How to Install Vtiger CRM on Ubuntu 22.04

Vtiger CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software that helps businesses manage their sales, marketing, and customer support activities. It offers a range of features such as lead management, contact management, sales forecasting, email marketing, and customer support ticketing.

Vtiger CRM is designed to be highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor the software to their specific needs. It also integrates with a variety of third-party applications, including Google Apps, Office 365, and Zapier, making it easy to sync data between different systems.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Vtiger CRM on Ubuntu 22.04.

Step 1: Update Operating System

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

# apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Apache webserver

You can install it via apt package manager with the following command.

# apt install apache2

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

# 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: 14406 (apache2)
      Tasks: 55 (limit: 2193)
     Memory: 4.8M
        CPU: 29ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
             ├─14406 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             ├─14408 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             └─14409 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start

Step 3: Install PHP and PHP extensions

By default, PHP 8.1 is included in the Ubuntu 22.04 default repository. You can install PHP 8.1 using the following command:

# apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php php-{cli,common,curl,zip,gd,mysql,xml,mbstring,json,intl,imap}

Verify if PHP is installed.

# php -v

Output:
PHP 8.1.2-1ubuntu2.11 (cli) (built: Feb 22 2023 22:56:18) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.2, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.1.2-1ubuntu2.11, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Update php.ini file

Now it’s time to increase values in the php.ini file.

Open php.ini file:

# nano /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini

Change the following data:

memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 128M
display_errors = Off
log_errors = Off
short_open_tag = Off
max_execution_time = 60
date.timezone = America/Chichago

Then save this php.ini file.

After that, you should restart apache2 for the configuration to take effect:

# systemctl restart apache2

Step 4: Install MariaDB and create a database

To install MariaDB run the following command:

# apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

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

# systemctl status mariadb

Output:

● mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.6.12 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: 58518 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/install -m 755 -o mysql -g root -d /var/run/mysqld (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 58519 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c systemctl unset-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 58521 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c [ ! -e /usr/bin/galera_recovery ] && VAR= ||   VAR=`cd /usr/bin/..; /usr/bin/galera_recovery`; [ $? -eq 0 ]   && >
    Process: 58560 ExecStartPost=/bin/sh -c systemctl unset-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 58562 ExecStartPost=/etc/mysql/debian-start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 58550 (mariadbd)
     Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..."
      Tasks: 9 (limit: 3623)
     Memory: 60.8M
        CPU: 1.720s
     CGroup: /system.slice/mariadb.service
             └─58550 /usr/sbin/mariadbd

Now Setup sql_mode:

# nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf

Insert below line under [mysqld] section.

sql_mode = ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION

Then restart the MariaDB server.

# systemctl restart mariadb

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

# 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.

# mysql -u root -p

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

MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE vtigercrm;
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER 'vtigercrm'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'Str0ngPassf1';
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON vtigercrm. * TO 'vtigercrm'@'localhost';
MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB [(none)]> exit;

Step 5: Install Vtiger CRM

The latest version of Vtiger CRM is available to download from their website. You can download it with the following command:

# cd /var/www/
# wget https://tenet.dl.sourceforge.net/project/vtigercrm/vtiger%20CRM%207.5.0/Core%20Product/vtigercrm7.5.0.tar.gz

Extract the file with the following command:

# tar -xzvf vtigercrm7.5.0.tar.gz

Change the ownership of the directory with the command:

# chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/vtigercrm/

Step 6: Configure Apache for Vtiger CRM

Navigate to /etc/apache2/sites-available directory and run the following command to create a configuration file for your Vtiger CRM installation:

# nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/vtigercrm.conf

Add the following content:

<VirtualHost *:80>

ServerName your-domain.com
ServerAlias www.your-domain.com

ServerAdmin [email protected]
DocumentRoot /var/www/vtigercrm

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

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/your-domain.com_error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/your-domain.com_access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Save the file and Exit.

Enable the Vtiger CRM virtual host:

# a2ensite vtigercrm.conf

Enable Apache rewrite mode.

# a2enmod rewrite

Restart the Apache web server.

# systemctl restart apache2

Step 7: Access your Vtiger CRM Application

Open your web browser and type the URL http://your-domain.com. You should see the following page:

Click Install button to go through the setup wizard.

Accept the License Agreement by click “I Agree”. You should see the following page:

Verify installation prerequisites ensure that all pre-reqs are met. Otherwise fix them and then click on the Next button.

Provide your database name, database username, password, admin username and password.

Then, click on the Next button. You should see the following page:

Review the system configuration settings and click Next button.

On the Next page, select your Industry and click Next to proceed with installation.

Once the installation is done, Select the modules for the Vtiger CRM features you would like to have.

Click Next and you should see the Vitager CRM dashboard:

You can now add more widgets to your dashboard.

Comments and Conclusion

That’s it. You have successfully installed Vtiger CRM on Ubuntu 22.04.

For additional help or useful information, we recommend you to check the official Vtiger CRM documentation.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below.