How to Install SuiteCRM with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu

To install the Nginx web server on Ubuntu for SuiteCRM, open your terminal and run the commands to update your package list and install Nginx.

To do that, open the Ubuntu terminal and run the commands below to install the Nginx web server.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Once Nginx is installed, the commands below can start, stop, and enable the Nginx web server to start automatically when your server boots up.

sudo systemctl stop nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

You can test the Nginx web server is running by opening your web browser and browsing to the server’s localhost or IP address.

http://localhost

When you see the Welcome to nginx!, it means the Nginx HTTP server is successfully installed.

Additional help on installing Nginx on Ubuntu is in the link below.

How to install Nginx on Ubuntu

Install the MariaDB database server on Ubuntu

SuiteCRM needs a database, so we’ll install the MariaDB database server on Ubuntu by opening the terminal and running the update and install commands.

To install and use the MariaDB database server, use the instructions below.

Open the Ubuntu terminal and run the commands below to install the MariaDB database server.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-server

Once the MariaDB database server is installed, use the commands below to stop, start, and enable the MariaDB server to start automatically when the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop mariadb
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Run the following commands to validate and test if the MariaDB database server is installed successfully.

sudo mariadb

Once you run the commands above, it will log you onto the MariaDB console and display a message similar to the one below.

Welcome to the MariaDB monitor.  Commands end with ; or g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 32
Server version: 10.11.2-MariaDB-1 Ubuntu 23.04

Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or 'h' for help. Type 'c' to clear the current input statement.

MariaDB [(none)]> 

The message tells you that the server is installed successfully.

Additional help on installing MariaDB.

• How to install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux
• MariaDB without password prompt

Create a SuiteCRM database

After installing MariaDB, you need to create a new database for SuiteCRM, including a user and password, and give that user permission to access the database.

As part of the setup, we will create a suitecrmdb database and a user account called suitecrmdbuser.

Finally, we’ll grant the suitecrmdbuser full access to the suitecrmdb database.

All the database steps above can be done using the commands below:

But first, log on to the MariaDB database server:

sudo mariadb

Then run the commands below to complete the steps:

CREATE DATABASE suitecrmdb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER suitecrmdbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'type_your_password_here';
GRANT ALL ON suitecrmdb.* TO suitecrmdbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Ensure to replace ‘type_your_password_here ‘with your password.

Install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

SuiteCRM is built with PHP, so you need to install it on Ubuntu. Run the commands in your terminal to install the latest PHP version along with necessary extensions.

Then, run the commands below to install the latest PHP version.

sudo apt install php-fpm php-intl php-mysql php-curl php-cli php-zip php-xml php-gd php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-bcmath php-json php-sqlite3 php-soap php-zip php-ldap php-imap

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download SuiteCRM files

To get SuiteCRM running, you’ll download the latest version’s files from their website and then extract them into the correct folder on your Ubuntu server.

To always install the latest version, check the download page for SuiteCRM. Get the download link and download the archived package to your computer. Then, extract it.

First, navigate to the /tmp/ directory and download the SuiteCRM files. Next, extract the content into the SuiteCRM folder in the Nginx root directory.

The final step is to change the permissions. This will allow the Nginx web server to interact safely with the files, ensuring a secure environment for your SuiteCRM installation.

Next, run the commands below to change Nginx root folder permissions so the SuiteCRM app can function correctly.

cd /tmp
wget https://suitecrm.com/download/148/suite87/564667/suitecrm-8-7-1.zip
sudo unzip suitecrm-*.zip -d /var/www/suitecrm
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/suitecrm/

Once you have completed all the above steps, continue configuring the Nginx web server below to serve the SuiteCRM content.

Run the commands below to create a Nginx virtual host file for SuiteCRM.

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

Then, copy and paste the content block below into the Nginx server block.

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    root /var/www/suitecrm/public;
    index  index.php;
    server_name  suitecrm.example.com;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri /index.php$is_args$args;
    }

    location ~ .php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
         fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
         include fastcgi_params;
    }

}

Save the file.

Then, run the commands below to enable the virtual host and restart the Nginx server.

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

Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS for SuiteCRM

Securing your SuiteCRM site with HTTPS is important, and you can easily set up a free SSL/TLS certificate using Let’s Encrypt with Nginx on Ubuntu.

Please read the post below for additional resources on installing and creating Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for Nginx.

How to set up Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Once you have restarted the Nginx web server, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address defined in the Nginx server block.

http://suitecrm.example.com

SuiteCRM installation wizard should appear.

Ensure all requirements are met or ignore and proceed. If you encounter an error that the memory limit and file upload size are too small, run the command below to resolve the issues.

sudo sed -i "s/memory_limit = .*/memory_limit = 512M/" /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini
sudo sed -i "s/upload_max_filesize = .*/upload_max_filesize = 12M/" /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini
sudo systemctl reload php8.3-fpm

Next, type in the database name, account name, password, and the admin account and password for the portal.

SuiteCRM should be installed and ready to use.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

Installing SuiteCRM with Nginx on Ubuntu provides a powerful solution for managing customer relationships. Following the steps outlined in this article, you can set up an efficient environment for your SuiteCRM instance. Here are the key takeaways:

• SuiteCRM is a robust open-source CRM alternative to SugarCRM.
• Nginx is an efficient web server that hosts SuiteCRM applications.
• MariaDB is required to handle the database needs for SuiteCRM.
• 💿 Installing PHP is essential for running the SuiteCRM application effectively.
• Proper setup of file permissions ensures secure interaction between Nginx and SuiteCRM.
• Configuring SSL/TLS enhances the security of your SuiteCRM installation for safe data transmission.
• Following the SuiteCRM installation wizard helps complete the setup process and ensures everything is configured correctly.

With these steps complete, you can leverage SuiteCRM to effectively enhance your customer relationship management.