Drupal

To run the Drupal content management system using Unit:

  1. Install Unit with a PHP language module.

  2. Install and configure Drupal’s prerequisites

  3. Install Drupal’s core files. Here we install them at /path/to/app; use a real path in your configuration.

  4. Change ownership:

    Run the following command (as root) so Unit can access the application directory (If the application uses several directories, run the command for each one):

    # chown -R unit:unit /path/to/app/  # User and group that Unit's router runs as by default
    The unit:unit user-group pair is available only with official packages , Docker images, and some third-party repos. Otherwise, account names may differ; run the ps aux | grep unitd command to be sure.

    For further details, including permissions, see the security checklist.

  5. Next, prepare the Drupal configuration for Unit. The default .htaccess scheme in a Drupal installation roughly translates into the following (use real values for share and root):

    {
   "listeners": {
      "*:80": {
            "pass": "routes"
      }
   },

   "routes": [
      {
            "match": {
               "uri": [
                  "!*/.well-known/*",
                  "/vendor/*",
                  "/core/profiles/demo_umami/modules/demo_umami_content/default_content/*",
                  "*.engine",
                  "*.inc",
                  "*.install",
                  "*.make",
                  "*.module",
                  "*.po",
                  "*.profile",
                  "*.sh",
                  "*.theme",
                  "*.tpl",
                  "*.twig",
                  "*.xtmpl",
                  "*.yml",
                  "*/.*",
                  "*/Entries*",
                  "*/Repository",
                  "*/Root",
                  "*/Tag",
                  "*/Template",
                  "*/composer.json",
                  "*/composer.lock",
                  "*/web.config",
                  "*sql",
                  "*.bak",
                  "*.orig",
                  "*.save",
                  "*.swo",
                  "*.swp",
                  "*~"
               ]
            },
            "_comment_match": "Denies access to certain types of files and directories best kept hidden, allows access to well-known locations according to RFC 5785",
            "action": {
               "return": 404
            }
      },
      {
            "match": {
               "uri": [
                  "/core/authorize.php",
                  "/core/core.api.php",
                  "/core/globals.api.php",
                  "/core/install.php",
                  "/core/modules/statistics/statistics.php",
                  "~^/core/modules/system/tests/https?\\.php",
                  "/core/rebuild.php",
                  "/update.php",
                  "/update.php/*"
               ]
            },
            "_comment_match": "Allows direct access to core PHP scripts",
            "action": {
               "pass": "applications/drupal/direct"
            }
      },
      {
            "match": {
               "uri": [
                  "!/index.php*",
                  "*.php"
               ]
            },
            "_comment_match": "Explicitly denies access to any PHP scripts other than index.php",
            "action": {
               "return": 404
            }
      },
      {
            "action": {
               "share": "/path/to/app/web$uri",
               "_comment_share": "Serves static files",
               "fallback": {
                  "pass": "applications/drupal/index"
               },
               "_comment_fallback": "Funnels all requests to index.php"
            }
      }
   ],

   "applications": {
      "drupal": {
            "type": "php",
            "targets": {
               "direct": {
                  "root": "/path/to/app/web/",
                  "_comment_root": "Path to the web/ directory; use a real path in your configuration"
               },
               "index": {
                  "root": "/path/to/app/web/",
                  "_comment_root": "Path to the web/ directory; use a real path in your configuration",
                  "script": "index.php",
                  "_comment_script": "All requests are handled by a single script"
               }
            }
      }
   }
}

    The difference between the pass targets is their usage of the script setting:

    • The direct target runs the .php script from the URI or index.php if the URI omits it.
    • The index target specifies the script that Unit runs for any URIs the target receives.

  6. Upload the updated configuration.

    Assuming the JSON above was added to config.json. Run the following command as root:

    # curl -X PUT --data-binary @config.json --unix-socket \
      /path/to/control.unit.sock \  # Path to Unit's control socket in your installation
      http://localhost/config/      # Path to the config section in Unit's control API
    The control socket path may vary; run unitd -h or see Startup and shutdown for details.

    After a successful update, browse to http://localhost and set up your Drupal installation:

    Drupal on Unit - Setup Screen

Last modified February 6, 2025