This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install Cerb Workflow Automation Tool on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 with Apache2 HTTP server.
For the uninitiated, Cerb is a commercial open-source, web-based, teamwork and workflow automation tool that helps teams become more productive and efficient.
With Cerb, businesses can triage and distribute work across teams in different departments based on email, calls, orders, projects, tasks, reminders, calendar events, and more.
Whether you’re a small or large enterprise, Cerb can help your team communicate and collaborate. and these conversations will be available on the desktop, mobile devices and everywhere you have Cerb installed.
This Tool designed for ease of use to allow businesses to collaborate and automate engaging experiences with users across multiple devices, including mobile.
For more about Cerb, please check their Homepage
To get started with installing Cerb, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server
Cerb works a web server and Apache2 HTTP server is the most popular open source web server available today. To install and use Apache2 with Cerb, run the commands below:
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.
sudo systemctl stop apache2.service sudo systemctl start apache2.service sudo systemctl enable apache2.service
Now that Apache2 is installed. to test whether the web server is working, open your browser and browse to the URL below.
If you see the page above, then Apache2 is successfully installed.
Step 2: Install MariaDB Database Server
Cerb also requires a database server to store its content. If you’re looking for a truly open source database server, then MariaDB is a great place to start.
To install MariaDB run the commands below:
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client
After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots.
Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
sudo systemctl stop mysql.service sudo systemctl start mysql.service sudo systemctl enable mysql.service
Run these on Ubuntu 18.10 and 18.04 LTS
sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service sudo systemctl start mariadb.service sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service
Next, run the commands below to secure the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during the installation.
sudo mysql_secure_installation
When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.
- Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter
- Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
- New password: Enter password
- Re-enter new password: Repeat password
- 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 that MariaDB is installed, to test whether the database server was successfully installed, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
type the root password when prompted.
If you see a similar screen as shown above, then the server was successfully installed.
Step 3: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
Cerb is a PHP based app and PHP is required. However, PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. To run PHP 7.2 on Ubuntu 16.04 and previous, you may need to run the commands below:
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2
sudo apt update
Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-mailparse php7.2-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-imap php7.2-ldap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip php7.2-yaml php7.2-dev php-pear
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default configuration file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
The lines below is a good settings for most PHP based CMS. Update the configuration file with these and save.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Everytime you make changes to PHP configuration file, you should also restart Apache2 web server. To do so, run the commands below:
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Now that PHP is installed, to test whether it’s functioning, create a test file called phpinfo.php in Apache2 default root directory. ( /var/www/html/)
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Next, open your browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address followed by phpinfo.php
/phpinfo.php
You should see PHP default test page.
Step 4: Create Cerb Database
Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for Cerb to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a blank Cerb database.
To logon to MariaDB database server, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called cerb
CREATE DATABASE cerb character set utf8;
Create a database user called cerbuser with a new password
CREATE USER 'cerbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON cerb.* TO 'cerbuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Download Cerb Latest Release
To get Cerb latest release you may want to use Composer. Composer allows you to download and manage packages and their dependencies easily.
To install Composer on Ubuntu, run the commands below:
sudo apt install curl git curl -sS | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
After installing Composer above, change Apache2 home directory and download Cerb packages into a new project folder called cerb.
cd /var/www/ sudo git clone cerb
For Apache web server you can enable URL rewriting with the following commands.
sudo cp /var/www/cerb/.htaccess-dist /var/www/cerb/.htaccess
Since you just ran the web server as root, you should make sure any newly created files are owned by the www-data user and group. To do that run the commands below:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/cerb/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/cerb/
Step 6: Configure Apache2 Virtual Host
Finally, configure Apahce2 virtual host configuration file for Cerb. This file will control how users access Cerb content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called cerb.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/cerb.conf
Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your own domain name and directory root location.
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin [email protected]
DocumentRoot /var/www/cerb
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/cerb/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Save the file and exit.
Step 7: Enable the Cerb
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite cerb.conf sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name or server IP address of the host. Setup wizard.
The first step of the installer checks if your server meets the requirements for installing Cerb. Correct any problems before proceeding, and then click the Continue button.
Next, type in the database name, username and password created above and continue
After that, choose to setup a SMTP account or ignore and continue
In this step you’ll create the administrator account that you use to log in. After a few seconds, your application should be installed and ready to use.
That’s it! You’re ready to start using Cerb. Login and begin setting up your environment.
If this is a production installation, you need to delete the /install directory since it is no longer necessary and it provides access to some sensitive information about your environment.
Conclusion:
This post shows you how to install Cerb Team and Workflow Automation tool on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04. If you find any error above, please use the comment form below to report it.
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