This tutorial walks through how to install the open-source Snipe-IT Asset Management platform on Ubuntu 18.04|16.04, using an Apache2 HTTP server. Detailed instructions cover installing Apache2 HTTP, MariaDB database server, PHP 7.2, and Snipe-IT components. It also covers creating and setting up the Snipe-IT database, configuring Apache2 and Snipe-IT settings, and then running the Snipe-IT installation wizard to begin managing IT assets.
This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install the Snipe-IT Asset Management platform on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with an Apache2 HTTP server.
Snipe-IT is a free, open-source IT asset management system written in PHP.
With Snipe-IT, you can easily manage your IT assets with its user-friendly portal, including managing users and security roles.
Whether you’re creating a personal or company asset management platform, Snipe-IT can help you build and manage your content on every device with its intuitive and powerful user and admin dashboard…
For more on Snipe-IT, please visit its home page
To get started with installing Snipe-IT, follow the steps below:
Install Apache2 HTTP
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server, so install it since Snipe-IT needs it.
To install Apache2 HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below.
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used 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
To determine if the Apache2 HTTP server is installed, simply open your web browser and type in the server’s IP or hostname.
When you see a page similar to the one below, Apache2 is installed and working.
http://localhost

Install MariaDB Database Server
Snipe-IT also needs a database server to store its content. And MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers with Snipe-IT.
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 MariaDB service to start up when the server boots.
Run these on Ubuntu
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): 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 MariaDB welcome message.
Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
PHP 7.2 may not be available in 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
Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 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-bcmath php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip php7.2-sqlite
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open the PHP default config file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/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 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.
To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in the Apache2 root directory by running the commands below
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Save the file. Then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php
http://localhost/phpinfo.php
You should see the PHP default test page.

Create Snipe-IT Database
Now that you’ve installed all the required packages, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, create a Snipe-IT database.
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 snipeit
CREATE DATABASE snipeit;
Create a database user called snipeituser with a new password
CREATE USER 'snipeituser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the snippet database.
GRANT ALL ON snipeit.* TO 'snipeituser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Download Snipe-IT Latest Release
You may want to use the GitHub repository to get Snipe-IT’s latest release. Install Composer, Curl, and other dependencies to get started.
sudo apt install curl git curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Apache2 root directory and download Snipe-IT packages from Github.
cd /var/www/ sudo git clone https://github.com/snipe/snipe-it snipeit sudo cp /var/www/snipeit/.env.example /var/www/snipeit/.env
Next, edit the .env file created above and make the highlighted changes to suit your environment.
sudo nano /var/www/snipeit/.env
Make the highlighted changes.
# -------------------------------------------- # REQUIRED: BASIC APP SETTINGS # -------------------------------------------- APP_ENV=production APP_DEBUG=false APP_KEY=ChangeMe APP_URL=example.com APP_TIMEZONE='UTC' APP_LOCALE=en MAX_RESULTS=500 # -------------------------------------------- # REQUIRED: DATABASE SETTINGS # -------------------------------------------- DB_CONNECTION=mysql DB_HOST=127.0.0.1 DB_DATABASE=snipeit DB_USERNAME=snipeituser DB_PASSWORD=type_password_here DB_PREFIX=null DB_DUMP_PATH='/usr/bin' DB_CHARSET=utf8mb4 DB_COLLATION=utf8mb4_unicode_ci # -------------------------------------------- # OPTIONAL: SSL DATABASE SETTINGS
Save the file and exit.
Next, return to the Snipe-IT root directory and update all packages via Composer.
cd /var/www/snipeit sudo composer install --no-dev --prefer-source
From the Snipe-IT directory, run the commands below:
sudo php artisan key:generate
It should prompt and show you an application key.
**************************************
* Application In Production! *
**************************************
Do you really wish to run this command? (yes/no) [no]:
> yes
Application key [base64:6KnX/HGkNNcUGw2uucxBKT8+OwQ58yBp7vfa7sfwpDg=] set successfully.
Since you just ran the web server as root, you should ensure the www-data user and group own any newly created files.
To do that, run the commands below:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/snipeit/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/snipeit/
Configure Apache2
Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for Snipe-IT. This file will control how users access Snipe-IT content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called snipeit.conf.
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/snipeit.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/snipeit/public ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com <Directory /var/www/snipeit/public/> 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 Snipe-IT and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, please enable it by running the commands below.
sudo a2ensite snipeit.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo systemctl restart apache2.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/
Continue with the installation wizard, validate that all requirements are met, and continue.

Next, create a system admin account to manage the platform.

After installing, log in and start to begin managing your IT assets.

Conclusion:
You have learned how to install Snipe-IT on Ubuntu with an Apache2 HTTP server. If you find any errors above, please leave a comment below.
Thanks,
Hi,,
After following all the instructions and without error, I cannot get to open the Setup Page.It says “Not Found. The requested URL was not found on this server. ”
any missing Command or wrong configuration?
thank you.
I got the same thing. Working on a solution.
any solution? I got the same thing
The workaround that did the trick for me was editing the default apache conf files (000-default.conf and default-ssl.conf) and adding the following:
AllowOverride All
Reason being that went testing .htaccess (putting in junk) did not cause a website crash so that meant it wasn’t even being read. I also changed the DocumentRoot in both to reflect the snipeit path.
Now everything works.
After the command “sudo a2ensite snipeit.conf”
Add a command “sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf” to disable the dafault page of apache.
Couldn’t get the key generate when running sudo php artisan key:generate, i check the openssl is already install on php. So not sure what else is missing. It doesnt have the vendor folder and it just say failed to open stream.
When I reached the part “sudo composer install –no-dev –prefer-source” I got the below error.
[sudo] password for snipeit:
Do not run Composer as root/super user! See https://getcomposer.org/root for details
Continue as root/super user [yes]?
Installing dependencies from lock file
Verifying lock file contents can be installed on current platform.
Warning: The lock file is not up to date with the latest changes in composer.json. You may be getting outdated dependencies. It is recommended that you run `composer update` or `composer update `.
Your lock file does not contain a compatible set of packages. Please run composer update.
Problem 1
– adldap2/adldap2 is locked to version v10.3.1 and an update of this package was not requested.
– adldap2/adldap2 v10.3.1 requires ext-ldap * -> it is missing from your system. Install or enable PHP’s ldap extension.
To enable extensions, verify that they are enabled in your .ini files:
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/php.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/10-mysqlnd.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/10-opcache.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/10-pdo.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/15-xml.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-bcmath.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-calendar.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-ctype.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-curl.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-dom.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-exif.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-ffi.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-fileinfo.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-ftp.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-gd.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-gettext.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-gmp.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-iconv.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-intl.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-json.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-mbstring.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-mysqli.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-pdo_mysql.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-phar.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-posix.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-readline.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-shmop.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-simplexml.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-sockets.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-sysvmsg.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-sysvsem.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-sysvshm.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-tokenizer.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-xmlreader.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-xmlrpc.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-xmlwriter.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-xsl.ini
– /etc/php/7.4/cli/conf.d/20-zip.ini
You can also run `php –ini` inside terminal to see which files are used by PHP in CLI mode.
You need to manually install the php-ldap version for your version of php, so it would be php7.4-ldap (sudo apt install php7.4-ldap)
Not Found
The requested URL was not found on this server.
Apache/2.4.29 (Ubuntu) Server at 18.218.104.250 Port 80