How to Install phpBB on POP! OS Latest

In this tutorial we will guide you through the steps needed to install phpBB on POP! OS latest version. phpBB is a popular open-source bulletin board software, it is easy to use, powerful, and customizable platform. This tutorial assumes you have administrative access to your server, and have knowledge of how to use the command-line interface.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with installation, make sure that you have the following prerequisites on your POP! OS:

  • Web server (Apache, Nginx)
  • PHP 7.2 or higher
  • MySQL or MariaDB
  • Command-line Interface (Terminal)

Step 1 - Download phpBB

First, you need to download the latest stable release of phpBB from their official website. Use the following command to download the latest package: 

wget https://download.phpbb.com/pub/release/3.3/3.3.8/phpBB-3.3.8.tar.bz2

This command will download the latest stable release of phpBB in compressed format.

Step 2 - Extract phpBB Archive

After downloading the latest version of phpBB, extract the archive to a directory on your POP! OS. Use the following command to extract the archive:

tar xvfj phpBB-3.3.8.tar.bz2

This command will extract the archive, and create a new directory named phpBB3 in the current working directory.

Step 3 - Move and Rename phpBB Directory

Now that you have extracted the archive and have a new directory, move and rename the directory to the appropriate location. First, change the current working directory to your Apache/Nginx document root directory:

cd /var/www/html/

Once you are in the document root directory, move the phpBB3 directory to this location with the following command:

sudo mv /path/to/phpBB3 /var/www/html/phpbb

Note that you should replace /path/to/phpBB3 with the actual path where you have extracted the archive.

Step 4 - Configure MySQL/MariaDB

Before proceeding with the installation process of phpBB, you need to create a new MySQL/MariaDB database and user for the installation. Log in to your MySQL/MariaDB server as root user:

mysql -u root -p

Once you have logged in, run the following commands to create a new MySQL/MariaDB database and user: 

CREATE DATABASE phpbb;
CREATE USER 'phpbbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON phpbb.* TO 'phpbbuser'@'localhost';

Note that you should replace password with a strong password of your choice.

Step 5 - Configure phpBB

Now that you have performed the necessary prerequisites, it's time to configure phpBB. Open your web browser and navigate to your server using your server's IP address or FQDN followed by /phpbb. 

http://your-ip-address-or-domain-name/phpbb

You will see the phpBB installer page, select the language of installation and click on the Start install button.

On the next page, fill the installation details.

  • Select Install Database tab
  • Select the MySQL with MySQLi Extension
  • Add the Database name you created earlier
  • Add Database user name you created earlier
  • Add the password for the database user
  • Add localhost for the database server location
  • Click on the Proceed to next step

If the database details are correct, you will see a "Successful connection" message.

On the next page, provide the necessary site information such as site name, admin username, admin email, etc.

  • Click on the Proceed to next step button.

The next page will ask you to choose an authentication method, simply select Advanced Method and keep the default settings.

  • Click on the Proceed to next step button.

On the next page, it will ask you to remove the install directory, click on the link provided to remove the installation directory.

That's it, you have successfully installed phpBB on POP! OS.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have successfully installed phpBB on POP! OS latest version. You have learned how to download and extract the latest version of phpBB, configure MySQL/MariaDB, configure phpBB, and access the phpBB installer. We hope this tutorial helped you to get started with phpBB.