What is Drupal?

Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) that allows individuals, businesses, and organizations to build and manage websites and applications. Written in PHP, it is known for its robust features, scalability, and flexibility, making it suitable for a wide range of applications, from small websites to large, enterprise-level platforms.

Key Features of Drupal:

  1. Highly Flexible and Extensible:
    • Modular architecture allows developers to extend functionality by adding or modifying modules.
    • Custom content types and fields for creating tailored experiences.
  2. Strong Security:
    • Known for its enterprise-grade security features.
    • Supported by a dedicated Drupal Security Team that releases regular updates and advisories.
  3. Multilingual Support:
    • Out-of-the-box support for building multilingual websites.
    • Provides tools for managing translations of content, interfaces, and more.
  4. Scalability:
    • Handles high-traffic websites with ease, making it a popular choice for large organizations.
    • Designed to scale with caching, load balancing, and database optimization.
  5. SEO-Friendly:
    • Built-in tools for search engine optimization, including customizable URLs, metadata, and XML sitemaps.
  6. Responsive and Mobile-First:
    • Themes and administrative interfaces are mobile-friendly and adaptive.
  7. Granular Access Control:
    • Fine-grained permission settings for managing user roles and content access.
  8. E-Commerce Capabilities:
    • Extensions like Drupal Commerce allow users to build robust online stores.
  9. API-First Architecture:
    • Designed with APIs for integration with third-party services and applications, supporting a headless CMS approach.
  10. Community-Driven:
    • A large, active community that contributes to modules, themes, and core development.

Benefits of Drupal:

  • Customizability: Perfect for building unique and complex web applications.
  • Flexibility: Adaptable to various use cases, from simple blogs to multi-site enterprise systems.
  • Community Support: A vast library of contributed modules and themes maintained by the Drupal community.
  • Open Source: No licensing costs, with regular updates and improvements.

Use Cases:

  • Government and public sector websites
  • Enterprise-level portals and intranets
  • Higher education platforms
  • E-commerce sites
  • Media and publishing platforms
  • Nonprofit and advocacy group websites

Installation Requirements:

  • Web Server: Apache, Nginx, or IIS
  • PHP: Version 7.4 or higher
  • Database: MySQL (5.7+), MariaDB (10.3+), PostgreSQL (10+), or SQLite
  • Memory: At least 64MB (128MB+ recommended for larger sites)

Comparison with Other CMS Platforms:

  1. Drupal vs. WordPress:
    • Drupal: Better for complex, large-scale projects requiring customization and security.
    • WordPress: Easier to use, ideal for beginners and small to medium-sized websites.
  2. Drupal vs. Joomla:
    • Drupal: Offers greater flexibility and scalability but has a steeper learning curve.
    • Joomla: Easier for mid-level users, with more built-in features.

Popular Modules:

  1. Views: For creating custom lists and content displays.
  2. Pathauto: Automatically generates SEO-friendly URLs.
  3. Webform: For building advanced forms and surveys.
  4. Paragraphs: Allows flexible content creation with modular layouts.

Notable Websites Using Drupal:

  1. The White House (historically)
  2. The Weather Channel
  3. NBC Universal
  4. NASA
  5. Harvard University

Why Choose Drupal?

Drupal stands out for its power, security, and flexibility, making it a top choice for developers who need to create complex websites and applications. While it has a steeper learning curve compared to other CMS platforms, the investment pays off in its ability to meet advanced, enterprise-grade requirements.

Step 1: Create an Instance

To get started with installing Next.js, you need to have a server instance running Ubuntu 24.04.

  • Access the Dashboard: Log in to your Shape.Host account and navigate to your Dashboard.
  • Click Create: Click on the “Create” button located in the top-right corner.
  • Select Instances: From the dropdown menu, choose “Instances” to begin creating a new cloud server.
Shape.host Resources dashboard with Create > Instance highlighted.
  • Select Location: Choose a data center location for your instance closest to your target audience for optimal performance.
Shape.host instance form with the data center location selector highlighted.
  • Choose a Plan: Scroll through the available pricing plans. Select a plan based on your project requirements, such as Standard, CPU-Optimized, or Memory-Optimized.
  • Choose an Image: Select Ubuntu 24.04 as the operating system for your instance.
Shape.host instance form with the operating system image selector highlighted.
  • Authentication and Finalize: Choose your authentication method, either via SSH keys or password. Once done, click Create Instance to launch your server.
Shape.host instance form with the Create Instance button highlighted.

Step 2: Connect to the Instance

Shape.host Resources dashboard with the server IP address highlighted.
  1. Find the Instance IP: Retrieve the public IP address of your instance from the Shape.Host dashboard.
  2. SSH into the Instance: Connect to your instance using the following command: ssh root@<your-instance-ip>
  3. Replace <your-instance-ip> with the actual IP address of your server.

Step 3: Update the System

Update and upgrade the system packages:

apt update && apt upgrade -y
Terminal showing APT package management commands and output.

Step 4: Install Apache Web Server

Install and start Apache:

apt install apache2 -y
systemctl enable apache2 && systemctl start apache2
systemctl status apache2
Terminal showing APT package management commands and output.
Terminal showing systemd service management commands or output.
Terminal showing systemd service management commands or output.

Step 5: Install MariaDB

Install and configure MariaDB:

apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client -y
systemctl start mariadb && systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl status mariadb
mysql_secure_installation
Terminal showing APT package management commands and output.
Terminal showing systemd service management commands or output.
Terminal showing systemd service management commands or output.
Terminal showing mariadb commands or output during Install MariaDB.
Terminal showing mariadb commands or output during Install MariaDB.

Step 6: Install PHP

Install PHP and required modules:

apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-dev php-bcmath php-intl php-soap php-zip php-curl php-mbstring php-mysql php-gd php-xml -y
php -v
Terminal showing APT package management commands and output.
Terminal showing php commands or output during Install PHP.

Step 7: Download and Extract Drupal

Download the latest Drupal package:

wget https://www.drupal.org/download-latest/tar.gz -O drupal-latest.tar.gz
Terminal showing file download commands and transfer output.

Extract the package to the web root directory:

tar -xzf drupal-latest.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/
mv /var/www/html/drupal-* /var/www/html/drupal
Terminal showing tar commands or output during Download and Extract Drupal.

Verify the extraction:

ls /var/www/html/
Terminal listing the Drupal directory and index.html in the web root.

Set proper permision:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/drupal
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/drupal
Terminal showing file and directory setup commands.

Step 8: Configure MariaDB for Drupal

Log in to MariaDB and create a database and user for Drupal:

mariadb -u root -p

Run the following SQL commands:

CREATE DATABASE drupaldb;
CREATE USER 'drupal'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password123';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupaldb.* TO 'drupal'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;
Terminal showing SQL database and user configuration commands.

Step 9: Configure Apache Virtual Host

Create a new Apache site configuration file:

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/drupal.conf

Add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName tutorials.shape.host
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/drupal

    <Directory /var/www/html/drupal/>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Terminal showing web server configuration text.

Enable the site and reload Apache:

a2ensite drupal.conf
systemctl reload apache2
Terminal showing systemd service management commands or output.

Step 10: Access Drupal in a Web Browser

Navigate to http://your-domain.com/drupal in your web browser. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation by entering the database details configured earlier.

How to Setup and Access Drupal in a Web Browser?

To complete the Drupal installation and configuration you have to access Drupal from a web browser. Perform these steps.

Step 1: Access Drupal and Select Language

To Access Drupal using a web browser:

  • Open your web browser.
  • Enter the server’s IP or domain name (i.e. localhost/drupal).
  • Select your language for Drupal.
Drupal installer language selection.

Proceed with “Save and continue”.

Step 2: Choose Installation Profile

In “Choose profile”, select the installation profile that best suits your needs and requirements:

Drupal installation profile selection.

Proceed with “Save and continue”.

Step 3: Verify Requirements

Ensure all the requirements are correctly configured:

Drupal installation requirements check.

Address the missing configurations or you can simply proceed with “continue anyway”.

Step 4: Setup Database

Specify your database credentials to connect Drupal:

Drupal database connection settings.

Enter the credentials you created earlier in the MariaDB shell.

Step 5: Install Site

Wait a moment to complete the installation of the Dural site.

Drupal installation progress screen.

Step 6: Configure Site

Configure your site:

  • site’s name: “Shape Host”.
  • email “contact@shape.host”.
  • Username: “andrei”.
  • Password: “password123”.
  • Time zone: “abc”
Drupal site configuration form with site information and maintenance account fields.

After entering your credentials, save the settings by clicking “Save and continue”.

A welcome page will be displayed, indicating that you have successfully configured Drupal on your Ubuntu 24.04 machine:

Drupal page showing navigation and administration links without its usual styling.

You have successfully installed Drupal on Ubuntu 24.04. For reliable and high-performance hosting, consider using Shape.Host Cloud VPS.