How to Install FreshRSS on Ubuntu 16.04

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to install FreshRSS on Ubuntu 16.04. FreshRSS is a free, responsive RSS feed aggregator that can self-host and works on mobile.
Using FreshRSS allows you to read your RSS feeds on a mobile device without having to install any third-party applications.
Also, here we have a few hand-picked guides that you  must read next:

1. VPS Management
2. How to Install, Configure, and Run AskBot with Let’s Encrypt SSL on Ubuntu 16.04

How to Install FreshRSS on Ubuntu 16.04

In the following step by step guide, we will show you the whole installation process;

Step 1: Updating the System

Before installing FreshRSS it is important to ensure that your system is up-to-date, along with all of the system packages.

# sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Step 2: Install the LAMP Stack

Installing the LAMP stack allows you to have a platform on which to host FreshRSS. Begin by installing the Apache web server.

# sudo apt-get install apache2

You will require the following Apache modules, now is the time to enable them.

# sudo a2enmod headers expires rewrite ssl

Install the PHP and the PHP modules needed by FreshRSS using the following command.

# sudo apt install php php-curl php-gmp php-intl php-mbstring php-sqlite3 php-xml php-zip

Now, install the Apache PHP module.

# sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php

Next, install the MySQL server, the MySQL client, and the PHP MySQL driver.

# sudo apt install mysql-server mysql-client php-mysql

You can also run the MySQL secure installation script.

# sudo mysql_secure_installation

Secure the MySQL server deployment.
Connect to MySQL using a blank password.
The ‘validate_password’ plugin is installed on the server.
The subsequent steps will run with the existing configuration of the plugin.
Please set the password for root here.
New password:
Re-enter new password:
Estimated strength of the password: 0
Do you wish to continue with the password provided? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : y

By default, a MySQL installation has an anonymous user which allows anyone to log into MySQL without a user account; this is intended only for testing and to make the installation go more smoothly. You should remove them before moving into a production environment.
Remove anonymous users? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : y
Success.

Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from ‘localhost’ which ensures that someone cannot guess the root password from the network.

Disallow root login remotely? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : y
Success.

By default, MySQL comes with a database named ‘test’ that can be accessed by anyone; this is also something that is intended for testing and should be removed before moving into a production environment.
Remove test database and access to it? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : y

– Dropping test database…
Success.
– Removing privileges on test database…
Success.

Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes that you have made so far will take effect immediately.

Reload privilege tables now? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : y
Success.

Now you can restart the web server so that the changes take effect.

# sudo service apache2 restart

Step 3: Install  FreshRSS on ubuntu

To installing FreshRSS with git, first, change the current working directory to the ‘/usr/share/’ directory.

# cd /usr/share/

Next, install git so you are able to download the FreshRSS files from the Github repository.

# sudo apt-get install git

To clone the repository on your server, execute the command shown below.

# sudo git clone https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS.git

Change the current working directory to FreshRSS.

# cd FreshRSSHow to Install FreshRSS on Ubuntu 16.04

Step 4: Configuring the Apache Web Server

For Apache to be able to read the FreshRSS folder, it requires the correct permissions.

# sudo chown -R :www-data . && sudo chmod -R g+r . && sudo chmod -R g+w ./data/

If you would like to update FreshRSS from the web interface, you can set the following permissions shown below.

# sudo chmod -R g+w .

Make a symbolic link for the FreshRSS installation to your ‘/var/www/html’ directory:

# sudo ln -s /usr/share/FreshRSS/p /var/www/html/FreshRSS

Next, using your browser of choice, go to ‘http://your_domain_or_ip_address/FreshRSS’ to finish the installation.

Step 5: Updating to a New Version of FreshRSS

In order to update to a newer version of FreshRSS, first, swap the current working directory.

# cd /usr/share/FreshRSS

Next, retrieve the new files from the Github repository with the command shown below.

# sudo git pull

Finally, adjust the permissions for FreshRSS once more.

# sudo chown -R :www-data . && sudo chmod -R g+r . && sudo chmod -R g+w ./data/

You should now have FreshRSS successfully installed on your Ubuntu 16.04 VPS.
Thanks
Do let us know if you want to add any specific Linux or Windows hosting topics into this tutorial series.