How to install Hubzilla on FreeBSD Latest

Hubzilla is a free, open-source platform for creating and hosting social networks, and it can be installed on FreeBSD systems. This tutorial will walk you through the steps for installing Hubzilla on FreeBSD Latest.

Prerequisites

Before you start installing Hubzilla, you need to make sure that your FreeBSD system meets the following prerequisites:

  • A non-root user with sudo privileges.
  • Recent version of FreeBSD installed.
  • Apache web server installed.
  • MySQL server installed and configured.

Step 1: Install PHP and required extensions

Hubzilla requires PHP version 7.3 or later along with some PHP extensions. You can install PHP and its necessary extensions by running the following command:

sudo pkg install php73 php73-mysql php73-gd php73-ctype php73-curl

Step 2: Create Apache virtual host

Next, you need to create a virtual host configuration file for Hubzilla in Apache. Create a new file named hubzilla.conf in the /usr/local/etc/apache24/Includes/ directory, and add the following content:

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerName YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME_HERE
	DocumentRoot /var/www/hubzilla
	<Directory /var/www/hubzilla>
		Options FollowSymLinks
		AllowOverride All
		Require all granted
	</Directory>
	ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/hubzilla_error.log
	CustomLog /var/log/httpd/hubzilla_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Replace YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME_HERE with the domain name you intend to use for your Hubzilla instance.

Step 3: Download Hubzilla and move to web directory

Next, download the latest version of Hubzilla from the official website:

sudo fetch https://framagit.org/hubzilla/core/-/archive/master/core-master.tar.gz
sudo tar -xvzf core-master.tar.gz
sudo mv core-master /var/www/hubzilla

After moving the downloaded folder to /var/www/hubzilla, set the correct file permissions:

sudo chown -R www:www /var/www/hubzilla/
chmod -R 755 /var/www/hubzilla/

Step 4: Create MySQL database and user

Hubzilla requires a MySQL database and user to store its data. You can create a new database and user by running the following command:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, enter the MySQL root password and create a new database and user as follows:

CREATE DATABASE hubzilla;
CREATE USER '<username>'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '<password>';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON hubzilla.* TO '<username>'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Replace <username> and <password> with your desired MySQL username and password.

Step 5: Start Hubzilla installer

Finally, start the Hubzilla installer by accessing your Hubzilla instance in a web browser. Visit http://YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME_HERE/install and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Once the installation is complete, you can access your Hubzilla instance by visiting http://YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME_HERE/.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Hubzilla on your FreeBSD system!