Let’s look at how to Install vTiger CRM on CentOS 8 Linux distribution. Vtiger is an open source CRM which includes inventory, email, project management, and other tools that provides a complete business management suite. This will ensure you offer premium support, sales management and for marketing teams to work smoothly to boost business growth and improve customer delight.
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 CentOS 8 will require Apache web server, PHP, and MariaDB database server. Here are the steps to get you started.
Step 1: Install PHP on CentOS 8
Install PHP and its extensions by running the commands below on your terminal:
sudo dnf -y install yum-utils
sudo dnf -y install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm
sudo dnf -y install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm
sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module -y install php:remi-7.4
sudo yum -y install vim php php-{pear,cli,cgi,common,curl,mbstring,gd,mysqlnd,gettext,bcmath,json,xml,fpm,intl,zip,imap,ldap,soap,xmlrpc}
Configure PHP settings like below:
sudo vim /etc/php.iniSet:
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 by using the guide below:
Set SQL Mode
$ sudo vim /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf
[mysqld]
sql_mode = ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTIONRestart mysql service
sudo systemctl restart mariadbAfter the database server is installed, login to MySQL shell as root user and create a Database for vTiger CRM.
Login to the MariaDB shell:
mysql -u root -p
Create a database and user for vTiger CRM:
CREATE USER 'vtiger'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword'; CREATE DATABASE vtiger CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci; 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'StrongPassword'; Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g. Your MariaDB connection id is 16 Server version: 10.8.6-MariaDB MariaDB Server 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 (0.000 sec) MariaDB [(none)]> QUIT Bye
Step 3: Download Vtiger on CentOS 8 Linux
The next step is to download the latest Vtiger latest version to your CentOS 8 system using the wgetcommand:
sudo dnf -y install wget
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/vtigercrm/files/vtiger%20CRM%207.2.0/Core%20Product/vtigercrm7.2.0.tar.gzExtract the archive to get the files:
tar xvf vtigercrm7.2.0.tar.gzInstall Apache httpd server:
sudo dnf -y install httpdMove vtigercrm folder and its contents to /var/www/html.
sudo mv vtigercrm /var/www/html/Step 4: Configure Apache
Then set proper directory permissions.
sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/vtigercrmThen create a Virtual Host file for vTiger:
sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf.d/vtigercrm.confAdd data:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin [email protected]
ServerName crm.example.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/vtigercrm/
<Directory /var/www/html/vtigercrm/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/vtigercrm_error.log
CustomLog /var/log/httpd/vtigercrm_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>Where:
- [email protected] is the server admin email address
- example.com and www.example.com are valid DNS names for Vtiger CRM
Verify file syntax:
$ sudo apachectl -t Syntax OK
Restart httpd service:
sudo systemctl restart httpdOpen http port in the firewall.
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reloadPut SELinux in permissive mode.
sudo setenforce 0
sudo sed -i 's/^SELINUX=.*/SELINUX=permissive/g' /etc/selinux/configFinish 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.
You should be able to check the setup progress.
Use the credentials provided during installation to login.
Finish the installation and login to the dashboard to start administering vTiger CRM. Check the official vTiger documentation for comprehensive usage guide.
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