How to Setup GLPI with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Install Nginx HTTP

Nginx HTTP is the web server that makes your GLPI application available online. You can install Nginx on your Ubuntu server by opening your terminal and running the package list update command followed by the Nginx installation command.

To install Nginx HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

After installing 💿 Nginx, the commands below can be used to stop, start, and enable the Nginx service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service
sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

To determine if the Nginx HTTP server is installed, simply open your web browser and type in the server’s IP or hostname.

Nginx is installed and working when you see a page like the one below.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB Database Server

MariaDB database server stores all the information for your GLPI installation. You can install both the MariaDB server and client packages on your Ubuntu system by running a single command in your terminal.

To install MariaDB, run the commands below.

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After installing MariaDB, the commands below can stop, start, and enable the service to start when the server boots.

Run these on Ubuntu

sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service
sudo systemctl start mariadb.service
sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

sudo mysql_secure_installation

When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

• Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter
• Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
• New password: Enter password
• Re-enter new password: Repeat password
• Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
• Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
• Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]:  Y
• Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

Restart MariaDB server

To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to log on to the MariaDB server.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, type the password you created above to sign on. If successful, you should see a MariaDB welcome message.

Install PHP 7.2-FPM and Related Modules.

PHP 7.2-FPM and its related modules are required for GLPI to run correctly on your server. You can install this specific version of PHP on Ubuntu by adding the required third-party software repository and updating your package list.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2-FPM

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2

sudo apt update

Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2-FPM and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.2-fpm php7.2-common php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-imap php7.2-ldap php-cas php7.2-bcmath php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip php7.2-sqlite3

After installing PHP 7.2-FPM, run the commands below to open Nginx's PHP default config file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/fpm/php.ini

Then, save the changes on the following lines below in the file. The value below is an ideal setting to apply in your environment.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
short_open_tag = On
memory_limit = 256M
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
max_input_vars = 1500
date.timezone = America/Chicago

After making the change above, please save the file and close it.

Create GLPI Database

Creating a dedicated database inside MariaDB gives GLPI a place to store its data. You can set up this database and a connected user account by logging into the MariaDB command line using your root password and running the setup commands.

To do that, run the commands below to log on to MariaDB. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called glpi

CREATE DATABASE glpi;

Create a database user called glpiuser with a new password

CREATE USER 'glpiuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Next, grant the user full access to the glpiuser database.

GRANT ALL ON glpi.* TO 'glpiuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download GLPI's Latest Release

Downloading the latest release of GLPI directly from the official GitHub page gives you the newest features and bug fixes. You can use command-line tools like wget to download the compressed archive file into a temporary folder on your server.

You can use the commands below to download the current latest version. At the time of this writing, the current version is at 9.4.5.

cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/glpi-project/glpi/releases/download/9.4.5/glpi-9.4.5.tgz
tar -xvf glpi-9.4.5.tgz
sudo mv glpi /var/www/glpi

To do that, run the commands below:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/glpi/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/glpi/

Configure Nginx

Configuring Nginx allows your web browser to access the GLPI application. You can set this up by creating a new Nginx configuration file in the sites-available folder and adding your server settings and domain name.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/glpi

Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your domain name and directory root location.

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

    server_name  example.com www.example.com;
    root   /var/www/glpi;
    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 / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ index.php;;
      }

    location ~ .php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.2-fpm.sock;
         include fastcgi_params;
         fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
    }
}

Save the file and exit.

Enable the GLPI

After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.

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

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name or hostname. This is often localhost but can be a hostname or IP address. Your server admin or hosting company will have this information available.

http://example.com/

Select the language and continue.

After that, click Install to begin the installation.

Next, type in the server hostname, database user, and password.

Select the database you created earlier and continue

After a brief moment, the platform should be installed and ready to use.

Login and begin managing your platform.

Admin Username:  pi   Password:  glpi

Finally, run the commands below to delete the install directory.

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

Conclusion:

You have learned how to install the GLPI ITSM platform on Ubuntu with the Nginx HTTP server. If you find any errors above, please leave a comment below.

Thanks,

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