Install Drupal on Ubuntu (Apache, MariaDB, PHP)

What you need

• Ubuntu 22.04 or newer.
• A user with sudo rights.
• A domain name for the site (or the IP address for tests).

Step 1: Update the server

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt full-upgrade

Step 2: Install Apache

sudo apt install apache2

sudo systemctl enable apache2 && sudo systemctl start apache2

sudo systemctl status apache2

Open the firewall for web traffic:

sudo ufw allow http
sudo ufw allow https

Step 3: Install PHP

Drupal needs PHP and several extensions:

sudo apt install php php-cli php-mysql php-gd php-curl php-xml php-mbstring php-zip php-opcache libapache2-mod-php unzip

Step 4: Install MariaDB

sudo apt install mariadb-server -y

sudo systemctl start mariadb && sudo systemctl enable mariadb

sudo systemctl status mariadb

Secure it with sudo mysql_secure_installation.

Step 5: Create the database and user

sudo mariadb -u root

Run (use your own strong password):

CREATE USER 'drupal'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'DrupalPassword';
CREATE DATABASE drupal;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal.* TO 'drupal'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 6: Download Drupal

cd /var/www/html

Download the latest version from drupal.org:

sudo wget https://www.drupal.org/download-latest/zip -O drupal.zip

Unzip it. The folder name depends on the version:

sudo unzip drupal.zip

Rename the folder and set the owner:

sudo mv drupal-10.3.1/ drupal/

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data drupal/

Step 7: Create an Apache virtual host

cd /etc/apache2/sites-available/

sudo touch drupal.conf

Edit drupal.conf and add:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/drupal

    <Directory /var/www/html/drupal>
        AllowOverride All
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Step 8: Enable the site and the rewrite module

sudo a2ensite drupal.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl reload apache2

Check the syntax:

apachectl -t

Step 9: Finish in the browser

Open http://yourdomain.com. The Drupal installer starts. Choose a language and the Standard profile, enter the database details (database drupal, user drupal, the password you set) and your site and admin details.

After the install, protect the settings file:

sudo chmod 444 /var/www/html/drupal/sites/default/settings.php

Add an SSL certificate with Let's Encrypt (certbot --apache).

Quick recap

• Install Apache, PHP and MariaDB, and create a database.
• Download Drupal to /var/www/html/drupal.
• Create a virtual host and finish the web installer.