Install Akeneo PIM on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 / 18.04 with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 Support

If you’re looking for an open source, enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) platform for your business, Akeneo PIM is a good place to start… this open source platform based on the Symfony2 framework , and is highly customizable….

Akeneo PIM platform is designed for ease of use to allow enterprises and business owners to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with customers and partners acrose multiple devices, including mobile…

When looking for an open source, highly extensible PIM platform for your business, you’ll find Akeneo to be useful. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install Akeneo on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.1 support.

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

Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server

Akeneo needs a web server… and the most popular webserver 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 disable 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 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

Step 2: Install MariaDB Database Server

Akeneo also needs 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 be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB service to always 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 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

sudo systemctl restart mysql.service

Step 3: Install PHP and Related Modules

PHP 7.1 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories… in order 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 7.1

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

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt install php7.1 libapache2-mod-php7.1 php7.1-apcu php7.1-bcmath php7.1-common php7.1-mbstring php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-intl php7.1-mysql php7.1-cli php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-ldap php7.1-zip php7.1-curl

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

sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini

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

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 30
max_input_vars = 1500
date.timezone = America/Chicago

Step 4: Create Akeneo Database

Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a blank Akeneo database.

To logon to MariaDB database server, run the commands below

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called akeneo

CREATE DATABASE akeneo;

Create a database user called akeneouser with new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON akeneo.* TO 'akeneouser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Download AkeneoLatest Release

Next, visit Akeneo site and download the latest version.

• For Community Edition, replace pim-community-standard-v2.2-latest-icecat.tar.gz by the location and the name of the archive you have downloaded from https://www.akeneo.com/download
• For Enterprise Edition, replace pim-community-standard-v2.2-latest-icecat.tar.gz by the location and the name of the archive you have downloaded from Partner portal

You can also run the commands below to download and extract the file into Akeneo root directory.

cd /tmp && wget wget http://download.akeneo.com/pim-community-standard-v2.2-latest-icecat.tar.gz
sudo tar -xvzf pim-community-standard-v2.2-latest-icecat.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/akeneo

Step 6: Intialize Akeneo

After extracting the file, change into the Akeneo directory and run the commands below

cd /var/www/html/akeneo/pim-community-standard
sudo php -d memory_limit=3G ../composer.phar install --optimize-autoloader --prefer-dist
sudo php bin/console cache:clear --no-warmup --env=prod
sudo php bin/console pim:installer:assets --symlink --clean --env=prod

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

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

Step 7: Configure Apache2

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

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

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

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin admin@example.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/akeneo/pim-community-standard/web
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/akeneo/pim-community-standard/web/>
        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.

Step 8: Enable the Akeneo and Rewrite Module

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

sudo a2ensite akeneo.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Step 9: Restart Apache2

To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below.

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name followed by install. You should see Akeneo setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com

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

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