Bookstack is an open-source platform for creating documentation and wikis content for your users. It’s built on the LAMP or LEMP stack and is great for creating professional documentation for any project. BookStack interface is easy and simple. The page editor has a simple WYSIWYG interface, and all content is broken into three simple real-world groups: If you currently using an antiquated documentation creator or platform, you may want to give BookStack a try.  It is a great alternative to other documentation software and platform. For more on BookStack, please visit its home page

How to install BookStack on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support

As described above, BookStack is an open-source platform for creating documentation and wikis content for your users. It’s built on the LAMP or LEMP stack and is great for creating professional documentation for any project. Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support.

Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. So, install it, since BookStack needs it. To install Apache2 HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below. After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots. To test the Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see the Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

Install MariaDB Database Server

MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with Magento. To install MariaDB run the commands below. After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots. Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Run these on Ubuntu 17.10 and 18.04 LTS After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access. When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter password Re-enter new password: Repeat password 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

Restart MariaDB server To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to logon into the MariaDB server Then type the password you created above to sign on. if successful, you should see MariaDB welcome message

PHP 7.1 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories. Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.1 Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1 Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules. After installing PHP 7.1, run the commands below to open the PHP default config file for Apache2. Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is great setting to apply in your environments. After making the change above, save the file and close. After installing PHP and related modules, all you have to do is restart Apache2 to reload PHP configurations. To restart Apache2, run the commands below To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in the Apache2 root directory by running the commands below Then type the content below and save the file. Save the file. then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php You should see the PHP default test page.

Create BookStack Database

Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for BookStack to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create a blank BookStack database. To log on to the MariaDB database server, run the commands below. Then create a database called bookstack Create a database user called bookstackuser with a new password Then grant the user full access to the database. Finally, save your changes and exit.

Download and Install BookStack

Run the commands below to install Composer and use it to download BookStack content. Next, create the environment configuration file from the example file. and configure the database connection info and enter the database connection info you created above Save and exit. After that, run the commands below in the BookStack directory to create the application’s unique key and migrate the database Next, run the commands below to change the root folder permissions.

Configure the Apache2 BookStack Site

Finally, configure the Apache2 configuration file for BookStack. This file will control how users access BookStack content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called bookstack. conf Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your domain name and directory root location. Save the file and exit. After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below

Enable the BookStack Site

After configuring the Virtual Host above, enable it by running the commands below, then restart the Apache2 server. Next, open your browser and go to the URL. type in the database connection info and continue. Type default admin user ‘admin@admin.com‘ with password ‘password‘, and then press the ‘Login’ button. Log in and begin using BookStack. ~Enjoy!