Lab 5.6 - Installation of WordPress and GLPI on a Linux Server (Ubuntu 24.04)

Objectives

By the end of this lab, you will be able to:

• Install and configure Apache with multiple VirtualHosts
• Install and configure MariaDB with multiple databases
• Install WordPress and GLPI on distinct ports
• Configure permissions and security
• Use shell scripts to automate installation
• Manage web services and databases

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Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 24.04 installed
• Sudo/root access
• At least 2 GB of available RAM
• At least 5 GB of free disk space
• Internet connection

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Overview

This guide provides instructions and shell scripts to install WordPress and GLPI on a Linux Ubuntu 24.04 server. Both applications will use distinct ports and users to avoid any conflict.

Architecture:

• WordPress: Port 8080, database wordpressdb, user wordpressuser
• GLPI: Port 8081, database glpidb, user glpiuser

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Part 1: Installing WordPress

Step 1: Create the installation script

Create a script file for WordPress:

nano install_wordpress.sh

Step 2: Script content

Copy the following content into the file:

#!/bin/bash

# Update packages and install necessary components
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y apache2 php php-{mysql,xml,mbstring,curl,zip,gd} libapache2-mod-php mariadb-server wget

# Secure MariaDB installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Connect to MariaDB and create WordPress database and user
sudo mysql -u root <<EOF
CREATE DATABASE wordpressdb;
CREATE USER 'wordpressuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'securepassword1';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpressdb.* TO 'wordpressuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;
EOF

# Download and extract WordPress
cd /tmp
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
sudo tar xzvf latest.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/

# Configure permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wordpress
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/wordpress

# Create Apache configuration file for WordPress
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOT > /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf
<VirtualHost *:8080>
    ServerName localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/wordpress

    <Directory /var/www/html/wordpress>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/wordpress_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/wordpress_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
EOT'

# Configure port 8080
echo "Listen 8080" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/ports.conf

# Enable configuration and restart Apache
sudo a2ensite wordpress.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Instructions for web interface installation
echo "Installation via web interface:"
echo "Open a browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8080/wordpress"
echo "Follow the installation wizard providing the database information:"
echo "Database name: wordpressdb"
echo "Username: wordpressuser"
echo "Password: securepassword1"
echo "Database host: localhost"

Step 3: Make the script executable and run it

chmod +x install_wordpress.sh
./install_wordpress.sh

Step 4: Responses to mysql_secure_installation

During the script execution, you will be prompted to answer questions to secure MariaDB. Here are the recommended responses:

Enter current password for root : [Press Enter]
Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] Y
Change the root password? [Y/n] n
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] Y
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] n
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] Y
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] Y

Step 5: Installation via web interface

1. Open a browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8080/wordpress

2. Follow the installation wizard providing the database information:

   • Database name: wordpressdb
   • Username: wordpressuser
   • Password: securepassword1
   • Database host: localhost

3. Complete the installation by creating a WordPress admin account

Step 6: Verification

# Verify Apache is listening on port 8080
sudo netstat -tulnp | grep :8080

# Check Apache status
sudo systemctl status apache2

# Check logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/wordpress_access.log

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Part 2: Installing GLPI

Step 1: Create the installation script

Create a script file for GLPI:

nano install_glpi.sh

Step 2: Script content

Copy the following content into the file:

#!/bin/bash

# Update packages and install necessary components
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y apache2 php php-{apcu,cli,common,curl,gd,imap,ldap,mysql,xmlrpc,xml,mbstring,bcmath,intl,zip,bz2} libapache2-mod-php mariadb-server wget

# Secure MariaDB installation (if not already done)
# sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Connect to MariaDB and create GLPI database and user
sudo mysql -u root <<EOF
CREATE DATABASE glpidb;
CREATE USER 'glpiuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'securepassword2';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON glpidb.* TO 'glpiuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;
EOF

# Download and extract GLPI
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/glpi-project/glpi/releases/download/10.0.7/glpi-10.0.7.tgz
sudo tar xvf glpi-10.0.7.tgz -C /var/www/html/

# Configure permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/glpi
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/glpi

# Create Apache configuration file for GLPI
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOT > /etc/apache2/sites-available/glpi.conf
<VirtualHost *:8081>
    ServerName localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/glpi/public

    <Directory /var/www/html/glpi/public>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/glpi_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/glpi_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
EOT'

# Configure port 8081
echo "Listen 8081" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/ports.conf

# Enable configuration and restart Apache
sudo a2ensite glpi.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Instructions for web interface installation
echo "Installation via web interface:"
echo "Open a browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8081/glpi"
echo "Follow the installation wizard providing the database information:"
echo "Database name: glpidb"
echo "Username: glpiuser"
echo "Password: securepassword2"
echo "Database host: localhost"

Step 3: Make the script executable and run it

chmod +x install_glpi.sh
./install_glpi.sh

Step 4: Installation via web interface

1. Open a browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8081/glpi

2. Follow the installation wizard providing the database information:

   • Database name: glpidb
   • Username: glpiuser
   • Password: securepassword2
   • Database host: localhost

3. Log in with the default credentials:

   • User: glpi
   • Password: glpi

4. Important: Immediately change the default passwords

5. Remove the installation file for security reasons:

sudo rm /var/www/html/glpi/install/install.php

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Part 3: Advanced Commands and Securing

Managing permissions

# Set file permissions recursively
sudo find /var/www/html/wordpress -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/html/glpi -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Set directory permissions
sudo find /var/www/html/wordpress -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/html/glpi -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

Firewall configuration (UFW)

# Allow necessary ports
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp
sudo ufw allow 8081/tcp

# Check status
sudo ufw status

Real-time monitoring

# Monitor Apache logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/wordpress_access.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/glpi_access.log

# Monitor system processes
htop

# Monitor MySQL/MariaDB status
sudo mysqladmin -u root -p status

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Part 4: Troubleshooting

Apache configuration error

If you encounter an Apache configuration error:

# Check configuration syntax
sudo apache2ctl configtest

# View detailed logs
sudo journalctl -xeu apache2.service

# Check configuration files
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/glpi.conf

Check that ports are free

# Check listening ports
sudo netstat -tulnp | grep :8080
sudo netstat -tulnp | grep :8081

# Alternative with ss
sudo ss -tulnp | grep :8080
sudo ss -tulnp | grep :8081

Check permissions

# Check directory permissions
ls -ld /var/www/html/wordpress
ls -ld /var/www/html/glpi

# Check owner
ls -la /var/www/html/

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Part 5: Practical Exercises

Exercise 1: Add comments to scripts

1. Open the scripts install_wordpress.sh and install_glpi.sh
2. Add comments (#) explaining each section of the script
3. Explain what each important command does

Exercise 2: Change ports

Modify the ports to use 8080 and 8082 instead of 8080 and 8081:

1. Modify the Apache configuration files
2. Modify the ports.conf file
3. Restart Apache
4. Test access to the applications

Commands to use:

# Modify port in GLPI configuration
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/glpi.conf
# Change *:8081 to *:8082

# Add port 8082
echo "Listen 8082" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/ports.conf

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Verify
sudo netstat -tulnp | grep :8082

Exercise 3: Monitoring and surveillance

1. Use htop to monitor resources during installation
2. Monitor Apache logs in real-time
3. Check MariaDB status with mysqladmin

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Reflection Questions

Answer the following questions in a separate document:

1. What is the importance of configuring separate users and databases for WordPress and GLPI?

   • Explain the security risks if both applications shared the same database

2. What would happen if WordPress and GLPI both used port 80?

   • Explain the technical implications and possible solutions

3. Why is it necessary to secure the MariaDB installation during initial setup?

   • Detail the risks if this step is skipped

4. What is the relationship between the database and the WordPress/GLPI files uploaded to the server?

   • Explain how the two interact

5. Explain what happens when you access WordPress or GLPI via a browser after installation.

   • Describe the request flow from the browser to the database

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Appendix 1: Port Configuration Methods

Method 1: Separate configuration file (Recommended)

# Create a configuration file for the port
sudo bash -c 'echo "Listen 8080" > /etc/apache2/conf-available/port8080.conf'
sudo bash -c 'echo "Listen 8081" > /etc/apache2/conf-available/port8081.conf'

# Enable configurations
sudo a2enconf port8080
sudo a2enconf port8081

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Advantages:

• More modular
• Facilitates configuration management
• Does not modify main files

Method 2: Direct addition in ports.conf

# Directly add in ports.conf
echo "Listen 8080" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/ports.conf
echo "Listen 8081" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/ports.conf

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Advantages:

• Simple and quick
• All port configurations in one place

Disadvantages:

• Modifies the main file
• Less modular

Difference between tee and bash -c

echo "Listen 8081" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/ports.conf :

• Directly modifies the main configuration file
• Simple but less modular
• All configurations in one place

sudo bash -c 'echo "Listen 8080" > /etc/apache2/conf-available/port8080.conf' :

• Creates a separate configuration file
• More modular and structured
• Allows easy enable/disable
• Does not modify main files

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Appendix 2: Advanced Security

Remove installation files

# WordPress (if present)
sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

# GLPI
sudo rm /var/www/html/glpi/install/install.php

Configure strict permissions

# Permissions for WordPress
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wordpress
sudo find /var/www/html/wordpress -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/html/wordpress -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Permissions for GLPI
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/glpi
sudo find /var/www/html/glpi -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/html/glpi -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Configure backups

# WordPress database backup script
sudo mysqldump -u wordpressuser -p wordpressdb > /backup/wordpress_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# GLPI database backup script
sudo mysqldump -u glpiuser -p glpidb > /backup/glpi_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

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Summary of Important Commands

Command	Description
sudo systemctl status apache2	Check Apache status
sudo systemctl restart apache2	Restart Apache
sudo apache2ctl configtest	Test Apache configuration
sudo netstat -tulnp | grep :8080	Check if port is listening
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log	Monitor logs in real-time
htop	Monitor system processes
sudo mysqladmin -u root -p status	Check MariaDB status
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp	Allow port in firewall

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Final Verification

Ensure you have successfully:

• Installed WordPress on port 8080
• Installed GLPI on port 8081
• Configured separate databases
• Accessed both applications via browser
• Configured the firewall (UFW)
• Understood the difference between port configuration methods
• Added comments to scripts
• Answered reflection questions

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Next Steps

• Module 7: Networking and Configuration (to deepen network configuration)
• Module 8: Services and Daemons (to automate with systemd)
• Module 9: System Security (to further secure installations)

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Additional Resources

• WordPress Documentation
• GLPI Documentation
• Apache Configuration
• MariaDB Documentation

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Lab created on: December 2024