Create Your Own Video Sharing Website using ‘CumulusClips Script’ in Linux

Creating a video sharing website can be a daunting task, but with the right tools, it can be a fun and rewarding experience. CumulusClips is a popular video sharing script that allows you to create your own video sharing website. In this article, we will walk you through the process of setting up a CumulusClips-based video sharing website on a Linux server.

What is CumulusClips?

CumulusClips is an open-source video sharing script that is written in PHP and uses MySQL as the backend database. It provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to upload and share videos with others. With CumulusClips, you can create your own video sharing website like YouTube, Vimeo, or Dailymotion.

Features of CumulusClips

The following are some of the features of CumulusClips Script −

• Supports multiple video formats including MP4, WebM, and FLV

• Responsive design that works on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices

• Built-in video encoding and thumbnail generation

• User registration and management

• Video playlists and favorites

• Social sharing and embed codes

Prerequisites

Before we proceed, you will need to ensure that your Linux server meets the following requirements −

• Apache web server (version 2.2 or higher)

• PHP (version 5.3 or higher)

• MySQL database (version 5.0 or higher)

• FFmpeg (version 0.8 or higher)

• GD library (version 2 or higher)

• mod_rewrite Apache module

You can install these requirements using the package manager of your Linux distribution. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following command to install the required packages −

sudo apt-get install apache2 php mysql-server ffmpeg libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-gd libavcodec-extra libavformat-extra

Now let's dive into the steps to create your own video sharing website using CumulusClips Script.

Creating your video sharing website using CumulusClips

Follow the steps outlined below to create your own video sharing website with CumulusClips.

Download and Install CumulusClips

The first step is to download and install CumulusClips on your Linux server. Follow the steps below −

• Download the latest version of CumulusClips from the official website.

• Upload the downloaded file to the root directory of your website using an FTP client or file manager.

• Extract the downloaded file to the root directory of your website.

• Rename the "cc-install" directory to "install" and give it write permissions −

mv cc-install install
chmod -R 777 install

• Create a MySQL database for CumulusClips

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE cumulusclips;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON cumulusclips.* TO 'cumulusclips_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit;

Replace 'password' with the password you set for the MySQL user.

• Open the "includes/config.php" file in a text editor and update the following lines −

define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_USER', 'cumulusclips_user');
define('DB_PASS', 'password');
define('DB_NAME', 'cumulusclips');

Replace 'cumulusclips_user' and 'password' with the MySQL username and password you created in step 5.

• Open the "includes/ffmpeg.config.php" file in a text editor and update the following lines −

define('FFMPEG_BINARY', '/usr/bin/ffmpeg');
define('FFPROBE_BINARY', '/usr/bin/ffprobe');

Replace '/usr/bin/ffmpeg' and '/usr/bin/ffprobe' with the path to the FFmpeg and FFprobe binaries on your server. You can find the path using the following command −

which ffmpeg
which ffprobe

• Save the changes and exit the text editor.

• Create a New Virtual Host Configuration File

  In order to configure Apache to serve the CumulusClips website, we need to create a new virtual host configuration file for CumulusClips. To do this, we'll create a new file called cumulusclips.conf in the /etc/apache2/sites-available/ directory −

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

Inside the file, add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
   ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
   DocumentRoot /var/www/cumulusclips
   ServerName your_domain.com
   <Directory /var/www/cumulusclips/>
      Options FollowSymLinks
      AllowOverride All
      Require all granted
   </Directory>
   ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/cumulusclips_error.log
   CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/cumulusclips_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Make sure to replace your_domain.com with your actual domain name or IP address.

Save and close the file.

• Enable the CumulusClips Virtual Host

  After creating the virtual host configuration file, we need to enable it with the following command −

sudo a2ensite cumulusclips.conf

This command creates a symbolic link to the cumulusclips.conf file in the /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/ directory, which tells Apache to use this configuration file.

Next, restart Apache to apply the changes −

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Access Your CumulusClips Website

Now that CumulusClips is set up and configured, you can access your video sharing website by visiting your domain name or IP address in your web browser.

If you used a domain name, make sure that your domain is pointed to your server's IP address.

When you first visit your website, you will be prompted to create a new administrator account. After creating the account, you can start uploading videos and customizing your website.

Congratulations, you now have your own video sharing website using CumulusClips!

Configuring HTTPS for Your CumulusClips Website

If you want to secure your CumulusClips website with HTTPS, you can obtain a free SSL/TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt, a free and open Certificate Authority.

• Install Certbot

  To obtain an SSL/TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt, we need to install the Certbot package. Certbot is a command-line utility for obtaining and renewing SSL/TLS certificates.

  First, add the Certbot repository to your system −

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot

Then, update the package list and install Certbot −

sudo apt update sudo apt install certbot

• Obtain a Certificate

  After installing Certbot, we can obtain a certificate for our domain by running the following command −

sudo certbot --apache -d your_domain.com

Replace your_domain.com with your actual domain name.

Certbot will prompt you for some information and ask you to agree to the Let's Encrypt terms of service. After this, it will automatically configure Apache to use HTTPS and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.

• Renew the Certificate

  Let's Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days. To renew the certificate when it expires, you can run the following command −

sudo certbot renew

This command will automatically renew any certificates that are due for renewal. You can add it to a cron job to automatically renew your certificate before it expires.

Conclusion

CumulusClips is a powerful open-source video sharing platform that provides a simple and effective way to create your own video sharing website. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you should now have a functional video sharing website up and running in no time.

It's important to note that while CumulusClips is relatively easy to install and use, running a video sharing website comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. You will need to make sure you have the appropriate hardware and bandwidth to handle the traffic, as well as take steps to secure your website and protect your users' data.

With that said, CumulusClips provides a great starting point for anyone looking to create their own video sharing website, whether it's for personal or business use. With its intuitive interface, powerful features, and active community, CumulusClips is definitely worth considering if you're in the market for a video sharing platform.