How to install vTiger CRM with Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04

Install Nginx HTTP server on Ubuntu

Nginx is a popular web server that vTiger CRM needs to run, and installing it on Ubuntu 24.04 is simple using the terminal.

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 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

vTiger CRM needs a database to store its information, and MariaDB is a great choice for this, easily installed on Ubuntu using the terminal.

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 vTiger database

After installing MariaDB, you’ll create a specific database named ‘vtigerdb’ and a user ‘vtigerdbuser’ with all the needed permissions for vTiger CRM.

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

Finally, we’ll grant the vtigerdbuser full access to the vtigerdb 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 vtigerdb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER vtigerdbuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'type_your_password_here';
GRANT ALL ON vtigerdb.* TO vtigerdbuser@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Ensure to replace ‘type_your_password_here ‘with your password.

Install PHP-FPM on Ubuntu Linux

vTiger CRM uses PHP, so installing PHP-FPM is necessary for it to work correctly, and it includes all the required PHP extensions for Ubuntu.

Run the commands below to install PHP-FPM.

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-json php-sqlite3 php-soap php-ldap php-zip

Additional help on installing PHP

How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux

Download vTiger files

You’ll now download the vTiger CRM software files from their official website to your server and place them where Nginx can find them.

To always install the latest version, check the vTiger’s download page. If a new version is available, replace the version number in the link below.

First, navigate to the /tmp/ directory and download vTiger files. After unzipping the file, move the content into the vTiger 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 vTiger installation.

cd /tmp
wget https://phoenixnap.dl.sourceforge.net/project/vtigercrm/vtiger%20CRM%208.2.0/Core%20Product/vtigercrm8.2.0.tar.gz
tar -xvf vtigercrm8.2.0.tar.gz
sudo mv vtigercrm /var/www/vtigercrm
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/vtigercrm

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

Run the commands below to create an Nginx server block file for vTiger.

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

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

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name  vtigercrm.example.com www.vtigercrm.example.com;
    root   /var/www/vtigercrm;
    index  index.php;
    
    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    client_max_body_size 100M;
  
    autoindex off;

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

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

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/vtigercrm.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS for vTiger

Securing your vTiger CRM with an SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt is important for protecting data, and this guide will help you set it up for 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://vtiger.example.com

A vTiger installation wizard page should appear. Click Install to begin.

Next, enter the database name, database account, and password. Then, create an administrator account and continue.

Confirm the setup info and continue.

On the next screen, create a user account and complete the installation. Then, choose what vTiger CRM features you want to install and continue.

Your vTiger site should be set up and ready to use.

That should do it!

Conclusion

You’ve now successfully installed vTiger CRM on Ubuntu 24.04 using Nginx! We covered setting up Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP-FPM, creating the vTiger database, downloading the files, and securing your site with Let’s Encrypt. Following these steps ensures your vTiger CRM is up and running securely.