How to Install Joomla on Debian 12

Joomla is a popular open-source content management system (CMS) used for creating and managing websites. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to install Joomla on Debian 12. We’ll guide you step-by-step through the process, from setting up the server environment to accessing the Joomla instance.

What is Joomla?

Joomla is a free, open-source Content Management System (CMS) that enables users to build websites and powerful online applications without needing advanced technical skills. Released in 2005, Joomla has become one of the most popular CMS platforms, alongside WordPress and Drupal. It is built on PHP and uses a MySQL or MariaDB database to store content.

Key Features of Joomla:

Flexible and Extensible:

Joomla provides a modular architecture, allowing developers to create and install extensions (both free and paid) to add additional functionality. There are thousands of extensions available for purposes like e-commerce, social networking, blogs, galleries, and more.

Template System:

Joomla has a robust templating system that allows users to change the look and feel of a website without affecting the underlying content. Users can choose from various pre-designed templates or create their own custom templates.

Multilingual Support:

Joomla offers built-in multilingual support, allowing you to create websites in multiple languages without needing third-party plugins. It supports over 70 languages.

User Management:

Joomla has an advanced user management system with different levels of access control. This makes it ideal for websites with different types of users (e.g., authors, editors, administrators), giving specific permissions to each group.

Built-in SEO Features:

Joomla comes with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools, such as the ability to create search-friendly URLs, metadata management, and more, to help improve your site’s search engine ranking.

Security:

Joomla takes security seriously, offering features like two-factor authentication and regular security updates. There are also several extensions available for improving site security, including firewalls, spam protection, and more.

Content Management:

Joomla excels in content management. It allows you to easily organize, edit, and publish articles, blogs, and other content types. You can assign categories, tags, and schedule publishing dates.

Community and Developer Support:

Joomla has a large and active community of developers, designers, and users who contribute extensions, themes, and support. This makes it easier to find help, tutorials, and resources for Joomla projects.

Use Cases of Joomla:

Corporate Websites:

Joomla’s flexibility, combined with its user management and content management features, makes it a popular choice for creating corporate or business websites, especially for companies needing multiple languages and advanced functionality.

E-commerce Sites:

With extensions like VirtueMart, Joomla can be turned into a fully-fledged e-commerce platform, allowing businesses to sell products or services online.

Nonprofit and Community Sites:

Joomla is often used by nonprofits, schools, and other community-based organizations due to its ease of use, flexibility, and the fact that it’s free. The community and user management features also make it useful for collaborative sites.

Blogs and Personal Websites:

While WordPress is often the go-to platform for blogs, Joomla also supports blogging functionality, making it a suitable option for users who need more advanced features than WordPress offers.

Government and Educational Websites:

Joomla’s robust security features, multilingual support, and scalability make it a solid choice for government and educational institutions.

Intranets and Extranets:

Joomla’s user management system and role-based access control make it suitable for developing intranet and extranet systems where different users need different levels of access to content.

Pros of Using Joomla:

Flexibility: Highly customizable through templates and extensions.
User Management: Advanced user roles and permissions.
Multilingual: Built-in support for multiple languages.
Strong Community Support: A large community that provides support, resources, and extensions.
Built-in SEO Tools: Helps you optimize your site for search engines without needing additional plugins.

Cons of Using Joomla:

Learning Curve: While Joomla is powerful, it can be more complex than other CMS platforms like WordPress, especially for beginners.
Extension Compatibility: Not all extensions are compatible with each other, which may lead to conflicts or additional customization.
Limited Theme Options: While Joomla has themes, there are fewer available compared to platforms like WordPress.

When Should You Use Joomla?

If you need flexibility: Joomla is an excellent choice when you need a flexible CMS that can adapt to a wide variety of use cases, such as e-commerce, blogs, and corporate websites.
If you manage multiple users: Joomla is ideal for websites where you need multiple user roles with different access levels, making it great for organizations, schools, or businesses.
If you need multilingual support out-of-the-box: Joomla’s built-in multilingual capabilities make it perfect for websites catering to global audiences.

Step 1: Create an Instance

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.

Select Location: Choose a data center location for your instance closest to your target audience for optimal performance.

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 Debian 12 as the operating system for your instance.

Authentication and Finalize: Choose your authentication method, either via SSH keys or password. Once done, click Create Instance to launch your server.

Step 2: Access Your Joomla Instance

To connect to your instance on Shape.Host, follow these steps:

Get the Instance IP: After creating your instance, find the public IP address in the Shape.Host dashboard under Resources.
Open SSH Client: Use an SSH client like Terminal (Linux/macOS) or PuTTY (Windows).
SSH into the Instance: Run the following command in your terminal:

   ssh root@<your-instance-ip>

Replace <your-instance-ip> with your actual instance IP address.

Enter the Password: If prompted, enter your instance’s root password or use your SSH key if configured.

You are now connected to your instance!

Step 3: Update System Packages

Start by updating the system’s package index to ensure all software is up-to-date:

apt update

Step 4: Install Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and Other Required Packages

Install the necessary components for Joomla:

apt install apache2 mariadb-server php php-curl php-common php-json php-intl php-xml php-gd php-mysql php-imagick php-mbstring php-zip ufw certbot python3-certbot-apache unzip

Step 5: Verify Apache and MariaDB

Ensure that Apache and MariaDB are enabled and running:

systemctl is-enabled apache2
systemctl status apache2

systemctl is-enabled mariadb
systemctl status mariadb

Step 6: Configure UFW Firewall

Allow OpenSSH and web traffic (HTTP and HTTPS) through the firewall, and then enable it:

ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw allow 'WWW Full'
ufw enable
ufw status

Step 7: Configure PHP

Edit the PHP configuration file to optimize it for Joomla:

nano /etc/php/8.2/apache2/php.ini

You can use the search function (CTRL + W in nano) to find it more quickly. To save your changes and exit nano, press CTRL + X, then Y, and Enter.
Make the following changes:

Set memory_limit to 512M
Set upload_max_filesize and post_max_size to 64M
Set max_execution_time to 60
Set output_buffering to Off
Uncomment extension=intl

Step 8: Restart Apache

Restart Apache to apply the changes:

systemctl restart apache2

Step 9: Secure MariaDB Installation

Run the MariaDB secure installation script to set up your database:

mariadb-secure-installation

Follow the prompts to secure your MariaDB installation.

Step 10: Create a Database for Joomla

mariadb -u root -p

Run the following SQL commands to create the database and user:

CREATE DATABASE joomladb;
CREATE USER 'joomla'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'p4ssword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON joomladb.* TO 'joomla'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Verify the privileges of the user:

SHOW GRANTS FOR 'joomla'@'localhost';

Type quit to exit MariaDB.

Step 11: Download and Set Up Joomla

Navigate to the web directory and download Joomla:

cd /var/www/
wget https://downloads.joomla.org/cms/joomla5/5-0-1/Joomla_5-0-1-Stable-Full_Package.zip
unzip Joomla_5-0-1-Stable-Full_Package.zip -d joomla

Change ownership of the Joomla files to the Apache user:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/joomla

Step 12: Configure Apache for Joomla

Create a new virtual host configuration for Joomla:

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

To save your changes and exit nano, press CTRL + X, then Y, and Enter.
Insert the following configuration, replacing ServerName with your domain name:

<VirtualHost *:80>

    ServerAdmin contact@shape.host

    ServerName debian.shape.host
    DocumentRoot /var/www/joomla

    <Directory /var/www/joomla/>
        Options FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/debian.shape.host_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/debian.shape.host_access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Enable the Joomla site and test Apache’s configuration:

a2ensite joomla.conf
apachectl configtest
systemctl restart apache2

Step 13: Enable HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

Install Certbot and enable HTTPS for your domain:

apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
certbot --apache --agree-tos --redirect --hsts --staple-ocsp --email contact@shape.host -d debian.shape.host

Step 14: Access Joomla

Open your web browser and visit the domain name of your Joomla installation (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/). You will be presented with the Joomla web installer page.

Select the default language, and input the site name of your Joomla installation. Then, click Setup Login Data to configure the Joomla administrator user.

Input your name, username, email address, and the password for Joomla administrator user. Then, click Setup Database Connection to continue.

Input the MariaDB server database name, user, host, and the default database prefix. Then, click Install Joomla to start the installation process.

Once the Joomla installation is finished, you should get the message ‘Congratulations! Your Joomla site is ready!‘.

Open Administrator: Open the Joomla administration URL, which is https://yourdomain.com/administrator.

Within the Joomla administrator login page, input the admin user and password for your Joomla installation, then click Log in to confirm.

If you have the correct admin user and password, you should get the Joomla administrator dashboard like the following:

This tutorial was made possible using Shape.Host services, specifically their Linux SSD VPS offering. Shape.Host provides reliable and scalable cloud hosting solutions that are ideal for hosting applications like Joomla. Check out their Cloud VPS plans to get started with your own instance today.

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