How to host Joomla on UpCloud Cloud Server - ServerAvatar

Joomla is an open-source content management system (CMS) known for its versatility and user-friendly interface. Joomla enables users to create and manage websites of varying complexity, from personal blogs to corporate portals and online stores. It provides flexibility in both design and functionality, accommodating a wide range of requirements without demanding advanced technical knowledge. When it comes to hosting Joomla, UpCloud is preferred due to its scalable infrastructure and seamless deployment options. ServerAvatar makes the deployment of the Joomla application on the UpCloud platform an easy step-by-step process.

Create a Server in UpCloud

Getting Started with UpCloud:

UpCloud is a high-performance VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting platform designed for developers, businesses, and IT professionals. Renowned for its speed and reliability, UpCloud features the unique MaxIOPS storage technology, delivering performance significantly faster than traditional SSDs. This makes it an excellent choice for applications with high I/O demands, such as databases and web hosting. With its user-friendly control panel, UpCloud simplifies server management, making it an attractive option for anyone needing superior VPS hosting solutions.

To deploy any application on UpCloud, we must first set up a server. Therefore, our initial step will be to deploy a server and complete its initial setup.

Step 1: Server Deployment

• Log in to your Upcloud account. If you don’t have an account, create an account on UpCloud.
• Then, Navigate to Server → Server List and click on the Deploy Server button, as shown in the image below.

Step 2: Select Location

• The first thing you have to do is select the location for your server. UpCloud provides different options for selecting the location.
• The general rule is to select the region that is closest to your audience. It means that for the majority of your audience, Your sites will load faster due to lower latency.

Step 3: Select the plan for your Server

• Here you have to select the plan of your Droplet. UpCloud offers a variety of plans. Select the one that best meets your requirements.
• The minimum requirements for hosting Joomla are 1GB or more of RAM, depending on the number of users and the scale of usage. Minimum 1GB or more disk space, depending on the size of content, extensions, and user data. You can select another plan of higher configuration as per your requirements and usage.

Step 4: Add New Storage Device

• In the Storage section, you can attach new storage devices as needed. Your initial storage is based on the selected server plan. You can attach up to 16 storage devices, each with a maximum size of 4 TB.
• To add more disks, click the "Add new device" button and adjust the storage size with the slider. You can modify the storage configuration later by adding, removing, or resizing disk devices.

Step 5: Automated Backups

• You can also enable Automated Backups by clicking the toggle button on the right side. You can choose from Day, Week, Month, or Year plans.
• After selecting the appropriate plan, you can set a backup schedule using the drop-down menu below.

Step 6: Choose an Operating System

• In this step, you need to select your server operating system. We recommend selecting Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. If you are using ServerAvatar to manage your servers, these operating systems are required.

Step 7: Select Network Configuration

• In this step, by default network configurations are set that include IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and a private Utility Network connection is set. You can customize these settings and attach your private network by clicking on the “Attach Private Network” option.

Step 8: Additional Options

• In this step, you can enable or disable IPv6 support and metadata service. Also, you can set the desired TimeZone and select between network and display adapters.
• If it suits you, we suggest keeping these options at their default settings.

Step 9: Select Login Method

• Now you have to select the Login method. There are two types of login methods. They are:
  1. Authentication via SSH Keys
  2. Authentication via One-Time Password
• If you are using SSH keys for authentication, It is the best option. You can also click on the “Add New” button to import your keys.
• If you do not know what is SSH key, You can go with the One-Time password method. You have to set a new password after the first time you log into this server.
• Make sure to set a strong password for your root user, which is the most powerful user with all the privileges on Linux OS. You can select the convenient way to have the password.

Step 10: Enter Initialization Script

• The Initialization scripts are user-defined automation scripts supported by all Linux public templates. When you select one of your stored scripts, it will appear in the edit field.
• You can make changes to the scripts or write a new one. The server will execute the script during the first bootup.

Step 11: Finalise Details

• In the last step of this process, We have to enter the Host Name, Server Name, and number of servers you want to deploy. Click on the Deploy button to create a server.

• In a few minutes, You will have the Server up and running.
• Now, We have to perform the initial step to allow the Serveravatar port from the firewall configuration.
• To allow the Serveravatar port from firewall configuration, Click on the Server → Server List Option and then click on the icon next to your server as shown in the below image.

• Now, navigate to the Firewall Section and Click on “Add Rule”.

• Create a rule to allow ServerAvatar Communication Port - 43210 as shown in the below image. Click on the Ok to add the firewall rule.

• Now, click on the “Save Changes” button to save the changes to Firewall Rules as shown in the below image.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes the installation and configuration of various packages required to host your website. Usually, You have to write commands and modify configuration files. Luckily, With ServerAvatar, Your full server configuration and optimization can be automated.

Here are the three ways to automatically configure your server with ServerAvatar.

wget https://srvr.so/install
chmod +x install
./install

Auto-install Joomla with ServerAvatar

Step 1: Create a PHP application

Once you are on the admin panel, access the Application tab from the sidebar and click the Create button.

Now fill up the required details in the application form, as seen in the image below.

Note that:

If you want to host Joomla CMS on your domain, then make sure to point your domain to the current IP address of your server, and for that:

1. Log in to your hosting provider site, where you buy your domain. You can check your domain information with one click.

2. Access DNS Manager to edit your DNS records(contact the support team if you don’t find them)

3. Change the IP address of A Record of your website to the current server’s IP address.

Click the Create Application button.

Step 2: Create a Joomla database

The Joomla installation process takes database credentials. So to create a MySQL database for Joomla, Click on the Databases tab on the server panel.

Enter the details such as Database Name, Username, and Password in the database creation form like the image below.

Click the Create Database button.

Step 3: Auto-install the Joomla application

To install Joomla on a Fresh PHP application, go to your application panel and access the** Auto Deploy** tab from the sidebar.

Click the Joomla Auto Install card on the screen, as shown in the above image.

Select the supported PHP version in the given field and click the Install Now button.

Step 4: Install and Setup Joomla

Now access the site URL from the Application panel to install and set up Joomla CMS.

Joomla Installer

Select a language and Enter your Joomla site name.

Admin Login data

Enter the administrator credentials in the Login Data field like the below image.

Database Configuration

Enter the database credential that we have created above in step 2. Database details include-

• Database Type: Type MySQLi as it supports both procedural and object-oriented interfaces.
• Host Name: leave this field as it is if you host your database on the same server as the application.
• Database Username: Enter your created database username in step 2.
• Database Password: Enter Your database password.
• Database Name: Enter the name of your database.
• Database table Prefix: Set the Joomla database table prefix as your choice.
• Connection Encryption: Set it by default.

Click the Install Joomla button.

Delete the Installation folder

After successfully installing Joomla, deleting the Install directory is required.

To do this, access the File Manager tab from the application panel and go to the public_html directory.

Now Delete the Installation directory like the above image.

Access Joomla admin login

The next screen allows you to access your site and the admin login page.

Click the Open Administrator to access the Joomla admin panel using admin credentials.

That’s it. You can now create a blog, e-commerce, and membership sites with an easy-to-use interface.