How to Install OpenCart on Ubuntu 22.04

OpenCart is a popular open-source and free to use content management system (CMS) designed for building online stores.

It offers a lot of plugins that help you to extend the platform’s functionality and includes features like user management, multi-store functionality, affiliates, discounts, multiple payment gateways, product reviews, and more.

In this tutorial, we will explain how to install and configure the OpenCart e-commerce platform on Ubuntu 22.04.

Step 1: Update Operating System

Update your Ubuntu 22.04 operating system to the latest version with the following command:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Apache webserver

The Apache HTTP Server is a free and open-source cross-platform web server. You can install it via apt package manager by executing the following command.

$ sudo apt install apache2

You can start the Apache service and configure it to run on startup by entering the following commands:

$ sudo systemctl start apache2
$ sudo systemctl enable apache2

Verify the status of the Apache service using systemctl status command:

$ sudo systemctl status apache2

Output:

● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running)
       Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
   Main PID: 2975 (apache2)
      Tasks: 55 (limit: 2200)
     Memory: 4.8M
        CPU: 137ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
             ├─2975 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             ├─2977 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             └─2978 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start

Step 3: Install PHP

To install PHP and additional PHP modules to support OpenCart, run the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install php php-cli libapache2-mod-php php-common php-mbstring php-gd php-intl php-xml php-mysql php-zip php-curl php-xmlrpc

Verify if PHP is installed.

php -v

Output:
PHP 8.1.2 (cli) (built: Jun 13 2022 13:52:54) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.2, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
with Zend OPcache v8.1.2, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Step 4: Install MariaDB and create a database

MariaDB is a free and opensource database engine that is flexible, robust and easy-to-use. To install MariaDB run the following command:

$ sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

Verify the status of the MariaDB service using systemctl status command:

$ sudo systemctl status mariadb

Output:

● mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.6.7 database server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running)
       Docs: man:mariadbd(8)
             https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/systemd/
    Process: 26067 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/install -m 755 -o mysql -g root -d /var/run/mysqld (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 26069 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c systemctl unset-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 26072 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c [ ! -e /usr/bin/galera_recovery ] && VAR= ||   VAR=`cd /usr/bin/..; /usr/bin/galera_recovery`; [ $? -eq 0 ]   && >
    Process: 26149 ExecStartPost=/bin/sh -c systemctl unset-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 26151 ExecStartPost=/etc/mysql/debian-start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 26109 (mariadbd)
     Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..."
      Tasks: 7 (limit: 2200)
     Memory: 61.3M
        CPU: 2.585s
     CGroup: /system.slice/mariadb.service
             └─26109 /usr/sbin/mariadbd

By default, MariaDB is not hardened. You can secure MariaDB using the mysql_secure_installation script.

$ sudo mysql_secure_installation

Configure it like this:

- Set root password? [Y/n] Y
- 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

Now run the command below to log in to the MariaDB shell.

$ sudo mysql -u root -p

Once you are logged in to your database server you need to create a database for the OpenCart installation:

MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE opencart;
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER 'opencart'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'Your-Strong-Password';
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON opencart . * TO 'opencart'@'localhost';
MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB [(none)]> exit;

Step 5: Download OpenCart

You can download the latest version of OpenCart from the Git repository using the following command:

$ sudo wget https://github.com/opencart/opencart/releases/download/4.0.0.0/opencart-4.0.0.0.zip

Then extract file into the folder /var/www/html/opencart/ with the following command:

$ sudo apt -y install unzip 
$ sudo unzip opencart-4.0.0.0.zip -d /var/www/html/opencart/

Copy OpenCart configuration files:

$ sudo cp /var/www/html/opencart/upload/{config-dist.php,config.php}

$ sudo cp /var/www/html/opencart/upload/admin/{config-dist.php,config.php}

Enable permission for the Apache webserver user to access the files:

$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/opencart/

Step 6: Create Virtualhost for Opencart

Then, create an virtual host configuration file to host OpenCart:

$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/opencart.conf

Paste the content as shown below:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@your-domain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/opencart/upload/
    ServerName your-domain.com
    ServerAlias www.your-domain.com

    <Directory /var/www/html/opencart/upload/>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/your-domain.com-error_log
    CustomLog /var/log/apache2/your-domain.com-access_log common
</VirtualHost>

Remember to replace your-domain.com with the domain name of your server.

Save and exit the configuration file.

To enable this site run the command:

$ sudo a2ensite opencart.conf

To implement the changes, restart Apache webserver:

$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 7: Access OpenCart Web Interface

To access the OpenCart Web Interface, go to your browser and visit http://your-domain.com/.

The first page displays the license agreement. Scroll down and click Continue.

Make sure all the required PHP extensions are installed then click on the Continue button.

The next page will require you to fill in the database details. Enter the details you defined in the MariaDB database and click Continue.

Once the installation has been completed, you should see the following page:

Then if you click on the Go to your Online Shop you should see your shop page:

Or if you click on the Login to your Administration button you should see the login page:

Provide your admin username, password and click on the Login button. You should see your administration panel:

Now, open your terminal and remove the installation directory with the following command:

$ sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/opencart/upload/install/

Comments and Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed OpenCart. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the OpenCart on Ubuntu 22.04 OS. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you to check the official OpenCart website.