How To Install vTiger CRM on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04

Let’s look at how to Install vTiger CRM on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04 LTS. Vtiger is an open source CRM that enables support, sales, marketing teams to collaborate and organize to boost business growth and improve customer delight.

Vtiger CRM also includes inventory, email, project management, and other tools, providing a complete business management suite.

Features of vTiger CRM

Some top features of vTiger CRM include but not limited to:

• Support automation using a customer portal and support tickets
• Has a role-based access control
• Provides End to end sales cycle management from campaigns, leads, potentials, quotes, invoices.
• Gives you Outlook, Thunderbird, Firefox, & Gmail plugins
• Workflows, tasks, and project management
• Support Data import & export via CSV files, web-to-lead forms, reports & customizable user dashboards

Our installation of vTiger CRM on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04 LTS will require Apache web server, PHP,  and MariaDB database server. Here are the steps to get you started.

Step 1: Install PHP on Ubuntu

Install PHP and its extensions by running the commands below on your terminal:

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

Also install libapache2-mod-php extension

sudo apt install -y apache2 libapache2-mod-php

Configure PHP settings like below

sudo vim /etc/php/*/apache2/php.ini

Set PHP parameters:

date.timezone = Africa/Nairobi
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 64M
display_errors = On
log_errors = Off

Step 2: Install MariaDB and Create Database

vTiger CRM needs a database store for its data. Install MariaDB server using the commands below:

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After the database server is installed, login to MySQL shell as root user and create a Database for vTiger CRM.

Login to the MariaDB shell:

$ sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a database and user for vTiger CRM:

CREATE USER 'vtiger'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword';
CREATE DATABASE vtiger;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON vtiger.* TO 'vtiger'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
QUIT

Check if you can log in to Database shell as vtiger user:

$ mysql -u vtiger -p
Enter password: 
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 42
Server version: 10.3.34-MariaDB-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 Ubuntu 18.04

Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

MariaDB [(none)]> SHOW DATABASES;
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| vtiger             |
+--------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Step 3: Download Vtiger on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04

The next step is to download the latest Vtiger latest version to your Ubuntu20.04|18.04 system using the wgetcommand:

wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/vtigercrm/files/vtiger%20CRM%207.4.0/Core%20Product/vtigercrm7.4.0.tar.gz

Extract the archive to get the files

tar xvf vtigercrm7.4.0.tar.gz

Move  vtigercrm folder and its contents to /srv/vtigercrm

sudo mv vtigercrm /srv/vtigercrm

Step 4: Install and Configure Apache2

Install Apache2 using:

sudo apt -y install apache2
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Then set proper directory permissions.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /srv/vtigercrm

Then create a Virtual Host file for vTiger

sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/vtigercrm.conf

Add data:

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin [email protected]
     ServerName crm.example.com
     ServerAlias www.crm.example.com
     DocumentRoot /srv/vtigercrm/

     <Directory /srv/vtigercrm/>
        Options +FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
     </Directory>

     ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/vtigercrm_error.log
     CustomLog /var/log/apache2/vtigercrm_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Verify file syntax:

$ sudo apachectl -t
Syntax OK

Restart apache2 service

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Finish the installation by opening http://crm.example.com in your browser.

The first page to show up will be Installation Wizard.

Accept the License Agreement by click “I Agree”

Confirm all Installation prerequisites checks the click Next button.

Under System Configuration:

1. Provide Database and System Information.

• Database Type: MySQL
• Host Name: localhost
• User Name: vtiger
• Password: StrongPassword
• Database Name: vtiger

2. Provide System Information

• Provide admin user Password
• Provide the Last Name
• Provide an Email address for the admin user
• Set Date format and Timezone

Confirm settings then click Next

Set your Industry type and finish the installation.

Finish the installation and login to the dashboard to start administering vTiger CRM. Thanks for using our guide to install vTiger CRM on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04 LTS.