How to Install Mautic 5 on Ubuntu 22.04 with SSL and Node.js 20

How to Install Mautic 5 on Ubuntu 22.04 with SSL and Node.js 20

This guide shows you how to install Mautic 5 on a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 DigitalOcean droplet with 4 GB of RAM. We’ll configure Apache, MariaDB, PHP 8.1, Node.js 20, and Certbot (for Let’s Encrypt SSL) — ensuring the certificate is installed before running the Mautic web-based setup.

Table of Contents

  1. Create a 4GB Ubuntu 22.04 Droplet
  2. Initial System Update
  3. Install Apache
  4. Install MariaDB and Secure It
  5. Create the Mautic Database and User
  6. Install PHP 8.1 and Extensions
  7. Install Node.js 20 (Required by Mautic 5)
  8. Install and Configure Composer
  9. Enable Apache Rewrite and AllowOverride
  10. Create the Mautic Directory and Set Ownership
  11. Configure Apache Virtual Host
  12. Point Your Domain to the Droplet (DNS)
  13. Install Certbot (Without Snap) and Obtain SSL Certificate
  14. Install Mautic 5 via Composer (as www-data)
  15. Adjust PHP Settings
  16. Complete Mautic Setup in the Browser
  17. Summary

1. Create a 4GB Ubuntu 22.04 Droplet

  1. Log into DigitalOcean and create a Droplet.
  2. Choose Ubuntu 22.04 (LTS) as the OS image.
  3. Select the Basic plan with 4 GB of RAM (or higher).
  4. Under “Authentication,” add your SSH keys or choose a root password.
  5. (Optional) Add your domain if you have one, or skip for now.
  6. Click Create Droplet.

Once created, copy the public IP address of your new droplet. You’ll use this to SSH in and to access Mautic in a browser.

2. Initial System Update

apt-get update -y
apt-get upgrade -y

reboot

This updates and upgrades server packages to their latest versions. A reboot is typically a good idea afterward on a new installation.

3. Install Apache

apt-get install -y apache2
systemctl enable apache2
systemctl start apache2

systemctl status apache2

Visit http://YOUR_DROPLET_IP in a browser to confirm Apache’s default page loads.

4. Install MariaDB and Secure It

apt-get install -y mariadb-server mariadb-client
systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl start mariadb

mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set a root password, remove the test database, etc.

5. Create the Mautic Database and User

Next, create a dedicated database and user for Mautic: 

mysql -e "CREATE DATABASE mautic;"
mysql -e "CREATE USER 'mautic_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourStrongPassword';"
mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mautic.* TO 'mautic_user'@'localhost';"
mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

You can use any names you like, but in this example we create a database mautic and a user mautic_user with a secure password.

6. Install PHP 8.1 and Extensions

apt-get install -y php8.1 php8.1-cli php8.1-curl php8.1-mbstring php8.1-mysql \
  php8.1-xml php8.1-zip php8.1-intl php8.1-gd php8.1-imap php8.1-bcmath \
  libapache2-mod-php8.1 unzip

php8.1-imap is important if Mautic will handle inbound email. If not needed, you can omit it.

7. Install Node.js 20 (Required by Mautic 5)

apt-get remove --purge -y nodejs libnode-dev
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | bash -
apt-get install -y nodejs

node -v    # Should show v20.x
npm -v     # Should show 10.x

Mautic 5’s build process and certain plugins require Node.js 20 and npm 10.

8. Install and Configure Composer

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php
php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
rm composer-setup.php

sudo -u www-data composer -V

We’ll continue to run Composer as www-data to avoid permissions issues.

9. Enable Apache Rewrite and AllowOverride

a2enmod rewrite
a2enmod headers
systemctl restart apache2

10. Create the Mautic Directory and Set Ownership

mkdir -p /var/www/mautic
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www

Ensuring www-data can write here simplifies installation via Composer later.

11. Configure Apache Virtual Host

Create (or edit) /etc/apache2/sites-available/mautic.conf: 

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your-domain.com
    ServerAlias www.your-domain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/mautic/docroot

    <Directory /var/www/mautic/docroot>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/mautic_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/mautic_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

a2ensite mautic.conf
a2dissite 000-default.conf  # optional
systemctl reload apache2

12. Point Your Domain to the Droplet (DNS)

  1. In your domain registrar’s DNS settings, create an A record for your-domain.com pointing to your droplet’s public IP.
  2. (Optional) Create a CNAME for www.your-domain.com pointing to your-domain.com.
  3. Wait for DNS to propagate (can take minutes to hours).

13. Install Certbot and Obtain SSL Certificate

Let’s Encrypt will secure your domain before you run Mautic’s web-based setup. 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y certbot python3-certbot-apache

certbot --version    # Optional: verify
sudo certbot --apache

Follow the prompts to select your domain, enable HTTPS, and optionally force redirect from HTTP to HTTPS.

14. Install Mautic 5 via Composer (as www-data)

sudo -u www-data composer create-project mautic/recommended-project:^5 /var/www/mautic --no-interaction

This downloads the Mautic 5.x codebase into /var/www/mautic, owned by www-data.

15. Adjust PHP Settings

sed -i 's/^memory_limit =.*/memory_limit = 512M/' /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini
sed -i 's/^upload_max_filesize =.*/upload_max_filesize = 64M/' /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini
sed -i 's/^post_max_size =.*/post_max_size = 64M/' /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini
sed -i 's/^max_execution_time =.*/max_execution_time = 300/' /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini

systemctl restart apache2

16. Complete Mautic Setup in the Browser

Now that SSL is configured, visit https://your-domain.com to run Mautic’s web-based setup:

Tip: If you see a 404 error after install, confirm your DocumentRoot is /var/www/mautic/docroot (or public, depending on your Mautic structure) and that .htaccess is allowed in your Apache config.

You now have a fully functional Mautic 5 instance with SSL in place before opening the Mautic installer in a browser. From here, you can configure cron jobs, integrate email providers, and use Mautic’s powerful marketing automation features!