How to install Matomo web analytics platform on Ubuntu Server 20.04
If you manage websites, you know how important data analysis can be. You need to be aware of things like visitors, search engines and used keywords, spoken language, page likes, downloaded files and much more. That data can be an important part of growing and optimizing your site and the content you provide.
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One tool for this is the open source Matomo (formerly Puik). Not only does Matomo keep you informed, it also works with Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, Yahoo and features a cost-per-click analysis, search marketing and a tracking and reporting API.
If this sounds like something that could benefit you and / or your company, let’s install it.
What you will need
I’m going to show Ubuntu Server 20.04, so you’ll need a running example of that platform, as well as a user account that has a pseudo feature.
Ready? Let’s do it.
How to install dependencies
The first thing we will do is install the necessary dependencies. Log in to your Ubuntu instance and install those packages with the command:
sudo apt-get install apache2 mariadb-server php libapache2-mod-php php-cli php-fpm php-fpm php-json php-json php-common php-mysql php-zip php-gd php-mbstring php-curl php-xml php-pear php-bcmath curl unzip -y
Once that installation is complete, you are ready to take care of the database.
How to create a database
Before we create the database, let’s start and enable MariadB:
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb
Next, we need to protect MariadB. Order:
sudo secure_mysql_installation
Create a new password for the admin user and then answer ‘y’ for the remaining questions.
Log in to the MariadB console with:
sudo mysql
Create a database with:
CREATE DATABASE matomodb;
Create a new user with:
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER 'matomo'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'PASSWORD';
Where PASSWORD is a strong / unique password.
Provide the user with the necessary facilities:
GRANT ALL ON matomodb.* TO 'matomo'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Flash all features and exit Database Console:
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit
How to download and unpack Matomo
Download the latest version of Matomo with the command:
wget http://builds.matomo.org/matomo-latest.zip
Unpack the file with:
unzip matomo-latest.zip
Navigate to the newly created directory in the Apache document route:
sudo mv matomo /var/www/html/
Change permissions and ownership with:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/matomo
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/matomo
How to configure Apache
We now move on to the Apache configuration. Create a new .conf file with:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/matomo.conf
In that file, paste the following (change as needed):
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin [email protected]
ServerName matomo.example.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/matomo/
<Directory /var/www/html/matomo>
DirectoryIndex index.php
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
<Files "console">
Options None
Require all denied
</Files>
<Directory /var/www/html/matomo/misc/user>
Options None
Require all granted
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/html/matomo/misc>
Options None
Require all denied
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/html/matomo/vendor>
Options None
Require all denied
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/matomo_error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/matomo_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Save and close the file.
Enable the site with:
sudo a2ensite matomo.conf\
Enable rewrite module with:
sudo a2enmod rewrite
Restart Apache with:
sudo systemctl restart apache2
How to finish the installation
Open a web browser and point it to http: // SERVER / matomo. You will be greeted with the Matomo Installation Wizard (Figure A)
Figure A
Click Next and the system check will be complete. Scroll down and click Next. In the resulting window (Figure B), Fill in the required information for the database. The login is matomo, the database name is matomodb, and the password is what you set on the MariaDB console. When finished, click on NEXT.
Figure B
Once the tables are created, click Next and then you will be asked to create a super user to act as a site administrator (Figure C)
Figure C
Click Next and in the next window (Figure D), You will be asked to set up a website for analysis.
Figure D
Click Next and then you will be asked to add the required JavaScript tracking code to your website. Closing the web pages you want to analyze You must add the script before tagging. The wizard’s tracking code page gives you lots of instructions on how to do this. The process will vary depending on how your websites were created and who hosts the sites
Before you click Next, be sure to click these instructions email (Figure e) So when you start adding tracking code to pages you have a reference copy.
Figure e
Click Next, and then click Continue to Matamo to reach the actual site, where you will be asked to log in with the admin account you created. You will then be presented with further instructions on how to add tracking code to your sites.
And that’s all there is to installing the Matomo web analytics platform. Once this platform is up and running, you’ll probably spend more time adding tracking code to sites than installing the platform. But if the data is important to you and your business, the effort will pay off.
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