Skip to Content
GuidesInstallation

Installing Flute CMS

Minimum Requirements

⚠️

For Flute CMS to work correctly, MySQL 8.0 and higher is required!

To install Flute CMS you need:

  • PHP 8.2 and higher
  • Composer 2.0 and higher (only for Composer installation)
  • Opcache
  • Ioncube Loader
  • PDO PHP extension
  • GD PHP extension
  • BCMath PHP extension
  • JSON PHP extension
  • Mbstring PHP extension
  • SimpleXML PHP extension
  • Zip PHP extension
  • Curl PHP extension
  • GMP PHP extension

Supported DBMS:

  • MySQL 8.0 / MariaDB 10.11 and higher
  • PostgreSQL 14 and higher
  • SQLite 3.30 and higher

Supported servers:

  • Apache 2.4 and higher
  • Nginx 1.20 and higher
  • Lighttpd 1.4 and higher

Installation Methods

Flute CMS can be installed in three ways:

Archive Installation (detailed instructions)

This method is suitable for those who don’t have access to the server terminal or prefer manual installation.

⚠️

Make sure your hosting supports all the requirements listed above!

Download the Flute CMS archive

  1. Go to the GitHub releases page 
  2. Find the latest version (usually first in the list)
  3. Download the Source code (zip) or flute-cms-vX.X.X.zip file

Always download the latest stable version to get all fixes and new features.

Prepare hosting

  1. Create a database:

    • Log into your hosting control panel
    • Find the “Databases” or “MySQL” section
    • Create a new database (e.g., flute_cms)
    • Create a user for this database
    • Write down the data: database name, user, password, host

  2. Check PHP version:

    • In the control panel find the “PHP” or “PHP Versions” section
    • Make sure PHP 8.2 or higher is selected
    • Enable necessary extensions (if possible)

Upload files to server

  1. Extract archive on computer:

    • Create a folder on your computer (e.g., flute-cms)
    • Extract the downloaded archive to this folder

  2. Connect to server:

    • Use an FTP client (FileZilla, WinSCP, or built-in hosting file manager)
    • Enter connection details (host, login, password)

  3. Upload files:

    • Go to the site root folder (usually public_html, www, or htdocs)
    • Upload ALL files from the extracted archive
    • Make sure the folder structure is preserved
⚠️

Upload may take 10-30 minutes depending on internet speed. Don’t interrupt the process!

Configure web server

For Apache (most hosting):

  • The .htaccess file is already included in the archive
  • Make sure the site root folder points to the public folder

For Nginx:

Install dependencies (if needed)

If there’s no vendor folder in the archive or it’s empty:

  1. Through hosting terminal (if available):

    cd /path/to/your/site
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

  2. Without terminal:

    • Download a ready archive with dependencies from the releases page 
    • Find a file like flute-cms-with-vendor-vX.X.X.zip
    • Replace the vendor folder from this archive

Set access permissions

Set access permissions on folders (via FTP client or file manager):

  • storage/ - 755 or 777
  • storage/logs/ - 755 or 777
  • storage/app/cache/ - 755 or 777
  • public/uploads/ - 755 or 777

On some hosting, permissions are set automatically. If you get file write errors, try 777 permissions.

Run installation wizard

  1. Open your site in a browser
  2. You’ll see the Flute CMS installation wizard page
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions:
    • System requirements check
    • Database configuration
    • Administrator creation
    • Basic site settings

Complete installation

After successful installation:

  1. Check site functionality
  2. Log into the admin panel with the created credentials

Possible Problems and Solutions

”500 Internal Server Error”

  1. Check server error logs
  2. Make sure all necessary PHP extensions are installed
  3. Check access permissions on folders
  4. Make sure the .htaccess file is uploaded correctly
  5. If the problem persists, go to config/app.php and set 'debug' => true, and try to figure out the problem.

White page or PHP errors

  1. Enable PHP error display (in config/app.php)
  2. Check PHP version (should be 8.2+)
  3. Make sure all necessary extensions are installed
  4. Check PHP logs

File upload problems

  1. Check access permissions on public/uploads/ folder
  2. Make sure file uploads are enabled in PHP
  3. Check file size limits in PHP

If you encounter problems not listed here, seek help in the Discord community  or create an issue on GitHub .

After Installation

After successful Flute CMS installation, it’s recommended to:

  1. Set up CRON for automatic tasks
  2. Set up mail for sending notifications
  3. Set up main template
  4. Optimize performance
  5. Set up database backup

Congratulations! Flute CMS is successfully installed and ready to use! 🎉

HomeSetup Web Server