How to Install EspoCRM with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

This article describes the steps to install EspoCRM on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support.

EspoCRM is an open-source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform for businesses that want to manage customer relationships. 

It offers a CRM workflow engine and intuitive features and is easy to configure and set up.

People, companies, projects, or opportunities — all can be managed in an easy and intuitive interface.

To get started with installing EspoCRM, follow the steps below:

How to install EspoCRM on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support

As described above, EspoCRM is an open-source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform for businesses that want to manage customer relationships. 

Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

Install Apache2

EspoCRM requires a web server, and the most popular web server in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

After installing Apache2, run the commands below to turn off the directory listing.

sudo sed -i “s/Options Indexes FollowSymLinks/Options FollowSymLinks/” /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Next, run the commands below to stop, start and enable the Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop apache2.service
sudo systemctl start apache2.service
sudo systemctl enable apache2.service

Install MariaDB

EspoCRM also requires a database server. And MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it, run the commands below.

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

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

Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

sudo systemctl stop mysql.service
sudo systemctl start mysql.service
sudo systemctl enable mysql.service

Run these on Ubuntu 17.10 and 18.04 LTS

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

After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

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

• Enter current password for root (enter for none): 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

sudo systemctl restart mysql.service

Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

PHP 7.2 may not be available on Ubuntu default repositories… to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.

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

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

Run the commands below to install PHP 7.1 and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-imap php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-soap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-intl php7.2-mysql php7.2-cli php7.2-ldap php7.2-zip php7.2-curl

After installing PHP, run the commands below to open the Apache2 PHP default file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini

Then change to the following lines below in the file and save.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 20M
post_max_size = 20M
max_execution_time = 30
zend.assertions = 0
display_errors = Off
max_input_vars = 1500
date.timezone = America/Chicago

Create EspoCRM Database

Now that you’ve installed all the required packages, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create the EspoCRM database.

Run the commands below to log on to the database server. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called espocrm

CREATE DATABASE espocrm;

Create a database user called espocrmuser with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON espocrm.* TO 'espocrmuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download EspoCRM Latest Release

Next, visit the EspoCRM site and download the latest version.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into the Apache2 root directory.

cd /tmp && wget https://www.espocrm.com/downloads/EspoCRM-5.2.5.zip
unzip EspoCRM-5.2.5.zip
sudo mv EspoCRM-5.2.5 /var/www/html/espocrm

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Concrete5 to function.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/espocrm/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/espocrm/

Configure Apache2

Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for EspoCRM. This file will control how users access EspoCRM content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called espocrm. conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/espocrm.conf

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.

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin admin@example.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/espocrm/
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/espocrm/>
        Options +FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
     </Directory>

     ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Save the file and exit.

Enable the EspoCRM and Rewrite Module

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

sudo a2ensite espocrm.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Restart Apache2 by running the commands below to load all the settings above.

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name, followed by install. Finally, you should see the EspoCRM setup wizard complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com

Then follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully installed EspoCRM.

From here, you should confirm all required packages are installed. Setup the database connection info and install

If everything is entered correctly, you should have EspoCRM installed and ready to use.

Enjoy!