How to Install Crater on Windows 11

Crater is an open-source, web-based invoicing application that helps businesses and freelancers manage their finances. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Crater on Windows 11.

Prerequisites

Before we start with the installation, here are the things you need to prepare:

• A Windows 11 computer
• A web server, such as Apache or Nginx
• PHP 7.0 or later with the following extensions enabled: php-mbstring, php-xml, php-zip, php-pdo, php-mysql

Step 1 - Download Crater

The first step is to download Crater from the official GitHub repository. You can download it using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/crater-invoice/crater.git

This will create a crater directory in your current working directory.

Step 2 - Install Dependencies

To install the required dependencies, navigate to the crater directory using the cd command and run the following command:

composer install

This command will install all the required PHP packages.

Step 3 - Configure the Database

Before you can start using Crater, you need to configure the database. Open the config/database.php file using a code editor and update the following details:

'default' => 'mysql',
...
'mysql' => [
    'driver' => 'mysql',
    'host' => 'localhost',
    'port' => '3306',
    'database' => 'crater',
    'username' => 'root',
    'password' => '',
],

Change the host, port, database, username, and password according to your database configuration.

Step 4 - Set Up the Web Server

To run Crater, you need to set up a web server. You can either install Apache or Nginx. If you haven't installed a web server yet, follow these instructions:

For Apache

1. Install Apache using the following command:

   sudo apt-get install apache2
   

2. Restart the Apache service:

   systemctl restart apache2
   

3. Create a virtual host for Crater:

   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerName crater.local
       DocumentRoot /var/www/crater/public
       <Directory /var/www/crater/public>
           AllowOverride All
           Require all granted
       </Directory>
   </VirtualHost>
   

For Nginx

1. Install Nginx using the following command:

   sudo apt-get install nginx
   

2. Restart the Nginx service:

   systemctl restart nginx
   

3. Create a virtual host for Crater:

   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name crater.local;
       root /var/www/crater/public;
       index index.php;
   
       location / {
           try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
       }
   
       location ~ \.php$ {
           include fastcgi.conf;
           fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
       }
   }
   

Step 5 - Run the Application

After setting up the web server, you can now run the application by accessing it through the web browser. Open your preferred web browser and type http://crater.local in the address bar. You should see the Crater login screen.

That's it! You have successfully installed Crater on Windows 11.

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!