Matomo (formerly known as Piwik) is a powerful, open-source web analytics platform that allows you to track and analyze your website's traffic. Installing Matomo on Debian 12 is straightforward and provides you with full control over your data. This guide will walk you through the installation process on your VPS server. For reliable hosting solutions, consider using windowsvps for your next VPS server deployment.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have the following:

• A VPS server running Debian 12.
• Root or sudo access to the server.
• A registered domain name pointing to your server's IP address (optional, but recommended).
• Apache, MySQL, and PHP installed on your server.

Step 1: Update Your System

Start by updating your package list and installed packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Install the necessary packages for Matomo:

sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php php-mysql libapache2-mod-php php-xml php-mbstring php-curl php-zip php-gd php-json unzip -y

Step 3: Configure MySQL Database for Matomo

Log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a database and user for Matomo:

CREATE DATABASE matomo;
CREATE USER 'matomouser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON matomo.* TO 'matomouser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 4: Download Matomo

Navigate to the web directory and download the latest version of Matomo:

cd /var/www/html
wget https://builds.matomo.org/matomo-latest.zip

Unzip the downloaded file:

unzip matomo-latest.zip
rm matomo-latest.zip

Step 5: Set Up Directory Permissions

Set the ownership of the Matomo directory to the Apache user:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/matomo

Set the correct permissions:

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/matomo

Step 6: Configure Apache for Matomo

Create a new Apache configuration file for Matomo:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/matomo.conf

Add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/matomo

    <Directory /var/www/html/matomo>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/matomo-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/matomo-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name.

Step 7: Enable the Matomo Site

Enable the new site and rewrite module:

sudo a2ensite matomo.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Then restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 8: Complete the Installation via Web Interface

Open your web browser and navigate to http://yourdomain.com. You should see the Matomo setup page. Follow the prompts to complete the installation, providing the database details created earlier.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully installed Matomo Web Analytics on your Debian 12 VPS server. This powerful analytics tool allows you to track and analyze your website's performance effectively. For optimal performance and reliable hosting, consider utilizing windowsvps for your next VPS server hosting solution.