Serendipity is a free and open-source content management system that allows users to easily create and manage their own websites. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps required to install Serendipity on your Ubuntu Server.
Before starting the installation, you need to make sure that your server meets the following requirements:
Before installing any new package, we will first update the system to the latest version.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Serendipity requires several packages to be installed on our server. Run the following command to install them:
sudo apt install php php-fpm php-xml php-curl php-mysql mysql-server
Serendipity requires a database to store its data. We can use MySQL or MariaDB for this purpose. Once you have installed MySQL, you need to create a new database and user for Serendipity.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Enter your password when prompted. Then create a new database by running the following command:
CREATE DATABASE serendipitydb;
Now create a new user and grant appropriate permissions to the user.
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON serendipitydb.* TO 's9yuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
Replace 'password' with a secure password of your choice.
Download Serendipity to your server using the following command:
cd /var/www/html
sudo wget https://github.com/s9y/Serendipity/releases/download/2.3.5/serendipity-2.3.5.tar.gz
Extract the downloaded archive.
sudo tar -xzf serendipity-2.3.5.tar.gz
cd serendipity
Copy the default configuration file and make necessary changes.
cp serendipity_config.inc.php{.dist,}
sudo nano serendipity_config.inc.php
Update the following lines with your database configuration details:
$dbHost = 'localhost';
$dbUsername = 's9yuser';
$dbPassword = 'password';
$dbName = 'serendipitydb';
$dbCharset = 'utf8mb4';
Save and close the file. Then, give the correct permissions to the installation directory.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/serendipity/
Create a new virtual host configuration file for Serendipity.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/serendipity.conf
Add the following lines in the file:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName yourdomain.com
ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/serendipity/
<Directory /var/www/html/serendipity/>
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/serendipity-error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/serendipity-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Replace 'yourdomain.com' with your own domain name.
Enable the new virtual host and restart the Apache web server.
sudo a2ensite serendipity.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Open your web browser and enter your server IP address or domain name followed by '/serendipity'. For example, if your server IP is 192.168.0.1 then enter http://192.168.0.1/serendipity.
You should see the Serendipity web installer page. Follow the steps to install it on your server.
Once the installation is complete, you can access your Serendipity-powered website by browsing your domain name or IP address.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Serendipity on your Ubuntu Server. You can now create and manage your own website with Serendipity.
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!
