Bolt is a sophisticated, lightweight, and simple content management system based on PHP. It is designed to allow webmasters and owners to create powerful and dynamic content websites. If you’re looking for a simple and straightforward content management platform to manage your websites or blogs, and 100% free, you’ll find Bolt to be useful. This post covers installing the latest version of Bolt, which at the time of writing is  3.4.2 To get started with installing Bolt, follow the steps below:

How to install Bolt CMS on Ubuntu Linux

As described above, Bolt is a sophisticated, lightweight, and simple content management system based on PHP. Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux.

Install Apache2

Bolt requires a webserver to function and the most popular web server in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below: Next, run the commands below to stop, start and enable the Apache service to always start up with the server boots.

Install MariaDB

Bolt also requires a database server to function. and MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it run the commands below. After installing, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots. After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server. When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter password Re-enter new password: Repeat password Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]:  Y Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

Restart MariaDB server

Bolt is based on PHP, so you’ll need to install it. To install PHP and related modules run the commands below After installing PHP, run the commands below to open the Apache2 PHP default file. Then make the change to the following lines below in the file and save.

Create Bolt Database

Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create the Bolt database. Run the commands below to log on to the database server. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above. Then create a database called bolt Create a database user called boltuser with new password Then grant the user full access to the database. Finally, save your changes and exit.

Download Bolt Latest Release

Next, visit the Bolt site and download the latest version. After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file into the Apache2 root directory.

Install Composer for Bolt

Once you have downloaded the Bolt package, run the commands below to install Composer. This will allow you to install the required packages to run Bolt. Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Bolt to function.

Configure Bolt Database

Next, run the commands below to create a Bolt database connection file. Then add the lines below into the config.yml and save.

Configure Apache2

Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for Bolt. This file will control how users access Bolt content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called bolt.conf Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your own domain name and directory root location. Save the file and exit.

Enable the Bolt and Rewrite Module

After configuring the Virtual Host above, enable it by running the commands below To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below. Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see Bolt setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully. Then follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully installed Bolt. After creating the first user, you should be logged into the admin dashboard. Enjoy! Login to the admin dashboard Conclusion: This post showed you how to install Bolt CMS on Ubuntu Linux. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.