How to Install Backdrop CMS on Debian Latest

Backdrop CMS is a lightweight and easy-to-use open-source content management system that allows users to create, manage, and publish web content easily. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Backdrop CMS on Debian Latest.

Requirements

Before we begin, make sure you have the following requirements:

Debian Latest operating system
Apache/Nginx webserver
PHP (version 7.2 or newer)
MySQL/MariaDB database server

Step 1: Install Apache/Nginx webserver

You can install the Apache webserver using the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2

Alternatively, if you prefer to use Nginx, you can install it using the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nginx

Step 2: Install PHP

Install PHP by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install php php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xml php-zip

Step 3: Install MySQL/MariaDB

You can install MySQL/MariaDB by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client

Step 4: Download the Backdrop CMS

Download the latest version of Backdrop CMS from their official website at https://backdropcms.org/download, or you can download it directly via wget.

wget https://github.com/backdrop/backdrop/releases/download/1.18.3/backdrop.zip

Step 5: Extract and Move Backdrop CMS

Extract the downloaded file using the following command:

unzip backdrop.zip

Move the extracted files to your web directory, for example, for Apache:

sudo mv backdrop /var/www/html/

For Nginx:

sudo mv backdrop /usr/share/nginx/html/

Step 6: Create a New Database

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE backdrop;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON backdrop.* TO 'backdropuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 7: Configure Backdrop CMS

Rename the example.settings.local.php to settings.local.php and add your database credentials:

cd /var/www/html/backdrop/
cp example.settings.local.php settings.local.php
nano settings.local.php

Replace the following settings with your database credentials:

$databases['default']['default'] = array(
  'driver' => 'mysql',
  'database' => 'backdrop',
  'username' => 'backdropuser',
  'password' => 'password',
  'host' => 'localhost',
  'port' => '',
  'prefix' => '',
  'collation' => 'utf8mb4_general_ci',
);

Step 8: Set Permissions

Set the correct permissions to the following files and directories:

cd /var/www/html/backdrop/
sudo chown www-data:www-data -R .
sudo chmod -R 755 .
sudo chmod -R g+w sites/default/files

Step 9: Set File Upload Limit

To upload files to Backdrop CMS, you need to set the file upload limit in your php.ini file:

sudo nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini

Find the following line:

upload_max_filesize = 2M

Change the size to the desired upload limit:

upload_max_filesize = 64M

Step 10: Restart the Web Server

Restart the Apache/Nginx webserver using the following command:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Alternatively, if you choose to use Nginx, run the following command:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 11: Access Backdrop CMS

Open your web browser and visit your server's IP address or domain name. You should see the Backdrop CMS installation page. Follow the instructions to complete the installation.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Backdrop CMS on Debian Latest.