How to Install Magento 2 on Ubuntu: Complete Guide

Installing Magento 2 is the first step in creating a scalable, high-performance e-commerce site. However, to ensure a smooth process, it is essential to understand the system requirements and follow a structured Magento installation guide. This article, aimed at developers and IT companies, explains in detail how to configure the environment, optimize the server, and complete the installation via CLI.

1. Magento System Requirements: What You Need Before You Begin

Before installing Magento 2, verify that your server meets these minimum requirements:

Server Environment

• Operating system: Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 or higher, Ubuntu 24.04 recommended).
• Web server: Apache 2.4 or Nginx 1.18+.
• Database: MySQL 5.7+, MariaDB 10.4+, or PostgreSQL 9.6+ (for Magento Commerce).
• RAM: Minimum 2GB (4GB+ recommended for production environments).

Software

• PHP: Version 7.4, 8.0, or 8.1 (disable deprecated versions).
  • Required extensions: curl, gd, intl, openssl, PDO, xsl, zip, mbstring, soap, iconv, bcmath.
  • Recommended extensions: redis, sodium, imagick for improved performance.
• Composer 2.0+: Essential tool for managing dependencies.
• SSL certificate: Required to protect data and users.

Recommended Magento optimizations

• Set memory_limit to php.ini to 2GB or higher.
• Enable OPcache to speed up PHP execution.
• Use Redis and Varnish for cache management.

Are you preparing an eCommerce site for production? Contact an experienced Linux technician now, who can help you get the best setup for Magento.

2. Magento 2 Installation Guide: Detailed Steps via CLI

Follow these steps to install Magento 2 using the command line interface (CLI), the most reliable method for professional environments.

Step 1: Prepare the Environment

If you don't already have NginX, MySQL, PHP, or Elastic Search installed, follow these steps

1. Update the system:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install NginX

   sudo apt install nginx

3. Install MySQL

   sudo apt install mysql-server

4. Install PHP and necessary extensions (example for Ubuntu):

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

   sudo apt install \
   	php8.1 php8.1-{cli,mysql,curl,gd,intl,xsl,mbstring,zip,soap,imagick,bcmath}

5. Install Elasticsearch

   sudo wget -qO - https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/elasticsearch-keyring.gpg

   sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https

   echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/elasticsearch-keyring.gpg] https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/7.x/apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-7.x.list

   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install elasticsearch

   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
               sudo systemctl enable elasticsearch.service
   sudo systemctl restart elasticsearch.service

Step 2: Create Magento MySQL user

Create the Magento user and database from the MySQL shell

sudo mysql

CREATE USER 'magento2'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';
CREATE DATABASE magento2;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON magento2.* TO 'magento2'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

exit

Step 3: Download Magento 2 via Composer

• Install dependencies composer

  sudo apt install curl php8.1-cli php8.1-mbstring git unzip

• Install composer

  cd ~
  
  curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
  
  sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer

• Test whether the Composer installation was successful

  composer -V

  Composer version 2.8.5 2025-01-21 15:23:40
          PHP version 8.3.17 (/usr/bin/php8.3)
  Run the "diagnose" command to get more detailed diagnostics output.

• Create a Composer project in the directory /var/www/magento Use the user root For simplicity, we will modify the permissions later:

  sudo composer create-project --repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition=2.4.6 /var/www/magento

• Enter your Magento Marketplace credentials (public/private keys) if requested; these can be created on the Adobe portal.

  Warning from repo.magento.com: You haven't provided your Magento authentication keys. For instructions, visit https://devdocs.magento.com/guides/v2.3/install-gde/prereq/connect-auth.html
  Authentication required (repo.magento.com):
    Username: 
    Password: 

Step 4: Configure Magento web server permissions

• Assign ownership of the folder to the web user (the default is www-data):

  sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/magento
  
  sudo find /var/www/magento -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
  
  sudo find /var/www/magento -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Step 5: Run the Installation Script

Run the command setup:install with the required parameters:

cd /var/www/magento/

sudo -u www-data php bin/magento setup:install \
      --base-url=http://tuo-dominio.com \
      --db-host=localhost \
      --db-name=magento2 \
      --db-user=magento2 \
      --db-password='your_secure_password' \
      --admin-firstname=Admin \
      --admin-lastname=Magento \
      [email protected] \
      --admin-user=admin \
      --admin-password=AdminPassword123! \
      --language=it_IT \
      --currency=EUR \
      --timezone=Europe/Rome \
      --use-rewrites=1 \
      --search-engine=elasticsearch7 \
      --elasticsearch-host=localhost \
      --elasticsearch-port=9200

[SUCCESS]: Magento installation complete.
[SUCCESS]: Magento Admin URI: /admin_18h6jv

Explanation of key parameters:

• --base-url: The public URL of the site (use HTTPS).
• --search-engine: Configure Elasticsearch to improve search performance.
• --use-rewrites=1: Enable SEO-optimized URLs.

Magento Admin URI

Make a note of the URL printed by the "Magento Admin URI" installation, as we will need it for the installation.

Step 6. Configure NginX virtual host for Magento 2

Let's edit the virtual host:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/magento

upstream fastcgi_backend {
  server  unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
}
server {
  listen 80;
  server_name tuo-dominio.com;
  server_name www.tuo-dominio.com;
  set $MAGE_ROOT /var/www/magento;
  include /var/www/magento/nginx.conf.sample;
}

Create a link in site-enabled to enable the new vhost in NginX

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/magento /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Restart the NginX service with:

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Step 7. Configure PHP-FPM

Increase the RAM memory for PHP-FPM processes

sudo nano /etc/php/8.1/fpm/php.ini

memory_limit = 2G

Restart the daemon php-fpm:

sudo systemctl restart php8.1-fpm.service

3. Post-Installation: Checks and Optimizations

Verify the installation

• Access the frontend at the URL http://tuo-dominio.com. You should see the default homepage.
• Access the admin panel via the URL you set  http://tuo-dominio.com/"Magento Admin URI" with the credentials you set.

Cron Job Configuration

Magento requires cron jobs for critical automatic operations (e.g., indexing and sending emails). The automation and monitoring of these tasks are a fundamental aspect that we often take care of in our DevOps optimizations and consulting. An example of a cron:

php /var/www/magento/bin/magento cron:install

Enable Production Mode

Optimize performance and security with:

php bin/magento deploy:mode:set production

4. Resolving Common Installation Errors

Error: "PHP Extensions Missing"

Solution: Install the missing extensions. Example for php-sodium:

sudo apt install php-sodium && sudo systemctl restart apache2  

Error: "Database Connection Failed"

• Verify that the MySQL user has the correct privileges:

  GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON magento2.* TO 'magento2'@'localhost';  
  FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Error: "Access Denied to var/ Folder"

Solution: Reassign permissions:

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/magento/var/ /var/www/magento/pub/

In-depth FAQ

1. Can I install Magento 2 without Composer?
Yes, but it is not recommended. Composer manages updates and dependencies efficiently.

2. How do I choose between Apache and Nginx?
Nginx offers significantly better performance under load, especially for demanding e-commerce sites such as Magento. If you need an advanced setup, check out our Nginx consulting and optimization services. Apache remains a viable alternative, easier to configure for beginners.

3. Do I have to use Elasticsearch? It
is mandatory for Magento 2.4+. It improves the speed and accuracy of catalog searches.

4. How do I back up the database after installation?
Use mysqldump:

mysqldump -u magento2 -p magento_db > magento_backup.sql  

5. Why is Production mode important?
It disables debugging, minifies CSS/JS, and enables advanced optimizations.