How to Install Joomla on Debian 13

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Joomla is a free and open-source content management system for publishing web content on websites.
Web content applications include discussion forums, photo galleries, e-Commerce, and user communities, and numerous other web-based applications.

Prerequisites

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• Root access to your Debian 13 server.

• LAMP Stack installed and running. Learn how to setup LAMP Stack.

Create Joomla Database

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Login to MariaDB:

mysql -u root -p

Create database and user:

CREATE DATABASE joomladb;

CREATE USER 'joomlauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON joomladb.* TO 'joomlauser'@'localhost';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

EXIT;

Replace StrongPassword with a secure password of your choice.

Download and Extract Joomla

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Download the latest Joomla package:

wget https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/releases/download/5.3.2/Joomla_5.3.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip

Output:

root@Debian13Server:~# wget https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/releases/download/5.3.2/Joomla_5.3.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 31686051 (30M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: ‘Joomla_5.3.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip’

Joomla_5.3.2-Stable-Full_Packa 100%[==================================================>]  30.22M  44.9MB/s    in 0.7s    

2025-08-13 14:23:42 (44.9 MB/s) - ‘Joomla_5.3.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip’ saved [31686051/31686051]

Install unzip and create a directory:

apt install unzip

mkdir /var/www/html/joomla

Extract Joomla:

unzip Joomla_5.3.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip -d /var/www/html/joomla

Set ownership and permissions:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/joomla
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/joomla

Restart Apache:

systemctl restart apache2

Configure Apache for Joomla

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Create a new virtual host file:

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf

Add the following content:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@dev.domainhere.info
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/joomla/
    ServerName dev.domainhere.info

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

    <Directory /var/www/html/joomla/>
        Options FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Replace dev.domainhere.info with your actual domain name.

Enable the site and rewrite module:

a2ensite joomla.conf
a2enmod rewrite

Restart Apache:

systemctl restart apache2

Now visit: http://dev.domainhere.info to continue Joomla setup.

Install SSL with Let's Encrypt

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Install Snap and Certbot:

apt install snapd

Refresh Snap:

snap install core; snap refresh core

Install Certbot:

snap install --classic certbot

ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

Run Certbot for Apache:

certbot --apache

Test automatic renewal:

certbot renew --dry-run

Once completed, open your browser at: https://dev.domainhere.info.

Joomla Web Configuration

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In your browser:

Choose Language and enter Site Name

Enter Username, Password, Email

1. Proceed to database setup and enter credentials:
   • DB Name: joomladb
   • DB User: joomlauser
   • DB Pass: StrongPassword

Once completed, login and access the Joomla dashboard.

Dashboard after successful login:

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Done! This concludes the topic of installing the latest version of Joomla on Debian 13.