-extensions/ install clean -DBATCH
Optimally to configure the php80-mysqli extension to use MySQL 8.0
server's default authentication mechanism instead of the php80-mysqli
package default authentication:
make -C /usr/ports/databases/php80-mysqli/ config
deselect 'Use MySQL Native Driver'
NOTE: When configured this way, the php80-mysqli port will depend on
mysql80-client, which will also be installed. Significant compilation
time can optionally be saved by first installing mysql80-client via pkg
prior to compiling php80-mysqli:
pkg install mysql80-client
Compile and reinstall php80-mysqli:
make -C /usr/ports/databases/php80-mysqli/ reinstall clean -DBATCH
Configuring PHP
Create a new php.ini file by copying one of the sample files.
cd /usr/local/etc/
cp php.ini-production php.ini
Open and edit /usr/local/etc/php.ini and adjust the following values:
output_buffering = Off
post_max_size = 20M
upload_tmp_dir = /usr/local/www/apache24/data/tmp/
upload_max_filesize = 20M
After installing and configuring PHP restart the Apache service.
service apache24 restart
Installing MySQL Database Server
Execute the following commands to install MySQL 8.0 server.
pkg install mysql80-server or
make -C /usr/ports/databases/mysql80-server/ install clean -DBATCH
Add the following line to /etc/rc.conf:
mysql_enable="YES"
NOTE: MySQL 8 server initially defaults to creating users using authentication. Joomla will connect to it's database using a user with a if the php80-mysqli extension is configured and compiled from source. More details provided in previous section: Installing Required PHP Extensions.
If you prefer to use authentication,
edit /usr/local/etc/mysql/my.cnf and add the following line to the
[mysqld] section:
default_authentication_plugin = mysql_native_password
Start the MySQL server.
service mysql-server start
Upon initial installation, the MySQL 8.0 server's root user has no password.
Login to the mysql server on the command line as root and set your
desired password.
mysql -u root
root@localhost
[(none)]>ALTER USER 'root'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
Create a database for the Joomla web site with your preferred database
name.
root@localhost [(none)]>create database joomla;
Create a dedicated MySQL user with your preferred username and
password.
root@localhost
[(none)]>create user 'joomla'@'%' identified by 'password';
Grant the user all privileges to the Joomla database.
root@localhost
[(none)]>grant all privileges on joomla.* to 'joomla'@'%';
root@localhost [(none)]>flush privileges;
exit to close the connection to MySQL server.
Installing Joomla! CMS
Download the
Joomla installation package ending with .zip Unzip the file to apache's data directory. `unzip Joomla_*.zip -d /usr/local/www/apache24/data/`Change ownership of the data directory and everything in it to 'www'
thus allowing the Joomla! configuration script to write into this
directory.
chown -R www /usr/local/www/apache24/data/
At this point you should be able to begin installing and configuring Joomla!
Open and direct your web browser to one of the following...
If browsing directly on the server:
You will see the Joomla Web Installer page.
In step 1 Configuration:
fill in the fields as required.
In step 2 Database:
Username:
Password:
Database name:
Leave the other settings unchanged:
Database Type: MySQLi
Hostname: localhost
Table Prefix: unchanged
The final step of the web installer will be to delete the installation
folder.
Once that is done you can browse to your newly installed Joomla! web
site!
Post Installation
Research how to optimally configure and harden the security of your Joomla! FAMP web server!
Troubleshooting
Configuration changes made to either apache's httpd.conf or
PHP's php.ini will require that the apache service be restarted for
the changes to take effect.
service apache24 restart
Apache's error log is located at /var/log/httpd-error.log
MySQL log files are located in /var/db/mysql/ and are named .err and
-slow.log by default.
MySQL databases are also located in /var/db/mysql/