How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal

JaredBusch

The official SuiteCRM instructions are absolutely atrocious.

This guide assumes that you are starting from Fedora 25 Minimal similar to where these instructions leave you.

This guide also assumes that you are installing SuiteCRM 7.8.3. The instructions for other versions may or may not differ.

Install useful packages

dnf install -y wget nano rsync sysstat htop glances

Install required packages

dnf install -y unzip httpd mariadb mariadb-server php php-mysqli php-gd php-xml php-mbstring php-pecl-zip php-imap php-pear-Net-Curl ImageMagick policycoreutils-python-utils

Download SuiteCRM from here: https://suitecrm.com/download
You will have to register to get the download file.
Copy the downloaded ZIP file to your server with SCP/FTP/whatever
For example: scp SuiteCRM-7.8.3.zip [email protected]:/root/SuiteCRM-7.8.3.zip

Assuming you copied it to /root, extract the zip

unzip SuiteCRM-7.8.3.zip -d /var/www/html

Rename the extracted folder

mv /var/www/html/SuiteCRM-7.8.3 /var/www/html/suitecrm

Set ownership

chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/suitecrm/

Set read/write permissions

chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/suitecrm/
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/cache
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/custom
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/modules
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/themes
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/data
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/upload
chmod 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/config_override.php

Open the firewall for http

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=http/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload

Start the mariadb and set to start on boot

systemctl start mariadb
systemctl enable mariadb

Create a database for SuiteCRM and a user to access it.

mysql -e "CREATE DATABASE suitecrm;"
mysql -e "CREATE USER 'scrmuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'scrmuserpassword';"
mysql -e "GRANT ALL ON suitecrm.* TO 'scrmuser'@'localhost';"
mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

Secure mariadb. These commands do what mysql_secure_installation does interactively

mysql -e "UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('somesecurepassword') WHERE User='root';"
mysql -e "DELETE FROM mysql.user WHERE User='root' AND Host NOT IN ('localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1');"
mysql -e "DELETE FROM mysql.user WHERE User='';"
mysql -e "DROP DATABASE test;"
mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

Tell SELinux to let it send mail and talk on the network

setsebool -P httpd_can_sendmail 1
setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1

Tell SELinux that these directories need to write

semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/cache(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/cache
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/custom(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/custom
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/modules(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/modules
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/themes(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/themes
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/data(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/data
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/upload(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/upload
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm/config_override.php"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm/config_override.php

Edit /etc/php.ini to have the following settings found in the upgrade section of the official guide

sed -i -e 's/post_max_size = 8M/post_max_size = 60M/' /etc/php.ini
sed -i -e 's/upload_max_filesize = 2M/upload_max_filesize = 60M/' /etc/php.ini
sed -i -e 's/max_input_time = 60/max_input_time = 300/' /etc/php.ini
sed -i -e 's/memory_limit = 128M/memory_limit = 256M/' /etc/php.ini

Create an Apache virtual host file

cat > /etc/httpd/conf.d/suitecrm.conf << EOF
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    <Directory /var/www/html/suitecrm>
        Allow From All
        AllowOverride All
        Options +Indexes
   </Directory>
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/suitecrm
    ServerName crm.domain.com
        ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/suitecrm.error.log
        CustomLog /var/log/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
EOF

Restart Apache and enable for reboot.

systemctl restart httpd
systemctl enable httpd

Disbale SELinux temporarily.

setenforce 0

Make sure your DNS name is setup wherever your DNS is controlled.

Go to install page
http://crm.domain.com/install.php

Accept the agreement and click next.
0_1494800221031_upload-0e60c078-da5a-4ff9-9b12-4d0101438984

Verify everything shows ok and click next.
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Change the SuiteCRM Database user to Provide Existing User.
0_1494799192729_upload-535b01aa-b3e2-4b3d-a7e4-b92053b3bcd7

Populate the database appropriately.
Change the server to localhost and fill in with the database user and password previously setup.
0_1494800339213_upload-8f3ca7f7-2bfa-42ed-a5d2-16574f0cf48a

Populate the initial admin account info
0_1494800490101_upload-660c903f-0c7c-41cc-8f33-77b4c1a1602f

Expand each of these options and set them up appropriately.
I leave everything default, except for populating the email settings.
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Click next, and you will see a progress bar while it sets everything up and then get redirected to the login page.
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Go turn SELinux back to enforcing.

setenforce 1

JaredBusch

Reserved to enable SSL

To enable SSL you sinply need to install mod_ssl to get a self signed certificate, but nobody wants that.

So, assuming that you have no proxy in front of this system, we will use certbot to get a certificate.

Install the required packages

dnf install -y mod_ssl certbot python-certbot-apache

Allow SSL through the firewall

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=https/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload

Restart Apache

systemctl restart httpd

Run certbot

certbot --apache -n --agree-tos --email [email protected] -d crm.domain.com

You should now have a new vhost configuration file named /etc/httpd/conf.d/suitecrm-le-ssl.conf

Restart Apache

systemctl restart httpd

Navigate to your site.
https://crm.domain.com

I just did this on a new Vultr instance and actually setup the SSL prior to running the install wizard.
0_1494867791311_upload-ec17e64d-d106-495e-bd45-510b323beddd

If you wish to disable non SSL, traffic, run this

#remove the allow for http
firewall-cmd --zone=public --remove-port=80/tcp --permanent
#reload the firewall
firewall-cmd --reload

JaredBusch

Please let me know if anyone runs into a problem. I had a couple oddities both times I installed this. But each time the oddity was different.

JaredBusch

The installer in the GUI needs to have SELinux disbaled because it creates files that simply do not exist prior to the the execution of the wizard.

It is more than 1 file and I did not feel like taking to time to figure all of them out.

The most critical were the config.php and .htaccess` files. If SELinux is enabled, it cannot create them.

black3dynamite

Nice write up.

About SELinux, any issue with just doing this?

semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm

Would help with any future changes or additions in the suitecrm directories.

JaredBusch

@black3dynamite said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

Nice write up.

About SELinux, any issue with just doing this?

semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/suitecrm(/.*)?"
restorecon -R /var/www/html/suitecrm

Would help with any future changes or additions in the suitecrm directories.

It is more permissions than minimum, so I would really not do it. It will work though.

FATeknollogee

@JaredBusch said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/suitecrm/
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/cache
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/custom
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/modules
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/themes
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/data
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/modules
chmod 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/config_override.php

You have modules listed twice

scottalanmiller

@FATeknollogee he wants to be very sure.

JaredBusch

@FATeknollogee said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

@JaredBusch said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/suitecrm/
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/cache
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/custom
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/modules
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/themes
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/data
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/modules
chmod 775 /var/www/html/suitecrm/config_override.php

You have modules listed twice

That last one should have been upload.. Instructions fixed.

FATeknollogee

Also, remember to use your own server name:

JaredBusch

@FATeknollogee said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

Also, remember to use your own server name:

I did skip the big bold text to find/replace things with your own info...

I guess I should go back and add that.

FATeknollogee

@JaredBusch I think for now it's ok..
I spun up a new Fed 25 vm & I'm using your instruction set.
So far it's all good.

FATeknollogee

Was this "Admin" user setup in a previous step, I don't seem to remember setting this up?

JaredBusch

@FATeknollogee said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

Was this "Admin" user setup in a previous step, I don't seem to remember setting this up?

No, this is new creation for the account you will log into the Web GUI with.

FATeknollogee

@JaredBusch said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

dnf install -y mod_ssl cerbot

typo, you forgot the "t" in certbot

JaredBusch

@FATeknollogee said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

@JaredBusch said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

dnf install -y mod_ssl cerbot

typo, you forgot the "t" in certbot

Just start to document that process and I was interupted by a client call.

FATeknollogee

@JaredBusch Ha, I hear ya!

JaredBusch

@FATeknollogee said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

@JaredBusch Ha, I hear ya!

SSL instructions updated.

travisdh1

Just thought I'd report back that these instructions are still working for

Version 7.9.7
Sugar Version 6.5.25 (Build 344)

Just installed a local copy to see if it'll meet our needs for user tracking and such. Will probably pay for an instance on Hostadillo if it does.

Guess it's my day to resurrect old how-to threads.

JaredBusch

@travisdh1 said in How to install SuiteCRM 7.8.3 on Fedora 25 Minimal:

Just thought I'd report back that these instructions are still working for

Version 7.9.7
Sugar Version 6.5.25 (Build 344)

Just installed a local copy to see if it'll meet our needs for user tracking and such. Will probably pay for an instance on Hostadillo if it does.

Guess it's my day to resurrect old how-to threads.

Not bad timing. I am installing this for a client this evening.