Preparing the server

Before the hub can be installed, the server needs MariaDB, PHP 8.2 with the extensions the hub uses, the hub's code, and a web server ready to serve it. Each page in this section does that for one system, from a server with nothing on it, and each is complete on its own. Follow the one for your system; it ends by sending you on to Installing the hub, which is the same on every system.

What each page covers

Every page works through the same steps, with its own packages, accounts and paths:

1. MariaDB, PHP and the tools. PHP 8.2 from the system where it has it, or from the repository that packages it for that system where it does not.
2. The web server. Apache or nginx, with PHP-FPM.
3. The firewall, and turning SELinux off, on Enterprise Linux, which starts with both closed to a web application. Hubs run with SELinux off and are not tested with it on.
4. The code, cloned from the release branch and owned by the account PHP runs as.
5. The web server's configuration, written for that system: where the file goes, the PHP-FPM socket, the logs, and a self-signed certificate to start with if the real one or the hub's name is not ready yet.

The Docker pages replace the PHP and web server steps with an image built from FrankenPHP's PHP 8.2 image, which brings both, and say how to run the hub's commands inside the container.

Page	PHP 8.2 from	MariaDB	Web server
Debian 12	Debian	10.11	Apache or nginx
Debian 13	Ondřej Surý's archive	11.8	Apache or nginx
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	Ondřej Surý's PPA	10.6	Apache or nginx
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS	Ondřej Surý's PPA	10.11	Apache or nginx
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS	FrankenPHP's Docker image	11.8	FrankenPHP
Enterprise Linux 8	AppStream, php:8.2	10.11	Apache or nginx
Enterprise Linux 9	AppStream, php:8.2	10.11	Apache or nginx
Enterprise Linux 10	Remi's repository	10.11	Apache or nginx
Any Linux, in Docker	FrankenPHP's Docker image	the distribution's	FrankenPHP
Any other Linux	wherever it is packaged	the distribution's	Apache or nginx

Enterprise Linux means Red Hat Enterprise Linux and its rebuilds, Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux. Ubuntu is covered in its long-term support releases only.

How to choose

Use the system you already run. If your organization has a standard server build, or the people who will look after the hub know one of these systems well, that matters more than any difference between them. Every page ends at the same hub.

If you want to match the hubs Hubzero hosts, choose Enterprise Linux 8. Hosted hubs currently run on it. It is also one of the three systems on which PHP 8.2 comes from the distribution itself.

If you would rather not add a repository for PHP, choose Debian 12, Enterprise Linux 8 or Enterprise Linux 9. They ship PHP 8.2 themselves. The others get it from a repository maintained outside the distribution: Ondřej Surý's for Debian 13 and Ubuntu, Remi Collet's for Enterprise Linux 10. Both are long established and widely used, but they are one more source to trust and to keep up to date.

If you are setting up a new server for years of service, weigh how long the release is supported. Approximately, as of this writing:

System	Supported until
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	April 2027
Debian 12	June 2028, in its long-term support
Enterprise Linux 8	May 2029
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS	April 2029
Debian 13	2030, in its long-term support
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS	April 2031
Enterprise Linux 9	May 2032
Enterprise Linux 10	May 2035

Check the distribution's own lifecycle page before you decide; vendors sometimes extend them, and paid extended support runs longer still.

If the system's PHP is not 8.2 and nothing packages 8.2 for it, or you want the hub's PHP kept apart from the server's, use Docker. The Docker page works on any Linux server, and it is the only route on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

If you want the whole hub in an image, built, started and replaced the way other containers are, skip this section. A self-contained hub in Docker builds the code into the image and runs MariaDB in a container too, so the server needs nothing but Docker.

Apache or nginx makes little difference to the hub. Every page gives a complete configuration for each. Choose the one you already know how to run.