Installation & Administration Guide (Ubuntu 25.04 + Apache + PHP‑FPM 8.4 + MariaDB)

[FiendKing04]

Section 11 — Styles (Themes)

11.1 Installing Styles

Upload to:

Code: Select all

/var/www/phpbb/styles/

11.2 Activating Styles


ACP → Customise → Styles → Install


11.3 User Style Selection

ACP → General → Board Settings → Override user style → No


11.4 Style Caching

Clear cache after style changes:

Code: Select all

sudo rm -rf /var/www/phpbb/cache/*.{php,html}

[FiendKing04]

Section 12 — Email Configuration

phpBB supports:

• PHP mail()
• SMTP

12.1 SMTP Setup

ACP → General → Client Communication → Email Settings

Set:

• Use SMTP: Yes
• SMTP server: smtp.domain.tld
• SMTP port: 587
• SMTP authentication: LOGIN
• Username/password: your credentials

12.2 Test Email

ACP → Maintenance → Email → Send test email

[FiendKing04]

Section 13 — Backups

13.1 Database Backup

Code: Select all

mysqldump -u root -p phpbb > phpbb_backup.sql

13.2 File Backup

Code: Select all

tar -czvf phpbb_files_backup.tar.gz /var/www/phpbb

13.3 Automated Backups

Use cron + systemd timers (optional).

[FiendKing04]

Section 14 — Updating phpBB

14.1 Backup First

Always.


14.2 Upload New Files

Replace everything except:

• config.php
• /files
• /images
• /store

14.3 Run Updater

Visit:

Code: Select all

https://forum.domain.tld/install/app.php/update

14.4 Remove Installer

Code: Select all

sudo rm -rf /var/www/phpbb/install

[FiendKing04]

Section 15 — Troubleshooting

15.1 Blank Page

Clear cache:

Code: Select all

sudo rm -rf /var/www/phpbb/cache/*

15.2 ACP Not Loading

Disable last extension:

Code: Select all

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/phpbb/phpbbcli.php extension:disable vendor/extension

15.3 Email Not Sending

Check:

• SMTP settings
• DNS (SPF/DMARC)
• Logs: /var/log/mail.log

15.4 500 Errors

Check Apache logs:

Code: Select all

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/phpbb_error.log

15.5 Permissions Issues

Code: Select all

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/phpbb