How to Install Monica CRM on Ubuntu with Nginx

Install Nginx

Nginx is a fast and reliable web server that Monica CRM needs to run on Ubuntu.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

If you need more help with Nginx, check out this guide: How to install Nginx on Ubuntu Linux.

Install MariaDB

Monica stores your data in a database. MariaDB is the recommended choice. Install it with this command:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-server

Find additional database help here How to install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux.

Install PHP-FPM

PHP-FPM is a program that helps PHP work efficiently with your web server, which Monica CRM needs to run.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.3-fpm php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml php8.3-mysql php8.3-curl php8.3-zip php8.3-intl php8.3-bcmath php8.3-gd php8.3-gmp php8.3-redis

For more help with PHP, see this link How to install PHP or PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux.

Install Composer

Composer is a tool that manages the code libraries Monica CRM needs to run, and installing it is a key step for your Monica CRM installation on Ubuntu.

php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');"
php -r "if (hash_file('sha384', 'composer-setup.php') === 'dac665fdc30fdd8ec78b38b9800061b4150413ff2e3b6f88543c636f7cd84f6db9189d43a81e5503cda447da73c7e5b6') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"
sudo php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/bin --filename=composer
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');"

Install Node.js and Yarn

These tools handle the visual parts of the Monica interface. We use the current LTS version (v22+).

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
sudo corepack enable
sudo corepack prepare yarn@stable --activate

Create Monica Database

Monica CRM needs its own database to store all its information, so you’ll create a new database and user for it during the Monica CRM installation on Ubuntu.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Run these commands to set up the database and user:

CREATE DATABASE monicadb;
CREATE USER 'monicadbuser'@'localhost';
ALTER USER 'monicadbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_strong_password';
GRANT ALL ON monicadb.* TO 'monicadbuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Install Monica

Now it’s time to install Monica CRM itself on your Ubuntu server, which involves downloading the latest version and setting up its configuration.

sudo -u www-data composer install --no-interaction --no-dev
sudo -u www-data yarn install
sudo -u www-data yarn run production

sudo -u www-data php artisan key:generate
sudo -u www-data php artisan setup:production -v

Configure Nginx

Create a server block file in `/etc/nginx/sites-available/monicacrm`. Ensure the `fastcgi_pass` directive points to the correct PHP socket version:

fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;

Enable the site, test the configuration, and restart Nginx to apply the changes.

Access Monica Portal

Navigate to your domain in your web browser. You can now register your account and begin using your CRM. For security, we recommend setting up SSL using Let’s Encrypt How to install and use Let’s Encrypt SSL with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux.

[signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/yarnkey.gpg]