How to Install Typo3 CMS on Ubuntu

By Admin · Mar 2, 2026 · Updated Apr 23, 2026 · 23 views · 3 min read

How to Install Typo3 CMS on Ubuntu

TYPO3 is an enterprise-level, open-source content management system originally developed in Europe. It excels at managing complex, multilingual websites with sophisticated access control and workflow capabilities. TYPO3 is widely used by corporations, government agencies, and universities. This guide covers installing TYPO3 on your Breeze instance running Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

A Breeze instance with Ubuntu 22.04 or later
PHP 8.2 or later with required extensions
Composer 2.x installed globally
MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.4+
Apache or Nginx web server
At least 2 GB RAM

Step 1 — Install PHP Extensions

TYPO3 requires a specific set of PHP extensions:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y php-mysql php-xml php-gd php-mbstring php-intl php-zip \
    php-curl php-fileinfo php-opcache php-apcu

Configure PHP settings in /etc/php/8.2/apache2/php.ini:

max_execution_time = 240
max_input_vars = 1500
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 10M

Step 2 — Create the Database

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE typo3_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'typo3_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON typo3_db.* TO 'typo3_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 3 — Install TYPO3 via Composer

cd /var/www
composer create-project typo3/cms-base-distribution typo3 ^13
cd typo3
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/typo3

Step 4 — Configure Apache

Create a virtual host pointing to the TYPO3 public directory:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/typo3.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/typo3/public

    <Directory /var/www/typo3/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/typo3_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/typo3_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

sudo a2ensite typo3.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl reload apache2

Step 5 — Create the FIRST_INSTALL File

TYPO3 requires a marker file to trigger the install tool:

touch /var/www/typo3/public/FIRST_INSTALL

Step 6 — Run the Web Installer

Navigate to http://yourdomain.com in your browser. The TYPO3 Install Tool will guide you through:

System environment checks and warnings
Database connection configuration
Database selection or creation
Creating the initial admin user
Choosing a site preset (empty site or introduction package)

Post-Installation Setup

After completing the installer, secure your TYPO3 installation:

Set the Install Tool password via the Admin Tools module
Remove write permissions from configuration files
Configure a scheduler task for periodic cleanup via System > Scheduler
Enable URL rewriting with the realurl extension for clean URLs
Set up SSL with Certbot and enforce HTTPS in TYPO3 settings

How to Install Typo3 CMS on Ubuntu