Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a popular open-source forum application that allows users to create and manage online communities. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install Simple Machines Forum on Debian latest.
Before you start installing Simple Machines Forum on Debian, ensure that you have the following requirements:
The first step is to download the latest version of Simple Machines Forum from their official website. You can download it using the following command:
wget https://download.simplemachines.org/index.php/smf_2-1-rc2_install.tar.gz
Once you have downloaded Simple Machines Forum, extract it to the Apache web root directory /var/www:
sudo tar -xvzf smf_2-1-rc2_install.tar.gz -C /var/www/
This will create a new directory named smf_2-1-rc2_install in the /var/www directory.
Before you can install Simple Machines Forum, you need to create a new database and user for it. Log in to your MySQL server using the mysql client:
sudo mysql -u root -p
When prompted, enter the root password.
Create a new database and user for Simple Machines Forum:
CREATE DATABASE smfdb;
CREATE USER 'smfuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON smfdb.* TO 'smfuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Modify the smfuser and password to values of your choice.
Exit the MySQL:
exit
Create a new virtual host configuration file for Simple Machines Forum:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/smf.conf
Add the following configuration to the file:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName your_domain.com
ServerAdmin webmaster@your_domain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/smf_2-1-rc2_install
<Directory /var/www/smf_2-1-rc2_install/>
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/smf_error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/smf_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Replace your_domain.com with your domain name.
Enable the virtual host:
sudo a2ensite smf.conf
Restart Apache:
sudo systemctl restart apache2
Open a web browser and navigate to http://your_domain.com/install.php. Replace your_domain.com with your domain name. You will see the Simple Machines Forum installation page.
Select your language and click the Continue button.
Read and accept the license agreement and click the Continue button.
Ensure that all requirements are fulfilled and click the Continue button.
Enter your MySQL database details and click the Continue button.
Enter your administrative account details and click the Continue button.
Enter your forum details and click the Continue button.
Click the Finish button to complete the installation.
You have successfully installed Simple Machines Forum on Debian latest. You can now login to your forum and start creating your online community.
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