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- 1. Linux Server Preparation
- 2. Install AtroCore (AtroPIM, AtroDAM, etc) Application
Apache Web Server Preparation
Nginx Web Server Preparation
Optional. Install the xattr extension for PHP

Installation

This Installation Guide is prepared for Ubuntu Operating System. Of course, you can use any unix-based system, but in this case you need to adopt this manual by youself. Before your start make sure your have a dedicated (virtual) server with root permission. On a usual hosting the system will not work!

1. Linux Server Preparation

This section will describe how to prepare server for an installation of AtroCore Application.

Apache web server preparation (RECOMMENDED)
Nginx web server preparation

2. Install AtroCore (AtroPIM, AtroDAM, etc) Application

This section describes how to install AtroCore Application on the prepared web server.

1. Create your project directory (if not exists yet)

if the directory already exists, remove everything inside the directory.

To create the directory, run the command:

mkdir /var/www/my-atrocore-project

my-atrocore-project – project name

2. Go inside of your project directory

cd /var/www/my-atrocore-project

3. Download project files

Git may be used for this step, so make sure that git is installed. Please note, it is still possible to install the application without having git (see 3.6).

It is essential, that you use the composer version, which is embedded in our software, because this version contains some of our modifications needed for backup and restoring of the system files and the database. That is why php composer.phar update is used. Please DO NOT use composer, which is installed on your server as it does not contain the required modifications.

3.1. If you want to install AtroPIM with demo data

Demo data can be installed only for MySQL database system.

run

git clone https://gitlab.atrocore.com/atrocore/skeleton-pim.git . && php composer.phar self-update && php composer.phar update

3.2. If want want to install the AtroPIM without demo data

run

git clone https://gitlab.atrocore.com/atrocore/skeleton-pim-no-demo.git . && php composer.phar self-update && php composer.phar update

3.4. If you want to install AtroCore only

run

git clone https://gitlab.atrocore.com/atrocore/skeleton-atrocore.git . && php composer.phar self-update && php composer.phar update

3.5. Installation without `git`

If you have no git installed you may still copy the files to the project folder manually.

You can download the files from one of this directory:

https://gitlab.atrocore.com/atrocore/skeleton-pim
https://gitlab.atrocore.com/atrocore/skeleton-pim-no-demo
https://gitlab.atrocore.com/atrocore/skeleton-atrocore

Than upload the files to your project folder and run

php composer.phar self-update && php composer.phar update

4. Change recursively the user and group ownership for your project files

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/my-atrocore-project/

Ubuntu and Debian use www-data as a standard user for the webserver. This can also be one of the following: www, apache2, psacln etc.

5. Change the permissions for project files

find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} + && find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +;

find client data upload -type d -exec chmod 775 {} + && find client data upload -type f -exec chmod 664 {} +

6. Configure the crontab

6.1. Open crontab for your webserver user, which is www-data in our case:

crontab -e -u www-data

6.2. Add the following configuration:

* * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/my-atrocore-project/index.php cron

Please consider that /usr/bin/php is the correct path to PHP in our case. You may have other path. "cron" is the required parameter and should be definitely included for appropriate functioning.

7. Create database and user

User must have all privileges for the database, which should be used for the AtroCore Application. You can create database and user with all privileges by executing next few commands:

PostgreSQL is recommended to use.

7.1. Create PostgreSQL database and user

-- Connect to PostgreSQL
sudo -u postgres psql

-- Create a new database
CREATE DATABASE your_database;

-- Create a new user
CREATE USER your_user WITH PASSWORD 'your_password';

-- Grant all privileges on the new database to the new user
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE your_database TO your_user;

-- Connect to the new database
\c your_database

-- Grant all privileges on the public schema to the new user
GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA public TO your_user;

7.2. Create MySQL database and user

-- Connect to MySQL
sudo mysql

-- Create a new database
CREATE DATABASE your_database;

-- Create a new user
CREATE USER 'your_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';

-- Grant all privileges on the new database to the new user
GRANT ALL ON your_database.* TO your_user@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;

8. Go to your Project URL to start the installation wizard

Start the installation wizard for your AtroCore Application in the web interface from your URL: http://YOUR_PROJECT/ . Follow the instructions in the wizard.

Apache Web Server Preparation

This guide describes how to prepare the web server for the installation of AtroCore Applications.

Installation guide is based on Ubuntu 22.04.

1. Installing Apache and Updating the Firewall

The Apache web server is among the most popular web servers in the world. It’s well documented, has an active community of users, and has been in wide use for much of the history of the web, which makes it a great default choice for hosting a web application.

Install Apache using Ubuntu’s package manager, apt:

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install apache2

Enable mod_rewrite:

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

If you have the ufw firewall enabled, you’ll need to adjust your firewall settings to allow HTTP traffic. UFW has different application profiles that you can leverage for accomplishing that. To list all currently available UFW application profiles, you can run:

sudo ufw app list

You’ll see output like this:

Available applications:
  Apache
  Apache Full
  Apache Secure
  OpenSSH

Here’s what each of these profiles mean:

Apache: This profile opens only port 80 (normal, unencrypted web traffic).
Apache Full: This profile opens both port 80 (normal, unencrypted web traffic) and port 443 (TLS/SSL encrypted traffic).
Apache Secure: This profile opens only port 443 (TLS/SSL encrypted traffic).

So, to allow traffic on port 80 and 443, use the Apache profile:

sudo ufw allow in "Apache Full"

Note: In case if you just enable firewall, don't forget to allow ssh connection, because it can be your last connection :)
sudo ufw allow in "OpenSSH"

You can verify the change with:

sudo ufw status

You’ll see output like this:

Status: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
Apache Full                ALLOW       Anywhere                  
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere                  
Apache Full (v6)           ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)             
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

Traffic on port 80 and 443 is now allowed through the firewall. You can do a spot check right away to verify that everything went as planned by visiting your server’s public IP address in your web browser:

http://your_server_ip

You’ll see the default Ubuntu 22.04 Apache web page. It should look something like this: apache_default

2. Installing Database

Now, after you have the web server up and running, you need to install the database system to be able to store and manage data for your web application. Please, install PostgreSQL or MySQL. PostgreSQL is recommended.

2.1. Installing PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is a popular database management system used within PHP environments.

Again, use apt to acquire and install this software:

sudo apt -y install postgresql postgresql-contrib

When you’re finished, test if you’re able to log in to the PosgreSQL console by typing:

sudo -u postgres psql

This will connect to the PosgreSQL server as the database user postgres. You should see output like this:

psql (14.11 (Ubuntu 14.11-0ubuntu0.22.04.1))
Type "help" for help.

postgres=#

To exit the PosgreSQL console, do:

Ctrl + D

2.2. Installing MySQL

MySQL is a popular database management system used within PHP environments.

Again, use apt to acquire and install this software:

sudo apt -y install mysql-server

When the installation is finished, it’s recommended that you run a security script that comes pre-installed with MySQL. This script will remove some insecure default settings and lock down access to your database system. Start the interactive script by running:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

This will ask if you want to configure the VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN.

Note: Enabling this feature is something of a judgment call. If enabled, passwords which don’t match the specified criteria will be rejected by MySQL with an error. It is safe to leave validation disabled, but you should always use strong, unique passwords for database credentials.

Answer Y for yes, or anything else to continue without enabling.

VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN can be used to test passwords
and improve security. It checks the strength of password
and allows the users to set only those passwords which are
secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD plugin?

Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No:

If you answer “yes”, you’ll be asked to select a level of password validation. Keep in mind that if you enter 2 for the strongest level, you will receive errors when attempting to set any password which does not contain numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and special characters, or which is based on common dictionary words.

Regardless of whether you chose to set up the VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN, your server will next ask you to select and confirm a password for the MySQL root user. This is not to be confused with the system root. The database root user is an administrative user with full privileges over the database system.

If you enabled password validation, you’ll be shown the password strength for the root password you just entered and your server will ask if you want to continue with that password. If you are happy with your current password, enter Y. For the rest of the questions, press Y and hit the ENTER key at each prompt.

When you’re finished, test if you’re able to log in to the MySQL console by typing:

sudo mysql

This will connect to the MySQL server as the administrative database user root, which is inferred by the use of sudo when running this command. You should see output like this:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 9
Server version: 8.0.25-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 (Ubuntu)

Copyright (c) 2000, 2021, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

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

mysql>

To exit the MySQL console, do:

Ctrl + D

3. Installing PHP

You have Apache installed to serve your content and MySQL installed to store and manage your data. PHP is the component of our setup that will process code to display dynamic content to the final user. In addition to the php package, you’ll need php-mysql, a PHP module that allows PHP to communicate with databases. You’ll also need libapache2-mod-php to enable Apache to handle PHP files and others required modules for AtroCore Application.

To install these packages, run:

sudo apt -y install php libapache2-mod-php php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-imagick

also, in case of postgresql, run:

sudo apt -y install php-pgsql

or, in case of mysql, run:

sudo apt -y install php-mysql

Once the installation is finished, you can run the following command to confirm your PHP version:

php -v

You should see output like this:

PHP 7.4.3 (cli) (built: Oct  6 2020 15:47:56) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v7.4.3, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

4. Configuring PHP

After PHP is installed, you need to configure it.

run for it:

sudo printf "post_max_size = 20M\nupload_max_filesize = 20M\nmax_execution_time = 180\nmax_input_time = 180\nmemory_limit = 256M" >> /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
sudo service apache2 restart

Note: If you are using a another version of PHP, provide the correct path to php.ini

5. Creating a Virtual Host for your Application

When using the Apache web server, you can create virtual hosts to encapsulate configuration details and host more than one domain from a single server. In this guide, we’ll set up a domain called your_domain, but you should replace this with your own domain name.

Apache on Ubuntu 20.04 has one server block enabled by default that is configured to serve documents from the /var/www/html directory. While this works well for a single site, it can become unwieldy if you are hosting multiple sites. Instead of modifying /var/www/html, we’ll create a directory structure within /var/www for the your_domain site, leaving /var/www/html in place as the default directory to be served if a client request doesn’t match any other sites.

Create the directory for your_domain as follows:

sudo mkdir /var/www/your_domain

Create an index.html file in that location so that we can test that the virtual host works as expected:

nano /var/www/your_domain/index.html

Include the following content in this file:

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Your website</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello World!</h1>
    <p>This is the landing page of <strong>your_domain</strong>.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Save and close the file when you’re done. If you’re using nano, you can do that by pressing CTRL+X, then Y and ENTER.

Next, assign ownership of the directory:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your_domain

Ubuntu and Debian use www-data as a standard user for the webserver. This can also be one of the following: www, apache2, psacln etc

Then, open a new configuration file in Apache’s sites-available directory using your preferred command-line editor. Here, we’ll use nano:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/your_domain.conf

This will create a new blank file. Paste in the following bare-bones configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your_domain
    ServerAlias www.your_domain
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/your_domain
    <Directory var/www/your_domain/>
    AllowOverride All
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Now use a2ensite to enable the new virtual host:

sudo a2ensite your_domain

You might want to disable the default website that comes installed with Apache. This is required if you’re not using a custom domain name, because in this case Apache’s default configuration would overwrite your virtual host. To disable Apache’s default website, type:

sudo a2dissite 000-default

To make sure your configuration file doesn’t contain syntax errors, run:

sudo apache2ctl configtest

Finally, reload Apache so these changes take effect:

sudo systemctl reload apache2

Now go to your browser and access your server’s domain name or IP address once again:

http://your_domain

Note: Make sure that you configured your domain name

You’ll see a page like this:

hello-world

If you see this page, it means your Apache virtual host is working as expected.

6. Install AtroCore Application

Now your server is prepared for the installation of the AtroCore Application.

Nginx Web Server Preparation

This guide describes how to prepare the Nginx web server for the installation of AtroCore Applications.

Installation guide is based on Ubuntu 20.04.

1. Install the Nginx Web Server

In order to display web pages to our site visitors, we are going to employ Nginx, a high-performance web server.

Install Nginx using Ubuntu’s package manager, apt:

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install nginx

If you have the ufw firewall enabled, as recommended in our initial server setup guide, you will need to allow connections to Nginx. Nginx registers a few different UFW application profiles upon installation. To check which UFW profiles are available, run:

sudo ufw app list

You’ll see output like this:

Available applications:
  Nginx Full
  Nginx HTTP
  Nginx HTTPS
  OpenSSH

Here’s what each of these profiles mean:

Nginx HTTP: This profile opens only port 80 (normal, unencrypted web traffic).
Nginx Full: This profile opens both port 80 (normal, unencrypted web traffic) and port 443 (TLS/SSL encrypted traffic).
Nginx HTTPS: This profile opens only port 443 (TLS/SSL encrypted traffic).

So, to allow traffic on port 80 and 443, use the Nginx profile:

sudo ufw allow in "Nginx Full"

Note: In case if you just enable firewall, don't forget to allow ssh connection, because it can be your last connection :)
sudo ufw allow in "OpenSSH"

You can verify the change with:

sudo ufw status

You’ll see output like this:

Status: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
Nginx Full                 ALLOW       Anywhere                  
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere                  
Nginx Full (v6)            ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)             
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

http://your_server_ip

You’ll see the default Ubuntu 22.04 Nginx web page. It should look something like this: nginx_default

2. Installing Database

2.1. Installing PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is a popular database management system used within PHP environments.

Again, use apt to acquire and install this software:

sudo apt -y install postgresql postgresql-contrib

When you’re finished, test if you’re able to log in to the PosgreSQL console by typing:

sudo -u postgres psql

This will connect to the PosgreSQL server as the database user postgres. You should see output like this:

psql (14.11 (Ubuntu 14.11-0ubuntu0.22.04.1))
Type "help" for help.

postgres=#

To exit the PosgreSQL console, do:

Ctrl + D

2.2. Installing MySQL

MySQL is a popular database management system used within PHP environments.

Again, use apt to acquire and install this software:

sudo apt -y install mysql-server

sudo mysql_secure_installation

This will ask if you want to configure the VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN.

Note: Enabling this feature is something of a judgment call. If enabled, passwords which don’t match the specified criteria will be rejected by MySQL with an error. It is safe to leave validation disabled, but you should always use strong, unique passwords for database credentials.

Answer Y for yes, or anything else to continue without enabling.

VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN can be used to test passwords
and improve security. It checks the strength of password
and allows the users to set only those passwords which are
secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD plugin?

Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No:

When you’re finished, test if you’re able to log in to the MySQL console by typing:

sudo mysql

This will connect to the MySQL server as the administrative database user root, which is inferred by the use of sudo when running this command. You should see output like this:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 9
Server version: 8.0.25-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 (Ubuntu)

Copyright (c) 2000, 2021, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

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

mysql>

To exit the MySQL console, do:

Ctrl + D

3. Install PHP

You have Nginx installed to serve your content and MySQL installed to store and manage your data. PHP is the component of our setup that will process code to display dynamic content to the final user. In addition to the php-fpm package, you’ll need php-mysql, a PHP module that allows PHP to communicate with databases. You’ll also need enable required modules for AtroCore Application.

To install these packages, run:

sudo apt -y install php-fpm php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-imagick

also, in case of postgresql, run:

sudo apt -y install php-pgsql

or, in case of mysql, run:

sudo apt -y install php-mysql

Once the installation is finished, you can run the following command to confirm your PHP version:

php -v

You should see output like this:

PHP 7.4.3 (cli) (built: Oct  6 2020 15:47:56) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v7.4.3, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

4. Configuring PHP

At this point, PHP installed, and now you need to configure it.

To configure PHP run:

sudo printf "post_max_size = 20M\nupload_max_filesize = 20M\nmax_execution_time = 180\nmax_input_time = 180\nmemory_limit = 256M" >> /etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini
sudo systemctl restart php7.4-fpm

Note: If you are using a another version of PHP, provide the correct path to php.ini

5. Configuring Nginx to Use the PHP Processor

When using the Nginx web server, we can create server blocks to encapsulate configuration details and host more than one domain on a single server. In this guide, we’ll use your_domain as an example domain name.

On Ubuntu 22.04, Nginx has one server block enabled by default and is configured to serve documents out of a directory at /var/www/html. While this works well for a single site, it can become difficult to manage if you are hosting multiple sites. Instead of modifying /var/www/html, we’ll create a directory structure within /var/www for the your_domain website, leaving /var/www/html in place as the default directory to be served if a client request doesn’t match any other sites.

Create the directory for your_domain as follows:

sudo mkdir /var/www/your_domain

Create an index.html file in that location so that we can test that the virtual host works as expected:

nano /var/www/your_domain/index.html

Include the following content in this file:

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Your website</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello World!</h1>
    <p>This is the landing page of <strong>your_domain</strong>.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Save and close the file when you’re done. If you’re using nano, you can do that by pressing CTRL+X, then Y and ENTER.

Next, assign ownership of the directory:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your_domain

Ubuntu and Debian use www-data as a standard user for the webserver. This can also be one of the following: www, apache2, psacln etc

Then, open a new configuration file in Nginx’s sites-available directory using your preferred command-line editor. Here, we’ll use nano:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain

This will create a new blank file. Paste in the following bare-bones configuration:

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name your_domain;
  root /var/www/your_domain;

  index index.php index.html;

  client_max_body_size 50M;

  location ~ ((.*)\.sql|composer\.json)$ {
    deny all;
  }

  location ~ /\.ht {
    deny all;
  }

  location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ @router;
    index index.html index.php;
    error_page 403 = @router;
    error_page 404 = @router;
  }

  location @router {    
    rewrite ^/(.*)$ /index.php?treoq=$1;
  }

  location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
  }

}

Activate your configuration by linking to the config file from Nginx’s sites-enabled directory:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Then, unlink the default configuration file from the /sites-enabled/ directory:

sudo unlink /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

This will tell Nginx to use the configuration next time it is reloaded. You can test your configuration for syntax errors by typing:

sudo nginx -t

When you are ready, reload Nginx to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Now go to your browser and access your server’s domain name or IP address once again:

http://your_domain

Note: Make sure that you configured your domain name

You’ll see a page like this:

hello-world

If you see this page, it means your Nginx server block is working as expected.

6. Install AtroCore Application

Now your server is prepared for the installation of the AtroCore Application.

Optional. Install the xattr extension for PHP

Note: The extension must be installed for the system to be able to mark already indexed files in the file system.

Install xattr development files:

sudo apt install libattr1-dev

Install PECL and PHP Development Tools:

sudo apt install php-dev php-pear

Install xattr extension via PECL:

sudo pecl install xattr

Enable the extension:

extension=xattr.so

Note: Depending on your setup, php.ini might be located in different places. Common locations include /etc/php/{PHP_VERSION}/apache2/php.ini for Apache or /etc/php/{PHP_VERSION}/cli/php.ini for command-line PHP. Replace {PHP_VERSION} with your PHP version (e.g., 7.4, 8.0, etc.).

Restart PHP-FPM/Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

sudo systemctl restart php7.4-fpm

Table of contents

Installation

1. Linux Server Preparation

2. Install AtroCore (AtroPIM, AtroDAM, etc) Application

1. Create your project directory (if not exists yet)

2. Go inside of your project directory

3. Download project files

3.1. If you want to install AtroPIM with demo data

3.2. If want want to install the AtroPIM without demo data

3.4. If you want to install AtroCore only

3.5. Installation without git

4. Change recursively the user and group ownership for your project files

5. Change the permissions for project files

6. Configure the crontab

7. Create database and user

7.1. Create PostgreSQL database and user

7.2. Create MySQL database and user

8. Go to your Project URL to start the installation wizard

Apache Web Server Preparation

1. Installing Apache and Updating the Firewall

2. Installing Database

2.1. Installing PostgreSQL

2.2. Installing MySQL

3. Installing PHP

4. Configuring PHP

5. Creating a Virtual Host for your Application

6. Install AtroCore Application

Nginx Web Server Preparation

1. Install the Nginx Web Server

2. Installing Database

2.1. Installing PostgreSQL

2.2. Installing MySQL

3. Install PHP

4. Configuring PHP

5. Configuring Nginx to Use the PHP Processor

6. Install AtroCore Application

Optional. Install the xattr extension for PHP

3.5. Installation without `git`