How to Install Monica on Ubuntu Server Latest

Monica is an open-source personal relationship management software that allows individuals and small organizations to organize and know more about their personal interactions with customers, clients, and other stakeholders. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Monica on Ubuntu Server Latest.

Prerequisites

Before starting with the installation of Monica, make sure that your server is up-to-date. You can update your Ubuntu server by running the following commands in the terminal.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

In addition, you need to install some packages to ensure that Monica runs smoothly on your server. Run the following commands in the terminal to install these packages.

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo apt-get install curl git python python-pip python-dev build-essential libssl-dev libffi-dev libxml2-dev libxslt-dev libjpeg-dev zlib1g-dev

Step 1 - Install MariaDB

Monica requires a relational database management system to store data. In this tutorial, we will use MariaDB. You can install the MariaDB server on Ubuntu by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install mariadb-server

Once you have installed MariaDB, start the service and ensure it starts automatically at boot time by running the following command:

sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Step 2 - Create Monica Database

Once the MariaDB server is installed, it’s time to create a new database for Monica. You can create a new database by running the following commands:

sudo mysql -u root -p

This command will take you into the MariaDB command-line interface. You will need to enter your root password.

Once you are in the MariaDB shell, run the following commands to create a new database and a new user:

CREATE DATABASE monica;
CREATE USER 'monicauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL ON monica.* TO 'monicauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Note: Please replace the word "password" with a strong password of your choice.

Step 3 - Install Composer

Composer is a PHP dependency manager that Monica uses. You can install Composer on Ubuntu by running the following commands:

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

Step 4 - Install Monica

Before downloading and installing Monica, it is recommended to create a new user to run the webserver for added security. Run the following command to create a new user:

sudo adduser --system --home /var/www/monica monicauser

Note: Please replace the word "monicauser" with a username of your choice.

Next, switch to the user by running the following command:

sudo su monicauser

Now, you are logged in as a new user, run the following command to clone Monica from its Github repository:

git clone https://github.com/monicahq/monica.git monica

Now, change directory to ‘monica’ and run the following command to install all the dependencies:

cd monica/
composer install --no-dev

Finally, create a new configuration file by running the following command:

cp .env.example .env

Open the .env file using any text editor of your choice and add the following details:

DB_DATABASE=monica
DB_USERNAME=monicauser
DB_PASSWORD=password

Note: Please replace the words "monicauser" and "password" with your database username and password.

Step 5 - Setup Nginx

Next, we need to install Nginx, which will serve Monica, and create a new Nginx configuration file for Monica. Run the following command to install Nginx:

sudo apt-get install nginx

Once Nginx is installed, create a new configuration file for Monica by running the following command:

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

This command will open a Nano text editor. Copy and paste the following Nginx configuration for Monica into this file:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/monica/public;

    index index.php index.html;

    charset utf-8;
    client_max_body_size 100M;

    location / {
        try_files $uri /index.php$is_args$args;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock; // The version of PHP may differ.
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_buffers 16 16k;
        fastcgi_buffer_size 32k;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 1200;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Note: Please replace the words “yourdomain.com” with your domain name.

Save and exit the file by pressing CTRL + X, then Y.

Enable the new configuration file by running the following command:

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

And finally, restart Nginx by running the following command:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

You have successfully installed Monica on Ubuntu Server Latest.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to install Monica on Ubuntu Server Latest. We have covered all the necessary steps, including installing the required services, creating a database and user, downloading and installing Monica, and configuring Nginx. With Monica installed, you can easily manage your personal relationships with your customers, clients, and other stakeholders.

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