Install Gibbon on Linux

This page provides download links and step-by-step instructions for installing Gibbon on an Ubuntu distribution of Linux.

WARNING

This installation method is intended only for local testing and evaluation.

• The default database credentials are insecure.
• Do not use this setup for live school environments.
• For real deployments, configure secure credentials and use a production‑grade server stack.

Prerequisites

Install PHP, Apache, and MySQL

1. Open a terminal and run the following command to install Apache and its PHP module:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install -y apache2 libapache2-mod-php

2. Install MySQL:

sudo apt install -y mysql-server

3. Install PHP and required PHP extensions:

sudo apt install -y php \
    php-common \
    php-sqlite3 \
    php-mysql \
    php-gmp \
    php-curl \
    php-intl \
    php-mbstring \
    php-xmlrpc \
    php-gd \
    php-bcmath \
    php-xml \
    php-cli \
    php-zip \
    php-php-gettext

4. Install additional dependencies:

sudo apt install -y unzip \
    git \
    composer

5. Go to http://localhost in your browser. You should see a page entitled Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page which confirms Apache is running.

Create database

Set up a database for Gibbon using MySQL.

1. In your terminal, log in to MySQL as root:

sudo mysql

2. Create a database for Gibbon:

CREATE DATABASE gibbon;

3. Create a user for Gibbon:

CREATE USER 'gibbon'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'gibbon';

4. Enable user to access gibbon database:

GRANT ALL ON gibbon.* TO 'gibbon'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Create web directory

1. Create a folder for Gibbon files:

sudo mkdir /var/www/html/gibbon

Download Gibbon and install its PHP dependencies

1. Go to Gibbon's download page and download the latest version of Gibbon into your ~Downloads folder.
2. Unzip the contents of the downloaded file into /var/www/html/gibbon:

sudo unzip ~/Downloads/GibbonEduCore-InstallBundle.zip -d /var/www/html/gibbon

3. Install composer dependencies:

cd /var/www/html/gibbon
sudo composer install

INFO

Press return when asked to continue as root/super user for installing dependencies.

Configure Apache to access Gibbon

1. Allow files in Gibbon to be accessible by Apache:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/gibbon/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/gibbon/
sudo chmod -R 750 /var/www/html/gibbon/uploads/

2. Enable mod_rewrite on Apache:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

3. Restart Apache:

systemctl restart apache2

Install Gibbon

1. Open http://localhost/gibbon.
2. The Gibbon installer will check system requirements. Click Submit button.
3. Enter your database settings:

• Database Server: localhost
• Database Name: gibbon
• Username: gibbon
• Password: gibbon

4. Set Install demo data to Yes then click Submit.
5. To finish installation:

• Enter surname, first name, email, username and password to create administrator account
• Leave System Settings with default values
• Provide an organisation name and initials
• In the Miscellaneous section, select country, currency and timezone
• Click Submit to continue.

Verify Gibbon installation

1. Go to http://localhost/gibbon and log into Gibbon using admin account you created.

Where to go next

• Explore the Gibbon home page.
• Access information within a Gibbon system using the Fast Finder.