How to Install Snipe-IT with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

Install Apache HTTP

To install Apache HTTP on Ubuntu for your Snipe-IT setup, open your terminal and run the standard package manager commands. Apache is the web server software that serves your inventory pages to your browser. Run sudo apt update followed by sudo apt install apache2 to get the web server running on your server.

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 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, 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

To install MariaDB server on Ubuntu for your Snipe-IT database needs, run the package manager command in your terminal. MariaDB stores all your asset inventory data securely. Run sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client to install both the database server and the client tools on your machine.

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 and Related Modules

To install PHP 7.2 and the required modules on Ubuntu for Snipe-IT, you must add an external software repository to your system sources. Snipe-IT relies on this specific PHP version to process its application code correctly. Run the software-properties-common installation command and add the PHP repository using add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php.

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

To create a Snipe-IT database in MariaDB, log in to your database server terminal using your root credentials and run the SQL creation commands. This dedicated database holds all your hardware assets, licenses, and user information. Access the prompt with sudo mysql -u root -p and create the database named snipeit.

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

To download the latest Snipe-IT release on Ubuntu, install prerequisite tools like Curl and Git, then use Composer to fetch the application files directly from the official repository. This ensures your inventory system has the newest features and security fixes. Install the tools and download the package using your terminal.

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.

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 Apache

To configure Apache for Snipe-IT on Ubuntu, create a new virtual host file named snipeit.conf inside the Apache sites-available directory. This configuration file tells the web server how to direct visitors to your asset management site. Open the configuration file using sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/snipeit.conf and add your domain settings.

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,