FluxBB is a free, open-source, flat-forum bulletin board software based on phpBB. It enables individuals and webmasters to set up community bulletin boards in minutes to stay in touch with groups of people or ideas. FluxBB is a high customization with tons of features and is designed as a lighter, faster alternative to some of the traditional feature-heavy forum applications like the original phpBB platform. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install and use FluxBB Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2, MySQL, and PHP support. Some of the features included with FluxBB are:

phpBB bulletin board and permission system CMS features allowing the creation of new pages and blocks Clean administration interface Many ready to use features: Photo Gallery, Downloads, Knowledge Base, Links, Chat. Multi-language and multi-template ready Lots of community modifications .and many others.

To get started with installing FluxBB, follow the steps below:

Install Apache2

FluxBB is PHP-based and requires a webserver. The most popular open source web server in use today is Apache2. To install Apache2, run the commands below: After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots. To test the Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see the Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

Install MySQL Database Server

A MySQL database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with FluxBB. To install MySQL run the commands below. After installing MySQL, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MySQL service always to start up when the server boots. Run these on Ubuntu After that, run the commands below to secure the MySQL server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access. 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 MySQL server To test if MySQL is installed, type the commands below to logon into the MySQL server Then type the password you created above to sign on. if successful, you should see MySQL welcome message

PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories. Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2 Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2 Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules. After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open the PHP default config file for Apache2. Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is a great setting to apply in your environment. After making the change above, save the file and close it. To restart Apache2, run the commands below To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in the Apache2 root directory by running the commands below Then type the content below and save the file. Save the file. then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php You should see the PHP default test page.

Create FluxBB Database

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

Download FluxBB Latest Release

Next, continue below to download the FluxBB package. To download, go to the link below and download the latest version. After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file into the Apache2 root directory. Change or modify the directory permission to fit the Apache2 configuration.

Configure Apache2

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

Enable the FluxBB and Rewrite Module

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name followed by install. You should see the FluxBB setup wizard complete. Please follow the wizard carefully. Type in the database name, username, and password. In the Administrator section, create a new admin account and password. then click Install That’s it! After that, all should be installed and ready to use Enjoy! Run the commands below to delete the install directory Congratulation! You have successfully installed the FluxBB bulletin board on Ubuntu 18.04. You may also like the post below: