How to Install Lewsnetter on FreeBSD Latest

Lewsnetter is an open source tool for managing mailing lists. It provides a web interface for managing subscribers, sending emails, and analyzing email campaign data. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Lewsnetter on FreeBSD Latest.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to have the following:

• A FreeBSD Latest server with root access
• Apache web server installed and running on your server
• PHP 7.1 or later installed on your server
• MySQL or MariaDB installed on your server

Step 1: Download Lewsnetter

First, you need to download the Lewsnetter source code from GitHub. You can do this by running the following command:

$ git clone https://github.com/bborn/lewsnetter.git

This will create a new directory called lewsnetter in your current working directory.

Step 2: Configure Apache

Next, you need to configure Apache to serve the Lewsnetter web interface. Create a new virtual host configuration file using your preferred text editor:

$ sudo nano /usr/local/etc/apache24/Includes/lewsnetter.conf

Add the following configuration to the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME
    DocumentRoot /path/to/lewsnetter
    <Directory /path/to/lewsnetter>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Replace YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME with your actual domain name and /path/to/lewsnetter with the path to the Lewsnetter directory.

Save the file and exit your text editor.

Next, enable the virtual host configuration by running the following command:

$ sudo ln -s /usr/local/etc/apache24/Includes/lewsnetter.conf /usr/local/etc/apache24/AvailableIncludes/

Restart Apache for the changes to take effect:

$ sudo service apache24 restart

Step 3: Set Up MySQL Database

Lewsnetter requires a MySQL or MariaDB database to store its data. You can create a new database and user for Lewsnetter using the following commands:

$ mysql -u root -p

Enter your MySQL root password when prompted, then create a new database and user:

mysql> CREATE DATABASE lewsnetter;
mysql> CREATE USER 'lewsnetter'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOUR_PASSWORD';
mysql> GRANT ALL ON lewsnetter.* TO 'lewsnetter'@'localhost';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> EXIT;

Replace YOUR_PASSWORD with a strong password of your choice.

Step 4: Install Dependencies

Lewsnetter requires several dependencies that you need to install using the following command:

$ sudo pkg install php71-openssl php71-curl php71-zip php71-pdo_mysql

Step 5: Install Lewsnetter

Now you're ready to install Lewsnetter. Navigate to the Lewsnetter directory and run the following command:

$ cd lewsnetter
$ composer install

This will install all the required PHP libraries and dependencies.

Next, copy the config/config.dist.php file to config/config.php:

$ cp config/config.dist.php config/config.php

Edit the config/config.php file and update the following variables:

$config['database_host'] = 'localhost';
$config['database_name'] = 'lewsnetter';
$config['database_user'] = 'lewsnetter';
$config['database_password'] = 'YOUR_PASSWORD';

Replace YOUR_PASSWORD with the password you set up for the lewsnetter user in step 3.

Step 6: Run the Installation Wizard

Lewsnetter comes with an installation wizard that will help you set up your admin account and initial email campaign settings. To access the wizard, navigate to http://YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME/setup in your web browser.

Follow the instructions in the wizard to complete the installation process.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Lewsnetter on FreeBSD Latest. You can now use the web interface to manage your mailing lists, send emails, and analyze email campaign data.