{"id":3372,"date":"2023-11-19T09:40:18","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T18:55:09","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-02-02T00:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T23:46:20","slug":"how-to-install-drupal-cms-with-apache-and-free-let-039-s-encrypt-ssl-on-windows-vps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/how-to-install-drupal-cms-with-apache-and-free-let-039-s-encrypt-ssl-on-windows-vps\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux VPS &#038; VPS Windows Setup Guide | NetCloud24 Drupal CMS with Apache and Free Let&#039;s Encrypt SSL on Windows VPS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<header><\/header>\n<section>\n<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Drupal<\/strong> is an open-source content management system (CMS) that is widely used for creating websites and web applications. In this guide, we will show you how to install Drupal CMS with Apache web server and configure Free Let&#8217;s Encrypt SSL on a .<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Prerequisites<\/h2>\n<p>Before proceeding with the installation, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A  with administrative privileges.<\/li>\n<li>Windows VPSServer 2016 or later, or Windows VPS10\/11.<\/li>\n<li>Internet connection to download the necessary packages.<\/li>\n<li>Basic knowledge of using PowerShell or Command Prompt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 1: Install Apache Web Server<\/h2>\n<p>To run Drupal CMS, you need to install Apache on your system. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Download the Apache HTTP server from the official website: <a href=\"https:\/\/httpd.apache.org\/download.cgi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow\">Apache HTTP Server Downloads<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Run the installer and follow the instructions to install Apache on your .<\/li>\n<li>After installation, open Command Prompt as Administrator and start the Apache service using the following command:\n<pre>httpd -k start<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>To ensure Apache is working, open a web browser and navigate to <code>http:\/\/localhost<\/code>. You should see the Apache test page.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 2: Install PHP<\/h2>\n<p>Drupal CMS requires PHP. Install PHP by following these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Download PHP for Windows VPSfrom the official website: <a href=\"https:\/\/windows.php.net\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow\">PHP for Windows<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Extract the downloaded PHP archive to a directory, e.g., <code>C:\\php<\/code>.<\/li>\n<li>Edit the Apache configuration file (<code>httpd.conf<\/code>) to add PHP support. Open the file in a text editor and add the following lines:\n<pre># PHP module configuration\r\nLoadModule php_module \"C:\/php\/php7apache2_4.dll\"\r\nAddHandler application\/x-httpd-php .php\r\nPHPIniDir \"C:\/php\"\r\n                    <\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Restart Apache by running the following command in Command Prompt:\n<pre>httpd -k restart<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 3: Install MySQL or MariaDB<\/h2>\n<p>Drupal requires a database to store content and configuration. You can use MySQL or MariaDB. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Download MySQL from the official website: <a href=\"https:\/\/dev.mysql.com\/downloads\/installer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow\">MySQL Downloads<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Run the installer and follow the instructions to install MySQL on your .<\/li>\n<li>After installation, start the MySQL service and set a root password.<\/li>\n<li>Alternatively, you can install MariaDB, which is a drop-in replacement for MySQL: <a href=\"https:\/\/mariadb.org\/download\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow\">MariaDB Downloads<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 4: Download and Install Drupal CMS<\/h2>\n<p>Now, you can download and install Drupal CMS on your system:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Download the latest version of Drupal from the official website: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drupal.org\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow\">Drupal Downloads<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Extract the downloaded Drupal archive to the web root directory, usually <code>C:\\Apache24\\htdocs\\<\/code>.<\/li>\n<li>Rename the extracted folder to <code>drupal<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 5: Configure Apache Virtual Host<\/h2>\n<p>You need to configure Apache to serve Drupal. Edit the Apache configuration file (<code>httpd.conf<\/code>) and add a VirtualHost entry:<\/p>\n<pre>\r\n    DocumentRoot \"C:\/Apache24\/htdocs\/drupal\"\r\n    ServerName yourdomain.com\r\n    DirectoryIndex index.php\r\n    &lt;Directory \"C:\/Apache24\/htdocs\/drupal\"&gt;\r\n        AllowOverride All\r\n        Require all granted\r\n    \r\n\r\n            <\/pre>\n<p>Save the changes and restart Apache:<\/p>\n<pre>httpd -k restart<\/pre>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 6: Configure the Database for Drupal<\/h2>\n<p>Next, create a MySQL database for Drupal:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Log in to MySQL:\n<pre>mysql -u root -p<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Create a new database for Drupal:\n<pre>CREATE DATABASE drupal_db;<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Create a new user and grant permissions:\n<pre>CREATE USER 'drupal_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';<\/pre>\n<pre>GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal_db.* TO 'drupal_user'@'localhost';<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 7: Install Let&#8217;s Encrypt SSL Certificate<\/h2>\n<p>To secure your site, you can use a free SSL certificate from Let&#8217;s Encrypt. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Download and install <a href=\"https:\/\/win-acme.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow\">win-acme<\/a>, a Let&#8217;s Encrypt client for Windows.<\/li>\n<li>Run the following command in PowerShell:\n<pre>.\\wacs.exe --target manual --host yourdomain.com --store pemfiles --validation http-01<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Follow the instructions to generate and install the SSL certificate.<\/li>\n<li>Configure Apache to use the SSL certificate by editing the <code>httpd-ssl.conf<\/code> file and adding the following lines:\n<pre>SSLEngine on\r\nSSLCertificateFile \"C:\/path\/to\/certificate.crt\"\r\nSSLCertificateKeyFile \"C:\/path\/to\/private.key\"\r\n                    <\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Restart Apache:\n<pre>httpd -k restart<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Step 8: Complete the Drupal Installation<\/h2>\n<p>Now, open your browser and navigate to <code>https:\/\/yourdomain.com<\/code> to complete the Drupal installation:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Follow the on-screen instructions to set up Drupal.<\/li>\n<li>Choose your language and configure the database connection (use the database, username, and password you created earlier).<\/li>\n<li>Complete the installation and configure your site settings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Congratulations! You have successfully installed Drupal CMS with Apache and a free Let&#8217;s Encrypt SSL certificate on your . You can now start building your website or web application with Drupal&#8217;s powerful features.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<footer>\n<p>\u00a9 2024 Your Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"post-author-box\" style=\"border-top:1px solid #ddd;margin-top:20px;padding-top:15px;\">\n<p><strong>Author:<\/strong> \u0141ukasz Bodziony<\/p>\n<p><strong>Website:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ca.netcloud24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"dofollow\">Windows VPS<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u0141ukasz Bodziony is the CEO and founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"dofollow\">NETCLOUD24<\/a>, a global VPS hosting brand proudly originating from Poland. With extensive experience in cloud computing, virtualization, and server management, he delivers high-performance <strong>Windows VPS<\/strong> and <strong>Remote Desktop Services (RDS)<\/strong> solutions to clients across Europe, North America, and beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>His expertise covers a wide range of technologies, including <strong>Microsoft Azure<\/strong>, <strong>Proxmox VE<\/strong>, <strong>Amazon Web Services (AWS)<\/strong>, and numerous other virtualization and cloud platforms.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Beyond running his hosting business, \u0141ukasz also provides <strong>professional paid server configuration and optimization services<\/strong> for companies and individuals. Outside of work, he is dedicated to caring for his children and building a secure future for them.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>If you are interested in working with him or need expert assistance with your hosting, cloud environment, or server setup, feel free to reach out via <a href=\"https:\/\/ca.netcloud24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"dofollow\">Windows VPS<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 Introduction Drupal is an open-source content management system (CMS) that is widely used for creating websites and web applications. In this guide, we will show you how\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[14,12,11,23,20,21,22,17,7,8,6,10,18,19,15,24,16,5,13,9],"class_list":["post-3372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cheapvps","tag-cloudvps","tag-hostingvps","tag-rds","tag-rdscal","tag-remotedesktop","tag-remotedesktopvps","tag-servervps","tag-ukvps","tag-virtualserver","tag-vpshosting","tag-vpsserver","tag-vpssolutions","tag-vpswindows","tag-vpswithwindows","tag-windowsrds","tag-windowsserver","tag-windowsvps","tag-windowsvpshosting","tag-windowsvpsuk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netcloud24.com\/knowledgebase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}