🔍 Step 1 — Check the Exact Nginx Error

nginx -t

This is the most important command — it will show you exactly which line/file is broken. Share the output if you need further help.

Also check the error log:

tail -50 /var/log/nginx/error.log

Recommended Structure

• How to install grassblade LRS

Before You Start — Requirements

Make sure your server/hosting has:

• PHP (7.x or higher)
• MySQL database
• cPanel or FTP access (FileZilla, SSH etc.)

Phase 1 — Upload Files to Your Server

Step 1: Log in to your cPanel and open File Manager

Step 2: Navigate to your website’s root folder — usually called public_html, htdocs, or /var/www

Step 3: Create a new folder named exactly grassblade-lrs inside that root folder. If you use any other name for the folder, you will need to make several file changes.

Step 4: Go inside the grassblade-lrs folder and click Upload

Step 5: Click Browse and select the grassblade-lrs-vX.X.X.zip file you downloaded from your account. Wait for the upload to finish, then go back to File Manager.

Step 6: Select your uploaded zip file and click Extract. Make sure the path points to the grassblade-lrs folder, then click Extract File(s). When done, close the extraction window and press Reload.

Using FTP instead of cPanel? Unzip the file on your computer first, then upload all the extracted files into the grassblade-lrs folder on your server.

Phase 2 — Configure the Database

Step 7: In your browser, go to:

https://yourdomain.com/grassblade-lrs

You will be redirected to http://yourdomain.com/grassblade-lrs/Configure/Database — enter your database details and click Submit.

Zendesk

To create a database (if you don’t have one):

• Go to cPanel → MySQL Databases
• Create a new database and a new user
• Assign the user to the database with All Privileges
• Use those credentials on the GrassBlade database setup page

Step 8: You will see a message: “Database configured and connected”. Several database tables will be created automatically. If you see errors, refresh the page a couple of times.

Phase 3 — Activate Your License

Step 9: After database setup, you’ll be prompted to enter your License Key. Paste the key from your purchase confirmation email or from your account at nextsoftwaresolutions.com.

If you see an error, make sure: (i) you are using the license key for GrassBlade LRS and not GrassBlade xAPI Companion, and (ii) cURL is installed and enabled for PHP.

Phase 4 — Log In & Create API Credentials

Step 10: Log in to your new LRS dashboard at:

https://yourdomain.com/grassblade-lrs/

Step 11: On the Manager Edit page, click Add New Basic Auth. Then copy the API User, API Password, and Endpoint URL — these are what you paste into GrassBlade Settings on WordPress.

Phase 5 — Connect to WordPress

Go to WordPress Dashboard → GrassBlade → GrassBlade Settings and fill in:

Click Save, then click LRS Connection Test to verify everything works.

To get your email for castamodel.com going to the right place, you need to update your DNS settings.

1. Sign in to your account with your current DNS host.

2. In your account, find your DNS settings.

3. Add the following DNS records

TXT Record

Name: @
TXT Value: MS=ms65736675

Name: @
TXT Value: v=spf1 include:secureserver.net -all

CNAME Record

Host: autodiscover
Points to: autodiscover.outlook.com

Host: email
Points to: email.secureserver.net

MX Record

Host: @
Priority: 0
Target: castamodel-com.mail.protection.outlook.com

4. Return to this page, and then select

I’m Done.

AlmaLinux does not have ImageMagick. EPEL does.

dnf install epel-release
dnf list ImageMagick\*
dnf install ImageMagick