How To Install PUNBB on Ubuntu 16.04

To Install PUNBB on Ubuntu 16.04

PunBB is an open source, lightweight forum software written in PHP with simple layout and clean design. In general, it is faster than other forum software and it is very easy to administrate and moderate. The default theme of PunBB supports responsive design, so it is mobile and tablet friendly. It is really simple to install PUNBB on Ubuntu 16.04.

Pre-requirement

Install LAMP (apache2, mysql-server, php )
In mysql (create database, user and give privileges to user)
For install php
Php modules (apt install php php-gd php-curl php-mysql php-mcrypt php-mbstring php-ldap php-odbc php-xml php-xmlrpc php-soap php-tidy)

Installing PUNBB

Before you begin anything to do with the installation, you need to download the PunBB installation package in html location of your computer, and for that, you should run the following command.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# wget https://codeload.github.com/punbb/punbb/zip/master
--2017-12-02 03:20:57--  https://codeload.github.com/punbb/punbb/zip/master
Resolving codeload.github.com (codeload.github.com)... 192.30.255.121, 192.30.255.120
Connecting to codeload.github.com (codeload.github.com)|192.30.255.121|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: unspecified [application/zip]
Saving to: ‘ master’ 

master                  [      < =>            ] 452.39K   274KB/s    in 1.7s    

2017-12-02 03:21:01 (274 KB/s) - ‘ master’  saved [463252]

Once the file is downloaded, you need to extract it, and for that you shall run the following command.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# unzip master
Archive:  master
b20a80ae87ec5285df5d0e0de1bb64e5923e603f
   creating: punbb-master/
  inflating: punbb-master/.htaccess.dist  
  inflating: punbb-master/COPYING    
  inflating: punbb-master/ChangeLog  
  inflating: punbb-master/README     
  inflating: punbb-master/README.md  
   creating: punbb-master/admin/
  inflating: punbb-master/admin/bans.php  
  inflating: punbb-master/admin/categories.php  
  inflating: punbb-master/admin/censoring.php  
.
.
.
inflating: punbb-master/userlist.php  
  inflating: punbb-master/viewforum.php  
  inflating: punbb-master/viewtopic.php 

Once the file is downloaded, you shall rename the extracted directory by making use of the following command.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# mv punbb-master punbb

Later, you need to change the ownership of extracted directory in the following manner.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# chown -R www-data.www-data punbb

Now, you need to make an important step which is the configuration of the Apache VirtualHost for PunBB. So, create a conf file for PunBB by making use of the following command.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/punbb.conf 

And, in that file, you need to add the following configuration.

< VirtualHost *:80> 
ServerAdmin admin@linuxhelp1.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/punbb/
ServerName linuxhelp1.com
< Directory /var/www/html/punbb/> 
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
allow from all
< /Directory> 
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/linuxhelp1.com-error_log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/linuxhelp1.com-access_log common
< /VirtualHost> 

Once the configuration is completed, you need to make an entry in hosts file as well. So open it as follows.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# vim /etc/hosts

And add this following line in it.

< ipaddr>    domainname

After that, you need to enable the newly created conf file as follows.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# a2ensite punbb.conf 
Enabling site punbb.
To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
  service apache2 reload

Once it is done, you need to restart the Apache service in the following manner.

root@linuxhelp:/var/www/html# systemctl restart apache2.service 

Let us now continue the process via browser. So open it and and give http://yourdomain as URL. The installer of PunBB appears, click install php.

In the next page fill all the database and admin details and click on Start install to proceed further.

The installation is now complete, you can now click go to forum index in that page to visit your newly created forum using PunBB.

You’ ll be taken to the home page of PunBB forum, click on the Login option.

In the next page, you shall enter the login credentials and log into the forum.

The Admin login is successful.

With this, the installation of PunBB is completed.