How to Setup Dolibarr with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

This article describes the steps to install Dolibarr ERP and CRM platform on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

Dolibarr is an open-source, all-in-one ERP and CRM platform for businesses and individuals to manage their customers, invoices, orders, products, inventories, etc. It also includes human resources and accounting components to help manage the business employees and finances.

Dolibarr ERP / CRM platform was designed to work great with the Apache2 HTTP server. However, if you prefer an Nginx web server, the steps below show you how to install Dolibarr with Nginx HTTP support.

Dolibarr allows enterprises and business owners to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with customers throughout the process.

For more about Dolibarr, please check out this page.

How to install Dolibarr ERP and CRM on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support

As described above, Dolibarr is an open-source, all-in-one ERP and CRM platform for businesses and individuals to manage their customers, invoices, orders, products, inventories, etc.

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

Install Nginx HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Nginx HTTP Server is the second most popular web server in use. Install it since Dolibarr needs it.

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 test the Nginx setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address, and you should see the Nginx default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Nginx is working as expected.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB Database Server

MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers for Magento. To install MariaDB 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): 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

Type the commands below to log into the MariaDB server to test if MariaDB is installed.

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 7.1-FPM and Related Modules

PHP 7.1 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories for your system. So you will have to get it from third-party repositories to install it.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.1-FPM

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

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1-FPM

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt install php7.1-fpm php7.1-common php7.1-curl php7.1-intl php7.1-mbstring php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-json php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-mysql php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-cli php7.1-zip

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

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/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
memory_limit = 512M
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

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

After installing PHP and related modules, you must restart Nginx to reload PHP configurations.

To restart Nginx, run the commands below

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Create Dolibarr 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 Dolibarr 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 dolibarr

CREATE DATABASE dolibarr;

Create a database user called dolibarruser with a new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON dolibarr.* TO 'dolibarruser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download Dolibarr Latest Release

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

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

cd /tmp && wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/dolibarr/files/Dolibarr%20ERP-CRM/7.0.2/dolibarr-7.0.2.zip
unzip dolibarr-7.0.2.zip
sudo mv dolibarr-7.0.2 /var/www/html/dolibarr

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

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

Configure Nginx

Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for Dolibarr. This file will control how users access Dolibarr’s content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called dolibarr

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

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;
    root /var/www/html/dolibarr/htdocs;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  example.com www.example.com;

    client_max_body_size 100M;

    location ~ ^/api/(?!(index\.php))(.*) {
          try_files $uri /api/index.php/$2?$query_string;
      }

    location ~ [^/]\.php(/|$) {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    if (!-f $document_root$fastcgi_script_name) {
        return 404;
    }
    fastcgi_pass           unix:/var/run/php/php7.1-fpm.sock;
    fastcgi_param   SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
     }

}

Save the file and exit.

Enable the Dolibarr

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

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

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

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

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