Common Server Setups

Document Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: 2026-01-02
Applies To: ComusThumbz v1.11.14+

Overview

This guide covers step-by-step server configuration for the most common hosting environments used with ComusThumbz. Each section provides complete setup instructions including PHP configuration, web server setup, and ComusThumbz-specific requirements.

Supported Environments

HestiaCP Setup

HestiaCP is a popular free control panel for VPS servers. This setup guide covers a complete ComusThumbz installation.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 or Debian 10/11
• HestiaCP installed
• Domain pointed to server
• SSH access

Step 1: Create Web Domain

1. Log in to HestiaCP at https://your-server-ip:8083
2. Go to WEB tab
3. Click Add Web Domain
4. Enter your domain name
5. Enable SSL Support and check Let's Encrypt
6. Click Save

[Screenshot: hestiacp-add-domain]

Step 2: Configure PHP

1. Go to WEB tab
2. Click the wrench icon next to your domain
3. Select PHP 8.3 from the PHP version dropdown
4. Click Save

Step 3: Enable Required PHP Functions

Option A: Via HestiaCP Panel

1. Go to SERVER > Configure > PHP-FPM
2. Find your PHP version (e.g., PHP 8.3)
3. Locate disablefunctions in the configuration
4. Remove these functions from the disabled list:

exec

• shellexec
• passthru
• procopen
• popen

1. Click Save
2. Restart PHP: In SSH, run systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Option B: Via SSH (Recommended)

# Edit PHP configuration
sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini

Find disablefunctions line (around line 314)

Change FROM:

disablefunctions = exec,passthru,shellexec,system,procopen,popen,...

Change TO (remove exec, passthru, shellexec, procopen, popen):

disablefunctions = system,...

Save and restart PHP-FPM

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Step 4: Adjust PHP Settings

# Edit PHP configuration
sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini

Update these settings:

memorylimit = 512M
maxexecutiontime = 600
uploadmaxfilesize = 500M
postmaxsize = 500M
maxinputvars = 10000

Save and restart

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Step 5: Install FFmpeg

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

Verify installation

ffmpeg -version
which ffmpeg  # Should return /usr/bin/ffmpeg

Step 6: Install ImageMagick (Optional)

sudo apt install imagemagick php8.3-imagick
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Step 7: Upload ComusThumbz Files

Via File Manager:

In HestiaCP, go to FILES

1. Navigate to /home/username/web/yourdomain.com/publichtml/
2. Upload and extract ComusThumbz files

Via SFTP:

# Connect with SFTP client (FileZilla, WinSCP)

Host: your-server-ip

Username: your HestiaCP user

Password: your HestiaCP password

Upload to: /home/username/web/yourdomain.com/publichtml/

Step 8: Set Permissions

# SSH into your server
cd /home/username/web/yourdomain.com/publichtml

Set ownership

chown -R username:username ct/

Set base permissions

find ct/ -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find ct/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Make upload/log directories writable

chmod -R 775 ct/logs ct/uploads ct/cache
chmod 777 ct/uploads/temp ct/uploads/temp/useruploads

Step 9: Set Up Cron Job

1. SSH into your server
2. Run: crontab -e
3. Add this line:

     /usr/bin/php /home/username/web/yourdomain.com/publichtml/ct/admin/cron/sitecron.php >> /home/username/web/yourdomain.com/publichtml/ct/logs/cron/sitecron.log 2>&1

Step 10: Run Installer

1. Navigate to https://yourdomain.com/install/
2. Follow the installation wizard
3. Delete the /install/ folder after completion

cPanel/WHM Setup

cPanel is the most common shared hosting control panel. This guide covers setup for both shared and VPS hosting with cPanel.

Prerequisites

• cPanel hosting account
• PHP 8.0+ available
• SSH access (optional but recommended)

Step 1: Select PHP Version

1. Log in to cPanel
2. Go to Software > MultiPHP Manager
3. Select your domain
4. Choose PHP 8.3 (or highest available 8.x)
5. Click Apply

[Screenshot: cpanel-php-version]

Step 2: Configure PHP Settings

1. Go to Software > MultiPHP INI Editor
2. Select Editor Mode
3. Choose your domain
4. Update these settings:

• memorylimit = 512M
• maxexecutiontime = 600
• uploadmaxfilesize = 500M
• postmaxsize = 500M
• maxinputvars = 10000

1. Click Save

Step 3: Enable PHP Functions

If you have WHM access:

1. Log in to WHM
2. Go to Service Configuration > PHP Configuration Editor
3. Find disablefunctions
4. Remove: exec, shellexec, passthru, procopen, popen
5. Save and rebuild PHP

On shared hosting:
Contact your hosting provider to enable these functions for your account.

Step 4: Upload Files

Go to Files > File Manager

1. Navigate to publichtml/
2. Click Upload
3. Upload and extract ComusThumbz files

Or use FTP:

• Host: yourdomain.com or ftp.yourdomain.com
• Username: your cPanel username
• Password: your cPanel password

Step 5: Set Up Database

1. Go to Databases > MySQL Databases
2. Create a new database (e.g., usernamecomus)
3. Create a new user with a strong password
4. Add user to database with ALL PRIVILEGES

Step 6: Set Up Cron Job

Go to Advanced > Cron Jobs

1. Set schedule: (every minute)
2. Command:

/usr/local/bin/php /home/username/publichtml/ct/admin/cron/sitecron.php >> /home/username/publichtml/ct/logs/cron/sitecron.log 2>&1

1. Click Add New Cron Job

Step 7: Run Installer

Navigate to https://yourdomain.com/install/ and complete the installation.

Plesk Setup

Plesk is a popular control panel for VPS and dedicated servers.

Step 1: Add Domain

1. Log in to Plesk
2. Go to Websites & Domains
3. Click Add Domain
4. Enter your domain and configure settings
5. Enable SSL/TLS support

Step 2: Configure PHP

1. Go to Websites & Domains > Your domain > PHP Settings
2. Set PHP version to 8.3
3. Configure:

• memorylimit = 512M
• maxexecutiontime = 600
• uploadmaxfilesize = 500M
• postmaxsize = 500M

1. Click OK

Step 3: Enable PHP Functions

1. Go to PHP Settings for your domain
2. Find Additional directives section
3. Add:

disablefunctions =

(Empty value removes all disabled functions)

1. Or selectively enable by removing specific functions from the disabled list

Step 4: Install FFmpeg

Via SSH:

# Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install ffmpeg

CentOS

sudo yum install ffmpeg

Step 5: Set Up Cron Job

1. Go to Websites & Domains > Your domain > Scheduled Tasks
2. Click Add Task
3. Schedule: Every minute ( )
4. Command:

/usr/bin/php /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/httpdocs/ct/admin/cron/sitecron.php

Step 6: Upload and Install

1. Upload files via FTP or File Manager
2. Set permissions
3. Run installer at https://yourdomain.com/install/

Ubuntu + Apache (Manual Setup)

For VPS or dedicated servers without a control panel.

Step 1: Update System

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Apache

sudo apt install apache2 -y
sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2

Step 3: Install PHP 8.3

# Add PHP repository
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
sudo apt update

Install PHP and extensions

sudo apt install php8.3 php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-gd php8.3-curl \
    php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml php8.3-zip php8.3-imagick php8.3-intl -y

Enable PHP-FPM with Apache

sudo a2enmod proxyfcgi setenvif
sudo a2enconf php8.3-fpm
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 4: Install MySQL/MariaDB

sudo apt install mariadb-server -y
sudo mysqlsecureinstallation

Create database and user

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE comusthumbz CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4unicodeci;
CREATE USER 'comususer'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourSecurePassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON comusthumbz. TO 'comususer'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Install FFmpeg

sudo apt install ffmpeg -y
which ffmpeg  # Should return /usr/bin/ffmpeg

Step 6: Configure PHP

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini

Update these settings:

memorylimit = 512M

maxexecutiontime = 600

uploadmaxfilesize = 500M

postmaxsize = 500M

maxinputvars = 10000

date.timezone = America/NewYork

; Ensure exec and related functions are NOT in disablefunctions

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Step 7: Configure Apache Virtual Host

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf

<VirtualHost :80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/yourdomain.com

<Directory /var/www/yourdomain.com>
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>

<FilesMatch \.php$>
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost"
</FilesMatch>

ErrorLog ${APACHELOGDIR}/yourdomain.com-error.log
CustomLog ${APACHELOGDIR}/yourdomain.com-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

# Enable site and required modules
sudo a2ensite yourdomain.com.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite headers expires deflate
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 8: Install SSL (Let's Encrypt)

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Step 9: Upload ComusThumbz

# Create document root
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/yourdomain.com

Upload files (via SCP, SFTP, or wget)

cd /var/www/yourdomain.com

... upload files ...

Set ownership

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/yourdomain.com

Set permissions

sudo find /var/www/yourdomain.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/yourdomain.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/yourdomain.com/ct/logs /var/www/yourdomain.com/ct/uploads

Step 10: Set Up Cron Job

sudo crontab -e

Add:

     /usr/bin/php /var/www/yourdomain.com/ct/admin/cron/sitecron.php >> /var/www/yourdomain.com/ct/logs/cron/sitecron.log 2>&1

Ubuntu + Nginx Setup

Nginx is recommended for high-traffic sites due to its efficient handling of static files and concurrent connections.

Step 1: Install Nginx and PHP

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx -y

Install PHP-FPM

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-gd php8.3-curl \
    php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml php8.3-zip php8.3-imagick -y

Step 2: Configure Nginx

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    servername yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/yourdomain.com;
    index index.php index.html;

# Security headers
addheader X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
addheader X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
addheader X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;

# Main location block
location / {
tryfiles $uri $uri/ /index.php?$querystring;
}

# REST API rewrite
location /ct/api/v1 {
tryfiles $uri $uri/ /ct/api/v1/index.php?$querystring;
}

# PHP processing
location ~ \.php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
fastcgipass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
fastcgiparam SCRIPTFILENAME $documentroot$fastcgiscriptname;
include fastcgiparams;
}

# Deny access to sensitive directories
location ~ ^/ct/(dat|logs)/ {
deny all;
return 404;
}

# Cache static files
location ~ \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp|ico|css|js|mp4|webm|m3u8|ts)$ {
expires 30d;
addheader Cache-Control "public, immutable";
}

# Deny access to hidden files
location ~ /\. {
deny all;
}
}

# Enable site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 3: Configure PHP-FPM

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini

Update settings as shown in the Apache section, then:

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Step 4: Install SSL

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Step 5: Continue with Steps 4-10 from Apache Guide

(Database setup, FFmpeg, upload files, permissions, cron)

CentOS / AlmaLinux Setup

Step 1: Install EPEL and Required Repositories

# CentOS/RHEL 8+
sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm -y

Enable Remi PHP 8.3

sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.3 -y

Step 2: Install Apache, PHP, and Extensions

sudo dnf install httpd php php-fpm php-mysqlnd php-gd php-curl \
    php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-imagick -y

sudo systemctl enable httpd php-fpm
sudo systemctl start httpd php-fpm

Step 3: Install MariaDB

sudo dnf install mariadb-server -y
sudo systemctl enable mariadb
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo mysqlsecureinstallation

Step 4: Install FFmpeg

# Enable RPM Fusion
sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm -y

sudo dnf install ffmpeg -y

Step 5: Configure PHP

sudo nano /etc/php.ini

Update settings as described in previous sections.

sudo systemctl restart php-fpm

Step 6: Configure SELinux (if enabled)

# Allow Apache to connect to network (for API calls)
sudo setsebool -P httpdcannetworkconnect 1

Allow Apache to write to upload directories

sudo chcon -R -t httpdsysrwcontentt /var/www/yourdomain.com/ct/uploads
sudo chcon -R -t httpdsysrwcontentt /var/www/yourdomain.com/ct/logs

Step 7: Configure Firewall

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Docker Setup (Development)

For development environments or scalable deployments.

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
web:
image: php:8.3-apache
containername: comusthumbz-web
ports:

• "80:80"
• "443:443"

    volumes:

• ./:/var/www/html
• ./docker/php.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/php.ini
• ./docker/apache.conf:/etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

    dependson:

• db

    environment:

• APACHERUNUSER=www-data
• APACHERUNGROUP=www-data

    command: >

      bash -c "docker-php-ext-install mysqli pdo pdomysql gd

      && a2enmod rewrite

      && apache2-foreground"

db:
image: mariadb:11.4
containername: comusthumbz-db
ports:

• "3306:3306"

    environment:

      MYSQLROOTPASSWORD: rootpassword

      MYSQLDATABASE: comusthumbz

      MYSQLUSER: comususer

      MYSQLPASSWORD: comuspassword

    volumes:

• dbdata:/var/lib/mysql

ffmpeg:
image: jrottenberg/ffmpeg:4.4-alpine
containername: comusthumbz-ffmpeg
volumes:

• ./ct/uploads:/uploads

volumes:
dbdata:

docker/php.ini

memorylimit = 512M
maxexecutiontime = 600
uploadmaxfilesize = 500M
postmaxsize = 500M
maxinputvars = 10000
date.timezone = UTC

Running Docker Setup

# Build and start containers
docker-compose up -d

Run installer

Navigate to http://localhost/install/

Cloudways Setup

Cloudways provides managed cloud hosting with easy configuration.

Step 1: Launch Application

1. Log in to Cloudways
2. Click Launch > Application
3. Select Custom PHP app
4. Choose server size and cloud provider
5. Enter application and server names
6. Click Launch

Step 2: Configure PHP

1. Go to Application > Application Settings > PHP Settings
2. Update:

• PHP Version: 8.3
• Memory Limit: 512M
• Max Execution Time: 600
• Upload Max Filesize: 500M
• Post Max Size: 500M

Step 3: Enable PHP Functions

1. Go to Server > Settings & Packages > Advanced
2. Find PHP FPM Settings
3. Remove disabled functions as needed

Step 4: SSH Access

1. Go to Server > Master Credentials
2. Note SSH details
3. Connect via SSH to install FFmpeg:

sudo apt install ffmpeg -y

Step 5: Upload Files

1. Go to Application > Access Details
2. Note SFTP credentials
3. Upload files via SFTP to publichtml/

Step 6: Set Up Cron

1. Go to Application > Cron Job Management
2. Add new cron:

Schedule:

• Command: php ~/publichtml/ct/admin/cron/sitecron.php

Post-Setup Verification

After completing setup on any platform, verify these items:

1. PHP Configuration Check

Navigate to your site and create a test file:

<?php
// testconfig.php
phpinfo();
?>

Verify:

• [ ] PHP version 8.0+
• [ ] Required extensions loaded
• [ ] Memory limit 256M+
• [ ] Max execution time 300+

Delete this file after checking!

2. FFmpeg Check

ffmpeg -version
ffprobe -version

3. Cron Check

After a few minutes:

tail -f /path/to/ct/logs/cron/sitecron.log

Should see regular activity.

4. Permission Check

ls -la /path/to/ct/logs/
ls -la /path/to/ct/uploads/

Web server should own these directories.

5. Run Installer

Navigate to https://yourdomain.com/install/ and complete installation.

Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues

"exec() has been disabled" Error

"Permission denied" Errors

chown -R www-data:www-data /path/to/ct/

chmod -R 775 /path/to/ct/logs /path/to/ct/uploads

Cron Job Not Running

# Check cron is running

systemctl status cron

grep CRON /var/log/syslog

php /path/to/ct/admin/cron/sitecron.php

500 Internal Server Error

API Returns 404

location /ct/api/v1 {

    tryfiles $uri $uri/ /ct/api/v1/index.php?$querystring;

}

Related Documentation

• Requirements Guide - Complete system requirements
• Welcome Guide - Getting started overview
• Installation Guide - Step-by-step installation
• Settings Control Center - Master configuration

Changelog

End of Common Server Setups Guide