This article describes steps one can take to install and use Zen Cart on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support.
Zen Cart is a free, user-friendly, open-source shopping cart software based on PHP. It has comprehensive product features for small, medium and large businesses to create and manage their online stores for free.
If you’re looking for a functional, high performance eCommerce platform to manage your online store front that’s 100% free, you’ll find Zen Cart to be useful.
This post covers installing the latest version of Zen Cart, which at the time of writing is version 5.5.
How to install Zen Cart on Ubuntu Linux with Apache support.
As described above, Zen Cart is a free, user-friendly, open-source shopping cart software based on PHP. It has comprehensive product features for small, medium and large businesses to create and manage their online stores for free.
Below is how to install and use it on Ubuntu Linux.
Install Apache
Zen Cart requires a webserver to function and the most popular webserver in use today is Apache2. So, go and install Apache on Ubuntu by running the commands below:
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
Next, run the commands below 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
Install MariaDB
Zen Cart also requires a database server to function, and MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking for an open-source database to use.
To install it run the commands below.
sudo apt-get 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 mariadb.service sudo systemctl start mariadb.service sudo systemctl enable mariadb.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 and Related Modules
Zen Cart is a PHP based application and requires PHP to function. To install PHP and related modules run the commands below
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-common php-mbstring php-xmlrpc php-soap php-gd php-xml php-intl php-mysql php-cli php-mcrypt php-ldap php-zip php-curl
After install PHP, run the commands below to open Apache2 PHP default configuration file.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini # Ubuntu 17.10 sudo nano /etc/php/7.0/apache2/php.ini # Ubuntu 17.04
Then make the change the following lines below in the file and save.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 64M
Create Zen Cart 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 Zen Cart 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 zencart
CREATE DATABASE zencart;
Create a database user called zencartuser with new password
CREATE USER 'zencartuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON zencart.* TO 'zencartuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Download Zen Cart Latest Release
Next, visit Zen Cart site and register for a free account. You must register before you’re allowed to download a copy.
The community edition is what you’ll want to download.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the download file into Apache2 root directory.
cd /tmp && wget unzip zen-cart-v1.5.5e-03082017.zip sudo mv zen-cart-v1.5.5e-03082017 /var/www/html/zencart
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Zen Cart to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/zencart/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/zencart/
Configure Apache
Finally, configure Apahce2 virtual host configuration file for Zen Cart. This file will control how users access Zen Cart content.
Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called zencart.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/zencart.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/html/zencart/
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/zencart/>
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.
Enable the Zen Cart and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
sudo a2ensite zencart.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below.
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Next, open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see Zen Cart setup wizard to complete. Please follow the wizard carefully.
Click the link to begin the installation
Then continue with the installation.
Next, confirm the site URL and continue
Next, type the databases name, user and password and continue
Next, create the zen cart site administrator account and continue
Finally, complete the installation
After that run the commands below to delete the installation directory
sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/zencart/zc_install/
Enjoy!
Congratulation! You’ve successfully installed Zen Cart eCommerce application on Ubuntu
