EPESI is an open source CRM platform for businesses to manage their CRM needs, including organizing, processing and storing information in every business. It offers CRM workflow engine and features that are intuitive and easy to configure and setup.
When looking for enterprise Customer Relationship Management platform for your business, EPESI CMS might a good place to start. this open source CRM software is built on the LAMP / LEMP stack and offer features that help you run your business and collaborate with your customers.
For an advanced CRM platform, you’ll find EPESI CMS to be useful. This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install EPESI CMS on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7.2 support.
To get started with installing EPESI CMS, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2
EPESI CMS needs a webserver. 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
EPESI CMS 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 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 7.2 and Related Modules
If PHP 7.2 isn’t available on Ubuntu default repositories… you’ll have to enable a third party repository to install it.
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-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 install PHP, run the commands below to open Apache2 PHP default file.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/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 = 64M max_execution_time = 30 display_errors = Off max_input_vars = 1500 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Step 4: Create EPESI CMS 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 EPESI CMS database.
Run the commands below to logon 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 epesicrm
CREATE DATABASE epesicrm;
Create a database user called epesicrmuser with new password
CREATE USER 'epesicrmuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON epesicrm.* TO 'epesicrmuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download EPESI CMS Latest Release
Next, visit EPESI CMS site and download the latest version.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Apache2 root directory.
cd /tmp && wget https://github.com/Telaxus/EPESI/releases/download/v1.8.2/epesi-1.8.2-20170430.zip unzip epesi-1.8.2-20170430.zip sudo mv epesi-1.8.2-20170430/ /var/www/html/epesicrm
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Concrete5 to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/epesicrm/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/epesicrm/
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure Apahce2 site configuration file for EPESI CMS. This file will control how users access EPESI CMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called epesicrm.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/epesicrm.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/epesicrm/
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/epesicrm/>
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 7: Enable the EPESI CMS and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite epesicrm.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
Step 8 : 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 EPESI CMS setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.
Then follow the on-screen instructions until you’ve successfully installed EPESI CMS. Create an admin account, type in the database connection you created above and click Install
Type the database info and create an admin account for the portal. and continue until you’ve successfully installed the application.
Enjoy!
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