# How To Install Drupal on an Ubuntu 20.04 Server with Apache

> URL: https://www.atlantic.net/vps-hosting/how-to-install-drupal-ubuntu-20-04-server-apache/ | Published: 2015-02-19 | Updated: 2026-03-03 | Author: Jose Velazquez

##### Verified and Tested 06/13/21

### Introduction

In this How-To, we will walk you through the install and configuration of Drupal with Apache. Drupal is a free content management system that will facilitate the way your content is organized and managed. It has a user-friendly interface that makes customizing your content easy and simple with little effort.

### Prerequisites

- A cloud server with Ubuntu 20.04 and Apache already installed.
- You will also need to have a Server with LAMP(Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) configured. See our “[How To Install LAMP on Ubuntu 20.04](https://www.atlantic.net/vps-hosting/how-to-install-linux-apache-mysql-php-lamp-ubuntu-20-04/)“.

## Install PHP Extensions

First, you will need to install some required PHP extensions to your server. You can install all of them with the following command:

```
apt-get install php7.4-gd php7.4-common php7.4-mysql php7.4-apcu php7.4-gmp php7.4-curl php7.4-intl php7.4-mbstring php7.4-xmlrpc php7.4-gd php7.4-xml php7.4-cli php7.4-zip -y
```

Once all the packages are installed, edit the php.ini file and change some default settings.

```
nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
```

Change the following lines:

```
date.timezone = Asia/Kolkata
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 64M
max_execution_time = 300
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
```

Save and close the file when you are finished.

## Create Drupal Database

Next, you will need to create a user and database for Drupal.

First, connect to the MySQL shell with the following command:

```
mysql
```

Once you are connected, create a database and user with the following command:

```
create database drupaldb;
create user drupaluser@localhost identified by 'password';
```

Next, grant all the privileges to drupaldb with the following command:

```
grant all privileges on drupaldb.* to drupaluser@localhost;
```

Next, flush the privileges and exit from the MySQL with the following command:

```
flush privileges;
exit;
```

## Download Drupal

Next, change the directory to Apache default root directory and download the latest version of Drupal with the following command:

```
cd /var/www/html
wget -q https://www.drupal.org/download-latest/tar.gz -O drupal-latest.tar.gz
```

Once the download is completed, extract the downloaded file with the following command:

```
tar -xf drupal-latest.tar.gz
```

Next, rename the extracted directory to drupal9:

```
mv drupal-9.1.10 drupal9
```

Next, set proper ownership to the drupal9 directory:

```
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/drupal9
```

## Configure Apache

Next, you will need to create an Apache virtual host configuration file for Drupal. You can create it with the following command:

```
nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/drupal.conf
```

Add the following lines:

```
<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerName drupal9.example.com
     ServerAdmin admin@example.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/drupal9/

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

      <Directory /var/www/html/drupal9>
            Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
            AllowOverride All
            Require all granted
            RewriteEngine on
            RewriteBase /
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
            RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
            RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L,QSA]
   </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
```

Save and close the file then activate the drupal9 site and enable the Apache rewrite module:

```
a2ensite drupal9
a2enmod rewrite
```

Next, restart the Apache service to apply the changes:

```
systemctl restart apache2
```

## Access Drupal Installation Wizard

At this point, Drupal is installed and configured. Now, open your web browser and access the Drupal web installation wizard using the URL **http://drupal9.example.com**. You will be redirected to the Drupal installation wizard:

![Drupal installation](https://www.atlantic.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/p3-1024x491.png)

You can now follow the required steps to complete the Drupal web installation.

Congratulations! You have just installed and configured Drupal with Apache on your Ubuntu 20.04 [Virtual Private Server](https://www.atlantic.net/vps-hosting/). Thank you for following along in this How-To and check back with us for any new updates.