GrandCMS is a free and open source content management system based on OpenCart core that can be used to create your own websites without any costs.

GrandCMS have smart and new framework, so it is a great tool to develop any advanced system.

GrandCMS comes with lots of features, some of them are listed below:

1. Support Search Engine Optimization.
2. Provide Unlimited Categories, Information Pages and Galleries.
3. Support Automatic Image Resizing.
4. Support multiple languages.
5. Easily backup using Backup & Restore Tools.
6. Information Comments.
7. Related Information.

Here, we will learn how to install GrandCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 server.

Requirements

• A server running Ubuntu 16.04.
• A normal user with sudo privileges setup on your server.

Update the System

Before installing any packages, it is recommended to update your system with the latest stable version. You can do this with the following command:

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Once your system is up to date, you can proceed to install Apache web server.

Install Apache Web Server

First, you will need to install Apache web server on your system. You can easily install it by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install apache2 -y

Once apache is installed, start the Apache web server and enable it to start on boot with the following command:

sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2

Install PHP

You can install PHP and other required modules with the following command:

sudo apt-get install wget unzip php7.0 php7.0-mysql php7.0-gd php7.0-curl libssh2-php libapache2-mod-php7.0 php7.0-mcrypt

Once all the packages are install, you can proceed to install MariaDB server.

#Install and Configure MariaDb Server

You will need to install MariaDB server to store data. You can install it with the following command:

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server -y

Start MariaDB and enable it to automatically start at boot time.

sudo systemctl start mysql
sudo systemctl enable mysql

By default, MariaDB is not secured, so you will need to secure it first. You can secure it by running the mysql_secure_installation script.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Answer all the questions as shown below:

Set root password? [Y/n] n
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

Once MariaDB is secured, log in to the MySQL shell and create a database for GrandCMS:

mysql -u root -p

Enter your root password when prompt, then create a database for GrandCMS. It is recommended to set secure password:

MariaDB [(none)]>CREATE DATABASE grandcmsdb;

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Next, create a username and password for GrandCMS with the following command:

MariaDB [(none)]>CREATE USER 'grandcms'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Next, grant privileges to the GrandCMS database with the following command:

MariaDB [(none)]>GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON grandcmsdb.* TO 'grandcms'@'localhost';

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Next, you will need to run the FLUSH PRIVILEGES command so that the privileges table will be reloaded by MariaDB and we can use new credential:

MariaDB [(none)]>FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Next, exit from the MariaDB console with the following command:

MariaDB [(none)]>\q

Once you are done, you can proceed to the next step.

Install GrandCMS

You can download the latest stable version of the GrandCMS from sourceforge site.

To download it, run the following command:

wget https://netix.dl.sourceforge.net/project/grandcms/grandcms_v0.2.0.1.1.zip

Once the download is completed extract the downloaded file with the following command:

unzip grandcms_v0.2.0.1.1.zip

Next move the extracted directory to the apache web root directory:

sudo mv upload /var/www/html/grandcms

Next. you will need to change permissions of the grandcms folder:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/grandcms

Configure Apache Web Server for GrandCMS

You will need to create a virtual host file for GrandCMS. You can do this by creating grandcms.conf file inside /etc/apache2/sites-available/ directory:

`sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/grandcms.conf

Add the following lines:

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

Save and close the file when you are finished, then enable the site with the following command:

sudo a2ensite grandcms.conf

Next, enable the rewrite module with the following command:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

Finaly, restart Apache web server so that the changes take place:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Next, you will also need to create a blank config.php file inside /var/www/html/grandcms and /var/www/html/grandcms/admin directory.
You can do this by running the following command:

sudo touch /var/www/html/grandcms/config.php
sudo touch /var/www/html/grandcms/admin/config.php

Next, give write permissions to the both file:

sudo chmod 777 /var/www/html/grandcms/config.php
sudo chmod 777 /var/www/html/grandcms/admin/config.php

Once you are finished, you can proceed to access GrandCMS web installation wizard.

Access GrandCMS

Before accessing the GrandCMS Web Interface, you will need to allow HTTP service through UFW firewall.

By default UFW is disabled on your system, so you need to enable it first. You can enable it with the following command:

sudo ufw enable

Once UFW firewall is enabled, you can allow HTTP service by running the following command:

sudo ufw allow http

You can now check the status of UFW firewall by running the following command:

sudo ufw status

Next, Open your web browser and type the URL http://yourdomain.com, you should see the following page:

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Here, read the public license and click on continue button, you should see the following page:

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Here, review all the pre-installation requirements and click on the continue button, you should see the following page:

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Here, provide all the required information like, database name, username, password, admin username and password then click on the continue button, you should see the following page:

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Next, click on the LOGIN TO YOUR ADMINISTRATION button, you should see the following page:

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Provide your login credentials then click on the Login button, you should see the GrandCMS default dashboard in following image:

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Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed GrandCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 server. You can now easily create your own website using GrandCMS.
Feel free to comments me if you have any question.