How to Install WebERP on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx

This article describes steps one can take to install and use WebERP on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

WebERP is a popular and widely used open-source accounting and business management system based on PHP. It has everything you need to create and manage your business from distribution and manufacturing to Point of Sale (POS) and web store.

If you’re looking for an open-source ERP software to run your business, you have many choices. However, whatever you decide to go with, make sure to test WebERP first.

This post covers installing the latest version of WebERP, which at the time of writing is version 4.14.1.

How to install WebERP on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support

As described above, WebERP is a popular and widely used open-source accounting and business management system based on PHP.

Below is how to install it on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx support.

Install Nginx

WebERP requires a webserver to function and the second most popular webserver in used today after Apache2 is Nginx.

So, go and install Nginx on Ubuntu by running the commands below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Next, run the commands below to stop, start and enable Nginx service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service
sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

Install MariaDB

WebERP also requires a database server to function, and MariaDB is a great place to start when looking for an open source database server.

To install it run the commands below.

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After installing, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop mysql.service
sudo systemctl start mysql.service
sudo systemctl enable mysql.service

After that, run the commands below to secure MariaDB server.

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

Install PHP 7.1 -FPM and Related Modules

PHP 7.1 isn’t available on Ubuntu default repositories. In order to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.1

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1

sudo apt update

Run the commands below to install PHP 7.1 and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.1-fpm php7.1-common php7.1-mbstring php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-intl php7.1-mysql php7.1-cli php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-ldap php7.1-zip php7.1-curl

Create WebERP Database

Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers.

First run the commands below to create WebERP database.

Run the commands below to logon to the database server. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then create a database called weberp

CREATE DATABASE weberp;

Create a database user called magentouser with new password

CREATE USER 'webdrpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Then grant the user full access to the database.

GRANT ALL ON weberp.* TO 'weberpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download WebERP Latest Release

Next, visit WebERP site and download the latest version of the software by follow the commands below and extracting it.

After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Nginx root directory.

cd /tmp && wget 
unzip webERP4.14.1.zip
sudo mv webERP /var/www/html/weberp

Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for WebERP to function.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/weberp/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/weberp/

Configure Nginx

Finally, configure Nginx server block configuration file for WebERP. This file will control how users’ access WebERP content.

Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called weberp.

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

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.

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    root /var/www/html/weberp;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  example.com www.example.com;

    location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;        
    }

    location ~ [^/]\.php(/|$) {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

}

Save the file and exit.

Enable the WebERP server block

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below

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

To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below.

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Next, open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see WebERP setup wizard to complete.

Please follow the wizard carefully.

Then type the database connection info and continue

Finally, click Install to complete the installation wizard

Enjoy!

Congratulations! You have successfully installed WebERP on Ubuntu.