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Installation (Linux server) ​

How to install NADA on a Linux server with Apache or NGINX, PHP, and MySQL 8.x or MariaDB 10.x+.

Before you start: Installation overview (requirements and folder layout).
For Microsoft SQL Server as the database, complete Install with SQL Server for the database steps, then continue from permissions onward here (or use Windows if the app server is IIS).

Pattern aligned with the Metadata Editor Linux installation.

Prerequisites ​

ComponentVersion
OSUbuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, RHEL/Rocky 8+, or similar
PHP7.4 minimum; 8.x recommended — mysqli, xsl, xml, mbstring
MySQL / MariaDB8.x / 10.x+
Web serverApache 2.4+ or NGINX (+ PHP-FPM for NGINX)

Step 1: Install the stack ​

Debian / Ubuntu (Apache + MySQL example) ​

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server \
  php php-xsl php-xml php-mbstring php-mysql \
  libapache2-mod-php
# Or MariaDB instead of MySQL:
# sudo apt install mariadb-server
php -v
sudo systemctl enable --now apache2 mysql

Debian / Ubuntu (NGINX + PHP-FPM) ​

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx mysql-server \
  php-fpm php-xsl php-xml php-mbstring php-mysql
# Note the PHP-FPM socket, e.g. /var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
php -v
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx php*-fpm mysql

RHEL / Rocky / Alma (outline) ​

Install httpd or nginx, php, php-mysqlnd (or equivalent), php-xml, php-mbstring, and mysql-server / mariadb-server via dnf. Enable and start the services. Extension package names vary by major version.

Confirm PHP meets the requirements. Tuning: PHP settings.

Step 2: Folder layout and download ​

bash
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/nada
cd /var/www/nada

Application root must contain index.php (see folder layout).

Download options:

  1. Zip (recommended for production): download from NADA Releases, extract into /var/www/nada.
  2. Git: follow Install with Git, then continue from Step 3.
bash
# Example zip flow
cd /tmp
# download nada-x.y.z.zip from GitHub Releases, then:
sudo unzip nada-*.zip -d /var/www/nada
# Ensure index.php is directly under /var/www/nada (adjust if the zip has a nested folder)

Prefer tagged releases over an arbitrary branch.

Step 3: Database (MySQL / MariaDB) ​

Create the database and configure database.php. Full reference: Configure MySQL / MariaDB.

bash
sudo mysql -u root -p
sql
CREATE DATABASE nada CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'nada'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX, ALTER,
  CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, LOCK TABLES ON nada.* TO 'nada'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit
bash
cd /var/www/nada
sudo cp application/config/database-sample.php application/config/database.php
sudo nano application/config/database.php

Set hostname, username, password, database, and dbdriver => mysqli. Example array: database.php.

TIP

Do not use the MySQL/MariaDB root account for the application in production.

Step 4: Permissions ​

The web server user needs write access to datafiles, files, and logs (create them if missing).

bash
cd /var/www/nada
sudo mkdir -p datafiles files logs
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data .
sudo chmod -R 755 datafiles files logs
# Use 775 if your deployment needs group write
Distribution / stackTypical user
Debian/Ubuntu Apachewww-data
RHEL Apacheapache
NGINXnginx or www-data (check your unit)

Security

After install, consider moving datafiles outside /var/www and pointing NADA at that path.

Step 5: Web server ​

Point the site document root at /var/www/nada (the folder with index.php), not an unrelated parent.

Apache ​

Enable rewrite if you will use Clean URLs:

bash
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Example site snippet (/etc/apache2/sites-available/nada.conf):

apache
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName catalog.example.org
    DocumentRoot /var/www/nada

    <Directory /var/www/nada>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nada-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/nada-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
bash
sudo a2ensite nada.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2

NGINX ​

Example (adjust PHP-FPM socket for your PHP version):

nginx
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name catalog.example.org;
    root /var/www/nada;
    index index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
    }
}
bash
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

For hiding index.php in the browser on Apache, see Clean URLs.

Step 6: Run the web installer ​

  1. Open http://your-server/ or http://your-server/nada (match your vhost/path).
  2. Confirm every prerequisite check is green (PHP extensions, writable folders, database).
  3. Click Install Database and create the Site Administrator account.

NADA installer

Complex password

Use at least 12 characters with uppercase, numbers, and punctuation. Do not lose this account.

If checks fail, see PHP settings and Debug.

Step 7: Post-install ​

  1. Email — required for registration and many access workflows
  2. Other Configurations (captcha, themes, CSP, Clean URLs)
  3. Optional: Solr
  4. Getting started

Hardening ​

  • Dedicated DB user (not root)
  • Strong admin password
  • Delete any temporary info.php
  • Move datafiles outside the web root when possible
  • Plan database and file backups

Troubleshooting ​

IssueWhat to check
Blank page / 500PHP/apache/nginx error logs; Debug; logs/ writable
502 (NGINX)PHP-FPM running; socket path in site config
Installer cannot writeOwnership on datafiles, files, logs
Database connection faileddatabase.php; MySQL/MariaDB listening; user grants
Missing PHP extensionPackages / phpenmod; restart Apache or php-fpm