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Install Codiad by placing a pinned, reviewed release under a server root, giving the PHP-FPM service account the required write access, and configuring Nginx to pass PHP requests to the exact listener declared by PHP-FPM. Most failed installations trace to one of four mismatches: an obsolete PHP package or socket path, a wrong Nginx document root, a PHP-FPM permission problem, or a custom location block that prevents JavaScript and CSS from being served.
Codiad requires extra caution today. Its upstream repository was archived on September 8, 2023, says the project is no longer under active maintenance, and lists October 26, 2013 as the latest stable release date. Treat the installation as a restricted administrative service: pin the source revision, review the code, use HTTPS, limit access, and keep restorable backups.
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Before installing: understand Codiad’s current status
Codiad is a browser-based IDE whose project files live in a server-side workspace. Its settings and other data are stored as JSON-formatted PHP files, so the web-server/PHP-FPM account must be able to read the application and write only the paths Codiad needs. A writable workspace is effectively writable code on your server; exposing it publicly without access controls increases the impact of a compromised account.
The upstream project is archived rather than actively maintained. The repository page reported about 2.8k stars and 690 forks when captured on October 15, 2026, but those counters are volatile and are not a current adoption or support metric. No authoritative source establishes a current success rate, performance benchmark, user count, or security-support SLA. Plan to maintain the host and audit the source yourself.
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Choose a controlled deployment
- Use a separate VPS or internal Linux host rather than a general public web root shared with unrelated applications.
- Put the site behind HTTPS and an authentication boundary such as a VPN, IP allow-list, or an upstream access gateway.
- Pin the exact archive or reviewed repository commit. Do not deploy an unexamined moving branch.
- Back up the Codiad directory, configuration, workspace, and any PHP-FPM/Nginx configuration before upgrades or experiments.
Requirements and deployment choices
You need a Linux account with administrative privileges, Nginx, PHP-FPM, an unpacking utility, and a supported PHP version for the Codiad revision you selected. Some historical recipes also install MySQL and a PHP MySQL extension, but only install database software if that particular revision or extension actually requires it; do not assume an old recipe’s database requirement applies to every snapshot.
| Decision | Option 1 | Option 2 | What to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHP-FPM transport | Unix socket, for example /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock |
TCP listener, for example 127.0.0.1:9000 |
Nginx’s fastcgi_pass must exactly match PHP-FPM’s pool listen value. |
| Source | Pinned archived release | Reviewed fork or repository snapshot | Record the revision, inspect the code, and keep the same revision in your backup notes. |
| Exposure | Dedicated hostname and server root | Subdirectory below another site | Subdirectory deployments need carefully tested URL and asset paths; a dedicated host is easier to troubleshoot. |
| Hosting | Existing Linux server | New Linux VPS | Confirm firewall, DNS, HTTPS, backups, and administrative access before copying files. |
| Ownership | Service-account ownership with narrow modes | Broad, convenient ownership | Use the account that actually runs PHP-FPM; broad recursive write access should not be the default. |
Install the server software
1. Identify the distribution and PHP service
Package names and service names vary. Historical Codiad instructions refer to PHP 5 packages such as php5-fpm and php5-mysql; those names are obsolete on many current distributions. Use the distribution’s supported PHP release and its matching FPM package instead of installing PHP 5 solely to copy an old tutorial.
On a Debian- or Ubuntu-family host, a typical starting point is:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx php-fpm php-cli php-json php-mbstring php-xml php-curl unzip tarAdd the distribution’s PHP database extension only when the chosen Codiad revision requires it. On another distribution, use its package manager and package names. Before continuing, record the installed PHP version and the service unit:
php -v
systemctl list-units --type=service | grep -E 'php.*fpm'Enable the services that exist on your host:
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx
sudo systemctl enable --now php8.3-fpmReplace php8.3-fpm with the service name actually installed. If the command reports that the unit does not exist, list the available FPM units rather than guessing a version.
2. Find the real PHP-FPM listener and service account
Do this before writing the Nginx site. The pool configuration’s listen directive is authoritative:
grep -R '^[[:space:]]*listen[[:space:]]*=' /etc/php/*/fpm/pool.d/*.conf 2>/dev/nullCommon results are a versioned Unix socket such as /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock or a TCP address such as 127.0.0.1:9000. A socket may also be under a distribution-specific directory. Confirm that the listener exists after starting PHP-FPM:
sudo ss -lx | grep php
sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm --no-pagerFind the account configured for the pool by inspecting its user and group directives. Depending on the distribution, it may be www-data, nginx, or another account. Do not transfer the historical www-data ownership command blindly.
Download and prepare a pinned Codiad tree
1. Create the application directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/codiad
cd /tmpDownload the exact release archive or reviewed snapshot you intend to run, verify its checksum when one is published, and keep a copy of the revision information with your backups. A historical recipe uses Codiad 2.7.4 and unpacks it under /var/www/codiad; that example is not a recommendation to use an unreviewed old archive. The important property is reproducibility: the same source should be deployable again.
sudo tar -xf codiad-release.tar.gz --strip-components=1 -C /var/www/codiadAdjust the archive name and extraction options to match the file you downloaded. Confirm that the directory contains Codiad’s index.php; if the archive created an extra top-level directory, either extract with the correct strip level or move the contents so the document root will contain index.php directly.
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2. Create the expected configuration and data paths
Use the selected revision’s instructions to create config.php if it is not included. Codiad also needs write access to its data and workspace paths. Do not create arbitrary similarly named directories when the release expects a specific layout; inspect the tree and the revision’s setup instructions first.
sudo touch /var/www/codiad/config.phpIf the installer creates the file itself, leave it absent and let the setup page do so. The key requirement is that PHP-FPM can create or update the configuration, data, and workspace files that this revision uses.
3. Apply least-privilege ownership
Set ownership to the PHP-FPM service account you identified, not automatically to www-data. The historical Ubuntu guide assigns the Codiad tree recursively to www-data; on a host where PHP-FPM runs as nginx, that command would leave the wrong account unable to write.
sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/codiadReplace nginx:nginx with the actual pool user and group. Use restrictive modes as a starting point, then grant write access only to the directories and files Codiad documents as writable:
sudo find /var/www/codiad -type d -exec chmod 750 {} ;
sudo find /var/www/codiad -type f -exec chmod 640 {} ;These commands are a baseline, not a universal Codiad policy. If the setup page reports a failed write, identify the exact path, its owner, group, parent-directory traversal permissions, and the PHP-FPM account. Do not respond by making the entire tree world-writable.
Configure Nginx for Codiad
Use the application directory as the document root
Create a dedicated server block. The following pattern uses a versioned Unix socket only as an example; substitute the listener you found in the pool configuration.
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server {
listen 80;
server_name codiad.example.com;
root /var/www/codiad;
index index.php index.html;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
}
location ~ .php$ {
include fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
}
}The root must be the directory that contains Codiad’s index.php. The try_files rule serves an existing file or directory and sends other requests to the front controller. The SCRIPT_FILENAME parameter gives PHP-FPM the full path to the script; omitting it can produce an unusable PHP setup.
If the pool says listen = 127.0.0.1:9000, use fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000; instead. Unix sockets and TCP both work when Nginx and PHP-FPM use the same address. A socket path copied from an old PHP 5 tutorial is not valid merely because it looks familiar.
Enable the site and test it
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/codiad /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/codiad
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginxOn systems without the Debian-style sites directories, place the server block in the distribution’s enabled Nginx configuration. Never reload after an edit without running nginx -t. If you changed the PHP-FPM pool, restart that service as well:
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpmRemove or disable a default server block only when it is actually intercepting the hostname. Check DNS or the local hosts file so codiad.example.com resolves to this server, then open the site over HTTPS or the temporary HTTP endpoint. The initial page should allow you to set the administrator username and password and create the first project.
Fix a 502 Bad Gateway
A 502 normally means Nginx cannot communicate with PHP-FPM. The most common cause is a listener mismatch: Nginx points to one socket or TCP address while the FPM pool listens on another. The same mismatch is explicitly documented as producing a 502 in Nginx/PHP deployment guidance.
- Check the PHP-FPM service:
sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm --no-pager. - Read the pool’s exact
listen = ...value withgrep. - Compare that value character-for-character with
fastcgi_pass. Prefix a Unix path withunix:in Nginx; do not add that prefix to a TCP address. - For a Unix socket, check that the file exists and that the Nginx worker can connect to it. Socket ownership and mode are controlled by the FPM pool settings.
- For TCP, verify that PHP-FPM is listening on the address and port and that local firewall rules are not blocking it.
- Run
sudo nginx -t, restart PHP-FPM, and reload Nginx. - Read both error logs while making one request. Typical locations are
/var/log/nginx/error.logand the PHP-FPM journal or pool log; use the paths configured on your distribution.
If PHP-FPM starts and the listener matches but 502 persists, check directory traversal permissions on every parent directory of the socket and the application. A correct file mode is useless if the Nginx worker cannot traverse /run/php or another parent directory.
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Fix PHP source downloads or pages rendered as text
If the browser downloads index.php or displays PHP source, Nginx is serving the file as a static asset instead of forwarding it to PHP-FPM. Confirm that the PHP location block is enabled in the active server block, that it contains include fastcgi_params, and that fastcgi_pass points to a live listener. Check for a more specific location block that captures .php requests before the PHP handler. Run nginx -t and reload after correcting the configuration.
Do not solve this by adding a second PHP handler at random. Duplicate or conflicting location blocks make matching order harder to reason about and can reintroduce the problem after a reload.
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Fix JavaScript and CSS 404 errors
A page that loads without styling, menus, or editor controls is often serving HTML while static assets return 404. Custom Nginx location ordering and missing MIME configuration are common causes. First use browser developer tools to record the exact failing asset URL, then map that URL to a real file below /var/www/codiad.
- Make sure the server’s
rootis the directory containing the asset andindex.php, not its parent or a sibling directory. - Ensure the general
location /block does not rewrite an existing asset to an unrelated path. - Check that a custom static-file location does not point at a different root or return
404before the file can be found. - Ensure Nginx loads its MIME types so CSS is sent as
text/cssand JavaScript with an appropriate JavaScript MIME type. A standard installation normally includes the distribution’smime.typesfile in the global HTTP configuration. - Check filename case. Linux treats
Editor.jsandeditor.jsas different files. - After configuration changes, reload Nginx and perform a hard browser refresh so an old cached path does not hide the fix.
If the asset URL contains a subdirectory prefix because Codiad is installed below another site, test the dedicated-host deployment first. A subdirectory may require application-specific base-path handling that the simple server block does not provide.
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Determine which process performs the write: PHP-FPM, not the Nginx worker, normally writes Codiad’s configuration and workspace. Confirm the pool’s user and group, then inspect the failing path:
namei -l /var/www/codiad/config.php
ls -ld /var/www/codiad /var/www/codiad/*Check all of the following:
- The PHP-FPM account can read application files and traverse every parent directory.
- The configuration file is writable when the installer must create or update it.
- The data and workspace directories are writable when Codiad saves settings or project files.
- SELinux or another mandatory-access-control system, if enabled, permits the web service to access the paths.
- Disk space and inode availability are sufficient.
Use a group-based permission design when administrators need to edit files without making the whole tree writable. Avoid chmod -R 777; it conceals the real ownership error and gives any local process permission to alter the IDE or projects.
Fix login, session, and blank-page problems
After the first login, a redirect loop or immediately lost session usually involves PHP session storage, hostname, or scheme rather than Codiad’s workspace. Inspect the PHP-FPM and Nginx logs while reproducing the problem. Verify that PHP’s configured session directory exists and is writable by the FPM account. Confirm that the browser uses the same hostname configured for the site and that an HTTPS reverse proxy is not causing the application to alternate between HTTP and HTTPS.
Clear only the affected browser cookies after correcting the server configuration. If the page is entirely blank, check the PHP-FPM log for a fatal error and verify that the selected PHP version still supports the archived Codiad code; an old application can fail on a modern interpreter even when Nginx is configured correctly.
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Restrict the administrative surface
Do not treat a working login page as a security boundary. Limit the hostname at the firewall or reverse proxy, require HTTPS, use a long unique administrator password, and remove unused accounts. Keep the workspace outside any separate public-download directory. Review whether uploaded or generated files could be executed by PHP and avoid placing unrelated user uploads under the Codiad document root.
Back up what Codiad actually needs
A restorable backup includes the pinned source revision, config.php, Codiad’s data files, the workspace, and the Nginx and PHP-FPM configuration that connects them. Test a restore on an isolated host. A backup of only the Nginx server block cannot recover projects or Codiad’s JSON data.
Handle an archived codebase deliberately
Record the release or commit identifier and the PHP version that worked with it. Review changes before replacing the tree, because there is no active core-contributor maintenance stream to provide routine compatibility or security fixes. If you adopt a fork, review its history and code, pin its revision, and repeat the same backup and access-control process.
Quick Recap
Final installation checklist
- The selected Codiad source is pinned, reviewed, and recorded.
- Nginx and a distribution-supported PHP-FPM package are installed; obsolete PHP 5 package names were not copied blindly.
- The server block’s
rootcontains Codiad’sindex.php. - The PHP location includes FastCGI parameters and an accurate
SCRIPT_FILENAME. fastcgi_passexactly matches the PHP-FPM pool’slistenvalue.- The PHP-FPM account can write only the configuration, data, and workspace paths that Codiad requires.
nginx -tsucceeds before every reload, and both Nginx and PHP-FPM logs are available.- Static asset URLs return 200 responses with appropriate MIME types.
- HTTPS, access restrictions, backups, and a tested restore procedure are in place.
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