LimeSurvey is a powerful survey tool that allows you to create and conduct surveys online. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to install LimeSurvey on Kali Linux.
Before starting with the installation process, make sure that you have the following:
LimeSurvey requires a web server to run. We will use the Apache web server for this tutorial.
To install Apache on Kali Linux, run the following command:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2
Once the installation is complete, start the Apache service by running the following command:
sudo systemctl start apache2
You can verify if the Apache server is running by typing the following command in your terminal:
sudo systemctl status apache2
If the service is running, you will see an output similar to the following:
● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2022-01-17 18:32:00 EST; 2min 51s ago
Main PID: 7734 (apache2)
Tasks: 11 (limit: 4595)
Memory: 7.5M
CPU: 64ms
CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
├─7734 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
├─7735 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
└─7736 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
Jan 17 18:32:00 kali systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...
Jan 17 18:32:00 kali systemd[1]: Started The Apache HTTP Server.
LimeSurvey stores its data in a MySQL database. Therefore, we need to install MySQL server on Kali Linux.
Run the following command to install MySQL server:
sudo apt-get install mysql-server
Once the installation is complete, start the MySQL service by running the following command:
sudo systemctl start mysql
You can verify if the MySQL server is running by typing the following command in your terminal:
sudo systemctl status mysql
If the service is running, you will see an output similar to the following:
● mysql.service - MySQL Community Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mysql.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2022-01-17 18:41:32 EST; 2min 51s ago
Main PID: 10136 (mysqld)
Tasks: 38 (limit: 4595)
Memory: 266.7M
CPU: 1.962s
CGroup: /system.slice/mysql.service
└─10136 /usr/sbin/mysqld --daemonize --pid-file=/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
Jan 17 18:41:32 kali systemd[1]: Started MySQL Community Server.
LimeSurvey is written in PHP. To run LimeSurvey, we need to install PHP on Kali Linux.
Run the following command to install PHP and its dependencies:
sudo apt-get install php php-mysql php-gd php-xml php-curl php-mbstring
Go to the official LimeSurvey website at https://www.limesurvey.org/ and download the latest version of LimeSurvey.
Alternatively, you can run the following command to download the latest version of LimeSurvey:
wget https://www.limesurvey.org/stable-release?download=3925:limesurvey400plus-build210118targz -O limesurvey.tar.gz
Once the download is complete, extract the LimeSurvey package to the Apache web server document root directory by typing the following command:
sudo tar xfvz limesurvey.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/
Next, create a MySQL database for LimeSurvey by typing the following command:
sudo mysql -u root -p
Enter your MySQL root password when prompted. Then, create a new database for LimeSurvey by running the following command:
CREATE DATABASE limesurvey;
Create a new MySQL user and grant it privileges on the newly created database:
CREATE USER 'limesurvey_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON limesurvey.* TO 'limesurvey_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Replace password with a strong and secure password. Remember this password, as we will need it later.
Finally, navigate to the LimeSurvey directory in the Apache web server document root directory:
cd /var/www/html/limesurvey
Copy the config-sample.php file to a new file called config.php:
sudo cp config-sample.php config.php
Edit the config.php file and modify the following lines:
'dbuser' => 'limesurvey_user',
'dbpass' => 'password',
'dbname' => 'limesurvey',
Replace limesurvey_user and password with the MySQL user and password you created earlier. Replace limesurvey with the name of the MySQL database you created earlier.
Finally, you can test LimeSurvey by navigating to the following URL in your browser:
http://localhost/limesurvey/
You should see the LimeSurvey installation page.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed LimeSurvey on Kali Linux.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
