How to Install Open Web Analytics on POP! OS

Open Web Analytics (OWA) is an open-source web analytics software that helps you to track and analyze visitor traffic to your website. In this tutorial, we are going to guide you through the steps to install Open Web Analytics on POP! OS.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation of Open Web Analytics, your system needs to meet the following prerequisites:

If you haven't installed any of the above software, please install them using your package manager.

Step 1: Download Open Web Analytics

Firstly, download the Open Web Analytics package from the official website using the following command:

wget https://github.com/Open-Web-Analytics/Open-Web-Analytics/archive/1.7.5.tar.gz

After downloading the Open Web Analytics package, extract it using the following command:

tar xvfz 1.7.5.tar.gz

Step 2: Create a Database for Open Web Analytics

Next, you need to create a MySQL database and user for Open Web Analytics. First, log in to your MySQL server using the following command:

mysql -u root -p

Enter your MySQL root password when prompted. Then, execute the following SQL commands to create a new database, user, and grant privileges to the database.

CREATE DATABASE owa_db;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON owa_db.* TO 'owa_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Remember to replace owa_user and password with your desired username and password.

Step 3: Configure Open Web Analytics

Once you have created the database for Open Web Analytics, navigate to the extracted directory and rename the owa-config.dist.php file to owa-config.php:

cd Open-Web-Analytics-1.7.5
mv owa-config.dist.php owa-config.php

Then, open the owa-config.php file using your favorite text editor and modify the following parameters:

define('OWA_DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('OWA_DB_USER', 'owa_user');
define('OWA_DB_PASSWORD', 'password');
define('OWA_DB_NAME', 'owa_db');
define('OWA_TABLE_PREFIX', 'owa_');

Remember to replace owa_user and password with your configured username and password.

Step 4: Move Open Web Analytics to the Web Server Document Root Directory

Next, move the extracted Open Web Analytics files to the web server document root directory using the following command:

sudo mv Open-Web-Analytics-1.7.5/ /var/www/html/

Step 5: Set Permissions of Open Web Analytics

Change the ownership of the Open Web Analytics files to the Apache user and set read-write-execute permissions using the following commands:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/Open-Web-Analytics-1.7.5/
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/Open-Web-Analytics-1.7.5/

Step 6: Access Open Web Analytics

Finally, open your web browser and navigate to the following URL to access the Open Web Analytics web interface:

http://your-server-ip-address/Open-Web-Analytics-1.7.5/

You will be prompted to enter the database details that you specified in owa-config.php. Once the installation is complete, you will be presented with the login page.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and configured Open Web Analytics on your POP! OS system. From here, you can start tracking and analyzing visitor traffic to your website.

If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!

Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!