Install SuiteCRM on Ubuntu 17.04 | 17.10 with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP

SuiteCRM is an open source alternative to the popular customer relationship management (CRM) software, SugarCRM. SuiteCRM became popular when SugarCRM decided to stop development of its opensource version of their popular application.

Now, SuiteCRM continues to innovate and extend its software. and if you’re looking for a functional, high performance CRM platform to interact with your customers, you’ll find it in SuiteCRM. This brief tutorial is going to show you how to install SuiteCRM on Ubuntu with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP support.

This post covers installing the latest version of SuiteCRM, which at the time of writing was at version 7.9.6.

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

Step 1: Install Apache2

SuiteCRM requires a webserver to function and the most popular webserver in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt-get 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

SuiteCRM also requires a database server to function. 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, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots.

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.

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 mariadb.service

Step 3: Install PHP and Related Modules

SuiteCRM also requires PHP to function. To install PHP and related modules run the commands below

sudo apt-get install php php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-soap php-gd php-xml php-intl php-mysql php-cli php-mcrypt php-ldap php-zip php-curl

Open PHP default configuration file and make the below changes.

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

Then edit the below lines to look like this and save the file.

upload_max_filesize = 100
cgi.fix_pathinfo=0
session.save_path = "/var/lib/php/session"

Step 4: Create SuiteCRM 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 SuiteCRM 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 suitecrm

CREATE DATABASE suitecrm;

Create a database user called magentouser with new password

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

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON suitecrm.* TO 'suitecrmuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Download SuiteCRM Latest Release

Next, visit SuiteCRM site and register for a free account. You must register before you’re allowed to download a copy. The community edition is what you’ll want to download.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Apache2 root directory.

sudo apt-get install git
cd /tmp && git clone https://github.com/salesagility/SuiteCRM.git suitecrm
sudo mv suitecrm /var/www/html/suitecrm/

Change or modify the directory permission to fit Apache2 configuration.

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

Step 6: Configure Apache2

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

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/suitecrm.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@mysuitecrm.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/suitecrm/
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/html/suitecrm/>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Order allow,deny
        allow from all
     </Directory>

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

Save the file and exit.

Step 7: Enable the SuiteCRM and Rewrite Module

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

sudo a2ensite suitecrm.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. You should see SuiteCRM setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.

Then enter the database information as well as the site administrator login credentials.

Wait and SuiteCRM should install successfully. Login and begin using your program.

Enjoy!

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