Installing Mautic: A Step-by-Step Guide for Ubuntu 20.04 Marketing Automation

Mautic is an open-source, self-hosted marketing automation tool applicable to businesses and communities of all sizes. It allows you to enhance business growth or community engagement by offering features such as website monitoring, landing page creation, campaign management, contact management, and email marketing.

This guide provides a step-by-step process for installing the Mautic Marketing Automation Tool on Ubuntu 20.04 Server, utilizing a LEMP Stack (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, and PHP-FPM). We will enhance our installation’s security using SSL Let’s Encrypt.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 20.04 Server
At least 2GB RAM
Root privileges

Overview of Steps

Install Nginx Web Server
Install and Configure PHP-FPM 7.3
Install and Configure MySQL Server
Generate SSL with Let’s Encrypt
Download Latest Mautic Source Code
Set Up Nginx Server Blocks for Mautic
Complete Mautic Post-Installation

Step 1: Install Nginx Web Server

The first step is to install Nginx, under which Mautic will run securely over HTTPS. Use the commands below to update your system’s repositories and install Nginx:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx -y

Start and enable the Nginx service:

systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

Verify Nginx status:

systemctl status nginx

Step 2: Install and Configure PHP-FPM 7.3

Mautic requires PHP 7.3, as it is incompatible with PHP 7.4. Follow these steps to set it up:

Install required packages and add the PHP PPA repository:

sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y

Install PHP-FPM 7.3 and necessary modules:

sudo apt install -y php7.3-fpm php7.3-mbstring php7.3-xml php7.3-mysql php7.3-common php7.3-gd php7.3-json php7.3-cli php7.3-curl php7.3-zip php7.3-xml php7.3-imap php7.3-intl

Edit configuration file:

cd /etc/php/7.3/fpm/
vim php.ini

Modify and save the following parameters:

date.timezone = "UTC"
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0

Start and enable the PHP-FPM service:

systemctl start php7.3-fpm
systemctl enable php7.3-fpm

Step 3: Install and Configure MySQL Server

We’ll install MySQL, secure it, and create a database and user for Mautic.

Install MySQL packages:

sudo apt install mysql-server mysql-client

Start and enable MySQL service:

systemctl start mysql
systemctl enable mysql

Verify MySQL status:

systemctl status mysql

Secure MySQL:

mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set a root password, remove anonymous users, disallow root remote login, and remove the test database.

Create Mautic database and user:

mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE mautic_db;
CREATE USER mauticuser@localhost IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'mautic321';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mautic_db.* TO mauticuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

exit

Step 4: Generate SSL with Let’s Encrypt

For securing Mautic, generate an SSL certificate with Let’s Encrypt.

Install Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot

Stop Nginx and generate the SSL certificate:

systemctl stop nginx
certbot certonly --rsa-key-size 2048 --standalone --agree-tos --no-eff-email --email user@example.com -d example.com

Step 5: Download Mautic Source Code

Download and unzip the latest version of Mautic in the ‘/var/www’ directory:

sudo apt install unzip
cd /var/www/
wget -q https://www.mautic.org/download/latest

unzip -qq latest -d mautic
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mautic

Step 6: Set up Nginx Server Blocks

Create a server block for Mautic:

cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/
vim mautic

Insert the configuration, replacing placeholders as needed:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;

    ssl_session_timeout 5m;
    ssl_ciphers "HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5";

    client_max_body_size 4M;
    client_body_buffer_size 128k;

    root /var/www/mautic;
    index index.php index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    location ~ .php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock;
    }

Enable the site and check for syntax errors:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mautic /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t
systemctl restart nginx

Warm up Mautic’s cache:

cd /var/www/mautic/app
rm -rf cache/*
./console cache:warmup

Step 7: Complete Mautic Post-Installation

Open your browser and navigate to your Mautic domain:

https://example.com/

Complete the installation process by following the installer prompts.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed Mautic on your Ubuntu 20.04 server.

FAQ

Why use Nginx for Mautic?
Nginx provides a robust and efficient environment with high performance and low resource consumption, making it ideal for running applications like Mautic.
Do I need a domain name to install Mautic?
Yes, a domain name is required, especially if you’re planning to secure your installation using SSL.
Can I use PHP 7.4 instead?
Currently, Mautic is only compatible with PHP 7.3. Using other versions might cause compatibility issues.
Is SSL mandatory for Mautic?
While not mandatory, SSL is recommended for securing user data and ensuring a safe connection to your application.
How do I troubleshoot issues during installation?
Refer to the Mautic documentation for guidance or check Nginx and PHP logs for errors.

Reference

Mautic Documentation