LimeSurvey Deployment & Usage Guide

1. Prerequisites

Before installing LimeSurvey, ensure your server meets the following requirements:

Web Server:

Apache ≥ 2.4
nginx ≥ 1.1
Or any PHP-ready web server

PHP:

PHP ≥ 7.4 with the following extensions:
- mbstring
- PDO drivers (for database connectivity)
- Recommended additional extensions: gd2, imap, ldap, zip, zlib

Database (choose one):

MySQL ≥ 8.0
PostgreSQL ≥ 12
MariaDB ≥ 10.3.38
MSSQL ≥ 2016

Recommended Setup:

Latest nginx version
Latest PHP version with php-fpm
Latest MariaDB or MySQL version

Tools:

Git (for cloning the repository)
Composer (PHP dependency manager)
Web server with SSL/TLS support for production

2. Installation

Download LimeSurvey

Option 1: Stable Release (Recommended) Download the latest stable version from the official community site:

wget https://community.limesurvey.org/downloads/latest-stable-release.zip
unzip latest-stable-release.zip
mv limesurvey /var/www/html/

Option 2: Git Repository (Development) Clone the repository for the latest development version:

git clone https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey.git
cd LimeSurvey

File Permissions

Set appropriate permissions for the LimeSurvey directory:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/limesurvey/
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/limesurvey/
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/limesurvey/upload/
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/limesurvey/tmp/
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/limesurvey/application/config/

Database Setup

Create a database for LimeSurvey:

CREATE DATABASE limesurvey CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'limesurvey_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'strong_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON limesurvey.* TO 'limesurvey_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

For PostgreSQL:

CREATE DATABASE limesurvey;
CREATE USER limesurvey_user WITH PASSWORD 'strong_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE limesurvey TO limesurvey_user;

3. Configuration

Web Server Configuration

Apache Configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName surveys.yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/limesurvey/
    
    <Directory /var/www/html/limesurvey/>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
    
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/limesurvey_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/limesurvey_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

nginx Configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name surveys.yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/html/limesurvey;
    index index.php;
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }
    
    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
    
    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

PHP Configuration

Edit your php.ini file with these recommended settings:

max_execution_time = 300
max_input_time = 300
memory_limit = 256M
post_max_size = 128M
upload_max_filesize = 128M
date.timezone = "Your/Timezone"

LimeSurvey Configuration

Navigate to your LimeSurvey installation in a web browser
The installation wizard will guide you through:
- License agreement acceptance
- Database configuration (host, name, user, password)
- Administrator account creation
- Optional plugin installation
After installation, configure application/config/config.php for production:

'urlFormat' => 'path',
'showScriptName' => false,
'useSSL' => true, // Enable for HTTPS

4. Build & Run

Development Environment

LimeSurvey is a PHP application that doesn't require traditional building. For development:

Set up a local development environment:

# Using Docker (if available)
docker-compose up -d

# Or set up manually with XAMPP/WAMP/MAMP

Enable debug mode in application/config/config.php:

'debug' => true,
'debugsql' => false, // Set to true for SQL debugging

Access the development site:

http://localhost/limesurvey/admin

Production Setup

Disable debug mode:

'debug' => false,

Set secure permissions:

chmod 644 /var/www/html/limesurvey/application/config/config.php

Configure cron jobs for regular tasks:

# Add to crontab (run every 5 minutes)
*/5 * * * * php /var/www/html/limesurvey/application/commands/console.php cron >/dev/null 2>&1

5. Deployment

Self-Hosted Deployment Options

Traditional VPS/Dedicated Server:

DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, or AWS EC2
Install LEMP/LAMP stack as per prerequisites
Follow installation steps above
Configure SSL with Let's Encrypt

Docker Deployment: Create a docker-compose.yml:

version: '3'
services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:10.5
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root_password
      MYSQL_DATABASE: limesurvey
      MYSQL_USER: limesurvey
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: limesurvey_password
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
  
  web:
    image: limesurvey/limesurvey:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    environment:
      DB_HOST: db
      DB_NAME: limesurvey
      DB_USER: limesurvey
      DB_PASSWORD: limesurvey_password
    depends_on:
      - db
    volumes:
      - upload_data:/var/www/html/upload
      - application_data:/var/www/html/application/config

volumes:
  db_data:
  upload_data:
  application_data:

Managed Hosting (No Self-Hosting): LimeSurvey offers a hosted SaaS solution if you prefer not to manage infrastructure:

Visit: https://www.limesurvey.org/
Benefits: Automatic updates, maintenance, scaling, and GDPR compliance handled for you

Deployment Checklist

SSL/TLS certificate installed and configured
Database backups scheduled
File permissions secured
Debug mode disabled
Regular update process established
Monitoring configured (server resources, uptime)

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

Issue: White screen or blank page

# Check PHP error log
tail -f /var/log/php/error.log

# Enable error reporting in config.php
'debug' => true,

Issue: Database connection errors

Verify database credentials in application/config/config.php
Ensure database user has proper permissions
Check if database server is running

Issue: File upload problems

# Check PHP upload limits
php -i | grep upload

# Verify directory permissions
ls -la /var/www/html/limesurvey/upload/

Issue: Slow performance

Enable PHP opcache
Configure database query caching
Use a CDN for static assets
Consider Redis or Memcached for session storage

Issue: Plugin installation fails

Check PHP zip extension is enabled
Verify write permissions to upload/ and tmp/ directories
Check server can connect to LimeSurvey plugin repository

Issue: Survey not loading properly

Clear browser cache
Check JavaScript console for errors
Verify CKEditor assets are loading (check assets/packages/ckeditor/)

Getting Help

Official Documentation: https://www.limesurvey.org/manual
Community Forums: https://forums.limesurvey.org
Bug Tracker: https://bugs.limesurvey.org
Discord Community: https://discord.gg/DEjguXn

Regular Maintenance

Backups:

# Database backup
mysqldump -u username -p limesurvey > limesurvey_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# File backup
tar -czf limesurvey_files_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /var/www/html/limesurvey/

Updates:

Always backup before updating
Check compatibility with your PHP version
Test updates in a staging environment first
Follow official update guides at https://www.limesurvey.org/manual

Security:

Keep PHP and database server updated
Regularly review user accounts and permissions
Monitor access logs for suspicious activity
Use two-factor authentication for admin accounts

How to Deploy & Use LimeSurvey