How to Install FossBilling with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Install Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Nginx is a fast web server that FOSSBilling needs, and installing it on Ubuntu is straightforward. Open your terminal and run ‘sudo apt update’ to refresh your software list, then install Nginx with ‘sudo apt install nginx’.

1. Open your terminal and update your software list: sudo apt update
2. Install Nginx: sudo apt install nginx

You can manage the Nginx service with these commands:

• Stop: sudo systemctl stop nginx
• Start: sudo systemctl start nginx
• Enable at startup: sudo systemctl enable nginx

Check if it works by visiting your server IP address in a web browser.

Install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux

MariaDB is the database FOSSBilling uses to keep all your billing details safe. To install MariaDB on Ubuntu, first get the repository helper with ‘sudo apt install software-properties-common curl’. Then, add the MariaDB repository using the curl command, and finally install the server with ‘sudo apt install mariadb-server’.

1. 💿 Install the repository helper: sudo apt install software-properties-common curl
2. Add the MariaDB repo: curl -LsS https://downloads.mariadb.com/MariaDB/mariadb_repo_setup | sudo bash
3. 💿 Install the server: sudo apt install mariadb-server

Start and enable the service: sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb. For more help, visit How to install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux.

Create FOSSBilling database

FOSSBilling needs its own database to store your billing information. First, make your MariaDB installation more secure by running ‘sudo mysql_secure_installation’ and following the steps. Next, log into MariaDB with ‘sudo mariadb’ and create the ‘fossdb’ database and ‘fossdbuser’ with the right permissions.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the on-screen prompts. Now, create your database:

1. Log in: sudo mariadb
2. Run these commands:
   CREATE DATABASE fossdb;
CREATE USER fossdbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
GRANT ALL ON fossdb.* TO fossdbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Install PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux

FOSSBilling runs using PHP, and PHP-FPM helps your server communicate with PHP scripts efficiently. To install PHP-FPM and the needed modules on Ubuntu, simply run the command ‘sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysql php-intl php-curl php-cli php-zip php-common php-mbstring php-xml’.

sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysql php-intl php-curl php-cli php-zip php-common php-mbstring php-xml

Enable it to start automatically: sudo systemctl enable --now php8.3-fpm (Note: replace the asterisk with your installed PHP version, e.g., `php8.1-fpm`, by running `php -v`).

General: Configure Nginx

Setting up Nginx correctly is key for FOSSBilling to work. You’ll need to create a directory for FOSSBilling using ‘sudo mkdir -p /var/www/fossbilling’ and set the correct owner with ‘sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/fossbilling’. Then, create the Nginx configuration file at ‘/etc/nginx/sites-available/fossbilling.conf’.

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/fossbilling
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/fossbilling

Now, create the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/fossbilling.conf

Paste your server settings into this file, save it, and then enable this new configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/fossbilling.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Download and Setup

It’s time to download FOSSBilling and finish the setup. Go to your temporary directory by running ‘cd /tmp’, then download the latest stable version with ‘curl https://fossbilling.org/downloads/stable -L –output FOSSBilling.zip’. Unzip it into your web directory using ‘sudo unzip FOSSBilling.zip -d /var/www/fossbilling’, and then follow the on-screen wizard by visiting your domain.

cd /tmp
curl https://fossbilling.org/downloads/stable -L --output FOSSBilling.zip
sudo unzip FOSSBilling.zip -d /var/www/fossbilling

Visit your domain in a browser.

sudo rm -rf /var/www/fossbilling/install

Set up the background task (cron job):

sudo crontab -u www-data -e

Add this line: */5 * * * * php /var/www/fossbilling/cron.php