In today’s digital landscape, having a robust and user-friendly content management system (CMS) is essential for businesses of all sizes. Backdrop CMS is a powerful tool that allows non-technical users to manage various types of content, from blogs to social networks. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of installing Backdrop CMS with a LEMP stack on AlmaLinux 8. By following these steps, you will be able to create and manage your website seamlessly.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the installation process, let’s make sure you have everything you need. Here are the prerequisites for installing Backdrop CMS with a LEMP stack on AlmaLinux 8:

1. A system with AlmaLinux 8 installed and running.
2. Root access to the system.
3. LEMP stack (Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP) installed and running. If you haven’t set up the LEMP stack yet, refer to our guide on Installing the LEMP Stack on AlmaLinux 8.
4. Let’s Encrypt installed. If you haven’t installed Let’s Encrypt with the LEMP stack, please refer to our guide on Installing Let’s Encrypt with LEMP Stack on AlmaLinux 8.

Once you have met these prerequisites, we can proceed with the installation and configuration of Backdrop CMS.

Step 1: Create a Database

The first step is to create a database and a user for Backdrop CMS. This will allow the CMS to interact with the database seamlessly. To create the database and grant privileges to the user, follow these steps:

1. Access your server with root privileges by running the following command:

    ssh root@your_server_ip_address

2. Once you are logged in, access the MySQL prompt by running the following command:

    mysql -u root

3. Create a new database by executing the following command:

   CREATE DATABASE your_database_name;

   Replace your_database_name with the desired name for your database.

4. Create a new user and set a secure password for the user:

   CREATE USER 'your_username'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';

   Replace your_username with the desired username and your_password with a strong password.

5. Grant all privileges to the user for the database:

   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON your_database_name.* TO 'your_username'@'localhost';

6. Flush the privileges to ensure the changes take effect:

   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

7. Exit the MySQL prompt:

   quit

Make sure to replace your_database_name,your_username, and your_password with your preferred values. With the database and user set up, we can move on to the next step.

Step 2: Create an Nginx Configuration File

To serve your Backdrop CMS website, you need to create an Nginx configuration file. This file will define how Nginx handles incoming requests for your website. Follow these steps to create the configuration file:

1. Open the Nginx configuration file for your domain using a text editor:

    vi /etc/nginx/conf.d/your_domain.conf

   Replace your_domain with your actual domain name.

2. Add the following code to the configuration file:

   server {
   listen 80;
   listen [::]:80;
   root /var/www/html/backdrop/;
   index index.php index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
   server_name your_domain.com; location / {
   try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
   }
   
   location ~ \.php$ {
   fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/www.sock;
   fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
   include fastcgi_params;
   }
   
   access_log /var/log/nginx/your_domain.access.log;
   error_log /var/log/nginx/your_domain.error.log;
   
   
   }

   Make sure to replace your_domain.com with your actual domain name.

3. Save and exit the file by pressing Esc, typing :wq!, and then pressing Enter.
4. If you have SELinux enabled on your system, run the following command to allow Nginx to network connect:

    setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect1

5. Restart Nginx to apply the changes:

    systemctl restart nginx

6. Verify that Nginx is running without any errors:

   systemctl status nginx

With the Nginx configuration in place, we can move on to the next step of the installation process.

Step 3: Enable HTTP and HTTPS (Ports 80 and 443)

To allow HTTP and HTTPS connections to your server, you need to enable these ports in the firewall. Follow these commands to enable the ports:

1. Enable the HTTP service:

    firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=http

2. Enable the HTTPS service:

    firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=https

3. Reload the firewall to apply the changes:

   firewall-cmd --reload

With the ports enabled, we can proceed to the next step: installing Backdrop CMS.

Step 4: Download and Install Backdrop CMS

To install Backdrop CMS, you need to download the latest version from the official website. Follow these steps to download and install Backdrop CMS:

1. Change to the /var/www/html directory:

    cd /var/www/html

2. Download the Backdrop CMS archive using the wget command:

    wget https://github.com/backdrop/backdrop/archive/refs/heads/1.x.zip

3. Unzip the downloaded archive:

    unzip 1.x.zip

4. Rename the extracted directory to a more manageable name:

    mv backdrop-1.x backdrop

5. Remove the downloaded archive to free up disk space:

   rm 1.x.zip

With Backdrop CMS downloaded and extracted, we can move on to the next step: setting up file permissions.

Step 5: Set Up File Permissions

To ensure that Backdrop CMS can read and write files, you need to set the correct file permissions. Follow these steps to set up the file permissions:

1. Make the backdrop directory and its subdirectories readable by running the following command:

    chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/backdrop

2. Set the owner of the backdrop directory and its files to the Nginx user:

    chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/html/backdrop

3. Set the SELinux context for the backdrop directory:

    chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_rw_t /var/www/html/backdrop

4. Restart Nginx to apply the changes:

    systemctl restart nginx

5. Verify that Nginx is running without any errors:

   systemctl status nginx

With the file permissions set up correctly, we can proceed to the final step: configuring Backdrop CMS.

Step 6: Configure Backdrop CMS

Now that everything is in place, it’s time to configure Backdrop CMS. Follow these steps to configure the CMS:

1. Open your preferred web browser and enter your server’s IP address or domain name. This will redirect you to the Backdrop CMS configuration page.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to configure the final parts of the Backdrop CMS installation. Input the database details you configured earlier, including the database name, username, and password.
3. Once you have completed the configuration, you will have successfully installed Backdrop CMS with a LEMP stack on AlmaLinux 8.

Congratulations! You have now installed and configured Backdrop CMS on your AlmaLinux 8 server. You can now start creating and managing your website with ease.

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Christian Wells