Install MarketplaceKit eCommerce Platform on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2

MarketplaceKit is an eCommerce platform built on Laravel Framework that makes it super easy to develop different types marketplaces on your own servers to sell your products, bookings, rent spaces online and many more.

You can build your own AirBnB, eBay, Etsy or whatever you want with MarketplaceKit!

If you want an open source eCommerce platform that is scalable and performs at a high level, then MarketplaceKit is a good place to start… MarketplaceKit is built on an open source core with support for open standards, which might be very useful in helping you run your digital content…

With it high-quality Progressive Web App features, you will delight your users and customers, improving engagement thus increasing conversions.

This eCommerce platform is designed for ease of use to allow enterprises and business owners to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with users across multiple devices, including mobile…

For more about MarketplaceKit, please check their Homepage

Some features of this platform includes:

• Powerful search across multiple fields, geolocation and custom fields
• Geolocalization for users and listings
• Frontend listing creation and browsing
• User profiles
• Direct messaging between users
• Multilingual functionality

When you’re ready, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use today. since MarketplaceKit needs it go and install it on Ubuntu.

To install Apache2 HTTP on 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 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 test Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

http://localhost

Step 2: Install MySQL Database Server

MySQL database server is a great place to start when looking at open source database servers to use with MarketplaceKit. To install MySQL run the commands below.

sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client

After installing MySQL, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MySQL service to always start up when the server boots.

Run these on Ubuntu

sudo systemctl stop mysql.service
sudo systemctl start mysql.service
sudo systemctl enable mysql.service

After that, run the commands below to secure MySQL 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 MySQL server

To test if MySQL is installed, type the commands below to logon to MySQL server

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then type the password you created above to sign on. if successful, you should see MySQL welcome message

Step 3: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules

PHP 7.2 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 7.2

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-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-pgsql php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-imagick redis php7.2-bcmath php7.2-gmp php7.2-redis php7.2-zip

After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default config file for Apache2.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini

Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below are great settings to apply in your environments.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
short_open_tag = On
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = America/Chicago

After making the change above, save the file and close out.

To restart Apache2, run the commands below

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in 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 PHP default test page.

Step 4: Create MarketplaceKit Database

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

To logon to MySQL database server, run the commands below.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called marketplacekit

CREATE DATABASE marketplacekit;

Create a database user called marketplacekituser with new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON marketplacekit.* TO 'marketplacekituser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Download and Install MarketplaceKit

To get MarketplaceKit latest release you may want to use Github repository… Install Composer, Curl, Node.js and other dependencies to get started…

sudo apt install curl git nodejs npm
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

After installing curl and Composer above, change into Nginx document root. download and extract, then move MarketplaceKit content to Apache2 root directory… then install from there.

After that, use composer to install its dependencies.

cd /var/www/
sudo composer create-project marketplacekit/marketplacekit:dev-master marketplacekit

Next, add the database details in the .env file.

sudo nano /var/www/marketplacekit/.env

Then copy and paste the lines below into the file and save.

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=marketplacekit
DB_USERNAME=marketplacekituser
DB_PASSWORD=password_here

Next, run the commands below to install php requirements for MarketplaceKit.

cd /var/www/marketplacekit
sudo php artisan storage:link
sudo php artisan migrate
sudo php artisan db:seed
sudo composer install
sudo npm install

Next, run the commands below to change the root folder permissions.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/marketplacekit/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/marketplacekit/

Step 6: Configure MarketplaceKit Site

Next, configure Apache2 configuration file for MarketplaceKit . This file will control how users access MarketplaceKit content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called marketplacekit.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/marketplacekit.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/marketplacekit/public
     ServerName example.com

     <Directory /var/www/marketplacekit/public/>
          Options FollowSymlinks
          AllowOverride All
          Require all granted
     </Directory>

     ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

     <Directory /var/www/marketplacekit/public/>
      Options +FollowSymLinks
      RewriteEngine On
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
      RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
     </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Save the file and exit.

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

Step 7: Enable the MarketplaceKit Site and Rewrite Module

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below, then restart Apache2 server.

sudo a2ensite marketplacekit.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Next, open your browser and go to the URL. and continue with the installation.

http://example.com

You should see MarketplaceKit Home page.

Visit your domain login and change the default password

Default username: admin
Default password: changeme

Congratulations! you have learned how to install MarketplaceKit Ticketing Platform on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 LTS

Enjoy!

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