How to Install InvoicePlane with Nginx on CentOS 7

InvoicePlane is a free and open source invoicing application. Its source code can be found on this Github. This tutorial will show you how to install InvoicePlane on a fresh CentOS 7 system.

Requirements

  • WebServer (Apache, NGINX). This tutorial will use Nginx.
  • MySQL version 5.5 or greater or the equivalent version of MariaDB.
  • PHP version 7.0 or greater with the following PHP extensions installed and activated:
  • php-gd
  • php-hash
  • php-json
  • php-mbstring
  • php-mcrypt
  • php-mysqli
  • php-openssl
  • php-recode
  • php-xmlrpc
  • php-zlib

Prerequisites

  • A server running CentOS 7.
  • A non-root user with sudo privileges.

Initial steps

Check your CentOS system version:

cat /etc/centos-release
# CentOS Linux release 7.6.1810 (Core)

Set up the timezone:

timedatectl list-timezones
sudo timedatectl set-timezone 'Region/City'

Update your operating system’s packages:

sudo yum update -y

Install required packages:

sudo yum install -y vim wget curl git bash-completion unzip

Step 1 - Install PHP and required PHP extensions

InovicePlane web application requires PHP version 7.0.0 or greater. Default CentOS repositories contain older version of PHP, and thus we will need to set up a third-party repository to install a newer PHP version. We will use Webtatic repository.

Setup the Webtatic YUM repo:

sudo rpm -Uvh https://mirror.webtatic.com/yum/el7/webtatic-release.rpm

Install PHP, as well as the necessary PHP extensions:

sudo yum install -y php72w php72w-cli php72w-fpm php72w-common php72w-gd php72w-json php72w-mbstring php72w-mcrypt php72w-mysql php72w-xmlrpc php72w-recode

Check the PHP version:

php --version

# PHP 7.2.12 (cli) (built: Nov 11 2018 14:54:16) ( NTS )
# Copyright (c) 1997-2018 The PHP Group
# Zend Engine v3.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Zend Technologies

Start and enable PHP-FPM service:

sudo systemctl start php-fpm.service
sudo systemctl enable php-fpm.service

Step 2 - Install MariaDB

Install MariaDB database server:

sudo yum install -y mariadb-server

Check the MariaDB version:

mysql --version
# mysql Ver 15.1 Distrib 5.5.60-MariaDB, for Linux (x86_64) using readline 5.1

Start and enable MariaDB service:

sudo systemctl start mariadb.service
sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

Run mysql_secure installation script to improve MariaDB security and set the password for MariaDB root user:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Answer all the questions as shown below:

Enter current password for root (enter for none):
Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
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

Log into MariaDB shell as the user root:

mysql -u root -p
# Enter password

Create a MariaDB database and user that you will use for your installation of InvoicePlane, and remember the credentials:

CREATE DATABASE dbname;
GRANT ALL ON dbname.* TO 'username' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Exit from MariaDB shell:

quit

Step 3 - Install NGINX

Install Nginx web server:

sudo yum install -y nginx

Check the NGINX version:

nginx -v
# nginx version: nginx/1.12.2

Start and enable Nginx service:

sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

Configure NGINX for InvoicePlane. Run sudo vim /etc/nginx/conf.d/invoiceplane.conf and populate the file with the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com;

    root /var/www/invoiceplane;

    index index.php index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        try_files $uri =404;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
    }
}

Test the NGINX configuration:

sudo nginx -t

Reload NGINX:

sudo systemctl reload nginx.service

Step 4 - Install InvoicePlane

Download the latest stable version of InvoicePlane and extract the archive:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www
cd /var/www
sudo curl -O -J -L https://invoiceplane.com/download/v1.5.9
sudo unzip v1.5.9.zip
sudo rm v1.5.9.zip
sudo mv ip invoiceplane

Navigate to /var/www/invoiceplane folder:

cd /var/www/invoiceplane

Make a copy of the ipconfig.php.example file and rename the copy to ipconfig.php:

sudo cp ipconfig.php.example ipconfig.php

Open the ipconfig.php file and add your URL in it:

sudo vim ipconfig.php
# Something like this
IP_URL=http://example.com

Change ownership of the /var/www/invoiceplane directory to nginx:

sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/invoiceplane

Run sudo vim /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf and set the user and group to nginx. Initially, they will be set to apache:

sudo vim /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf
# user = nginx
# group = nginx

Run sudo vim /etc/php.ini and set date.timezone:

date.timezone = Region/City

Restart the PHP-FPM service:

sudo systemctl restart php-fpm.service

Run the InvoicePlane installer from your web browser and follow the instructions:

http://example.com/index.php/setup

Once the installation has finished, you may log into InvoicePlane using the email address and password you have chosen during the installation.

If you want to secure your installation, you may disable the setup. To do so, replace the line DISABLE_SETUP=false with DISABLE_SETUP=true in your ipconfig.php file.

Step 5 - Complete the InvoicePlane setup

InvoicePlane is now installed and configured, it's time to access their web installation wizard.

Open your web browser and type the URL http://example.com. You will be redirected to the following page:

InvoicePlane web installer

Now, click on the Setup button. You should see the following page:

Choose language

Next, choose the language and click on the Continue button. You should see the following page:

Prerequisite check successful

Next, click on the Continue button. You should see the following page:

Database setup

Here, provide your database details and click on the Try Again button. You should see the following page:

Database has been set up.

Now, click on the Continue button. You should see the following page:

Create user

Now, click on the Continue button. You should see the following page:

Installation complete

Now, provide all the required details, then click on the Continue button. Once the installation is completed, you should see the following page:

Log into InvoicePlane

Now, click on the Login button to access InvoicePlane administration.

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