How to host OpenCart on Digitalocean Droplet - ServerAvatar

OpenCart is a flexible open-source e-commerce platform known for its robust features and flexibility. It empowers businesses to create and manage online stores efficiently, offering features for product catalog management, order processing, and customer interaction. With a wide range of extensions and customizable options, OpenCart enables personalized e-commerce solutions without requiring deep technical knowledge. When selecting a hosting solution for OpenCart, DigitalOcean is a scalable infrastructure and user-friendly deployment option. ServerAvatar enhances the deployment of the OpenCart application on DigitalOcean VPS, ensuring a straightforward and user-friendly setup process.

Create Server in Digitalocean

Digitalocean is one of the most popular cloud platforms right now. It offers on-demand cloud computing for various use cases as well as some managed solutions. We can deploy any PHP-based applications on Digitalocean Droplets. Droplets are the servers or cloud computing instances in Digitalocean. If you want to learn about droplet management in-depth in Digitalocean, We recommend you to read our Digitalocean guide.

To deploy any application on Digitalocean, We first need a Droplet. So, we will first create a droplet and perform the initial setup.

Step 1: Go to the Create Droplets page.

Log in to your Digitalocean account and click on the Create button given on the top-right corner of the page. From the drop-down menu, click on the Droplets option to see a droplet creation form.

Step 2: Choose Region

On the Droplet creation page, you will find several sections for selecting different options. We will proceed step by step.

The first thing you have to do is select the region for your droplet. Digitalocean provides several options when it comes to selecting the location. The general rule is to select the region that is closest to your audience. It means that for the majority of your audience, Your sites will load faster due to low latency.

Step 3: Choose an Image or an OS

In this step, you have to select the operating system for your droplet. Generally, the OpenCart application required Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or a later version for compatibility and support.

However, We recommend you to use Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. These operating systems are a requirement if you are using ServerAvatar to manage your droplets.

Step 4: Choose the size of the Droplet

Here you have to choose the size of your Droplet. As we mentioned above, Digitalocean provides many different types of droplets. Select the one that fits best for your project.

If your site is brand new and does not have much traffic, start with a small plan. Once the project starts getting traction, you can upgrade the plan to handle more visitors on the site.

Step 5: Choose Authentication Method

Now you have to select the authentication method. There are two types of authentication methods. They are as follows:

1. Authentication via SSH Keys
2. Authentication via Password

Using SSH keys for authentication is the best option. If you are not familiar with SSH keys, you can choose the password method. Make sure to set a strong password for your root user, which is the most powerful user with all the privileges on Linux OS.

Step 6: Selecting Additional Options

There are three additional options you can choose from. They are optional but important in different use cases. The additional options are:

1. Monitoring: It is a free feature by Digitalocean. It allows you to see additional monitoring data for your server.
2. Backups: We recommend you to enable full server backups if you are going to deploy in a production environment. The cost of the backups depends on the size of the droplet.
3. Managed Database: You do not need a Managed database if you are using ServerAvatar to manage sites on a droplet. A managed database is a pre-configured MySQL Droplet.

Step 7: Finalise Details

In the last step of this process, We have to enter the name of the droplet, and the number of droplets you want to create, Define any tags, and select the project. Enter all the details and click on the Create Droplet button to create a droplet.

In a few minutes, You will have the Droplet up and running. Now, We have to perform the initial configuration on the Droplet to host PHP-based frameworks and software.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes the installation and configuration of various packages required to host your website. Usually, You have to write commands and modify configuration files. Luckily, With ServerAvatar, Your full server configuration and optimization can be automated.

Here are the three ways to automatically configure your server with ServerAvatar.

wget https://srvr.so/install
chmod +x install
./install

Install and Setup OpenCart on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Step1: Create Opencart Database

The Opencart installation process requires database Credentials. So, to create a MySQL database for Opencart, Access the Database tab on the ServerAvatar server panel to create a Database.

To create a Database, Enter the details, such as the Database Name, in the database creation form like the image below.

Database successfully created.

Steps 2: Create a PHP Application

Access the Applications tab from the server panel to create a new PHP application for Opencart.

Now fill up the required details in the application form, as seen in the image below.

Note that:

If you want to host Opencart on your domain, then make sure to point your domain to the current IP address of your server, and for that:

1. Log in to your domain provider site, where you buy your domain. Click here for more info about your domain name.
2. Access DNS Manager to edit your DNS records (contact the support team if you don’t find them)
3. Change the IP address of A Record of your website to the > current server’s IP address.

To host Opencart on your subdomain, for example, Opencart.yourdomain.com, create a new application with the subdomain as your primary domain and follow the same procedure. For accessing Opencart on the subdomain, you need to add your subdomain on A Record that points to the current IP address of your server. To point to an IPV6 address, you would need to use an AAAA record.

Click on Next Step.

Now, choose the method and service provider: Git and GitHub (follow as per the snapshot).

Continue the process by entering the necessary information as provided below:
Repository Type: Public
Clone HTTPS URL: https://github.com/opencart/opencart.git
Branch: master
Deployment script: (keep this Script box empty)

Proceed by clicking the "Next Step".

You can either create a new System User or select an existing one.

Next, choose PHP version 8.0 or above. As we're specifically seeking "index.php" or "index.html" within the custom setup. It is available in the upload directory of Opencart. So, our custom webroot is upload.

Custom Webroot: upload

Proceed to the next steps and ensure your details and requirements are accurately entered.

After confirming, click on Create Application to initiate the application creation process.

Step 3: Rename a file

On the file manager, go to the upload folder and check the Show Hidden Files box and rename the .htaccess.txt file to .htaccess.

Follow Snapshot to rename files.

Similarly rename,

1. config-dist.php to config.php at same directory path (public_html -> upload).
2. config-dist.php to config.php at directory path (public_html -> upload -> admin).

Note: - To rename a file follow the same procedure as visualized in the snapshot. Check the directory path of the file.

Step 4: Change file permissions

Select both config.php files one by one and click the Change Permission button. To access config.php follow the same directory path used in step 3.

Follow the given snapshot to change the file permission for both files.

Change the permission to 755, like the following image.

Successfully change the permission.

Step 5: Code Modification

To configure OpenCart, you may need to make some code modifications. Follow the provided directory path to open the file and make the necessary code changes.

To modify, Open: upload/system/storage/vendor/twig/twig/src/Loader/FilesystemLoader.php

On line 90, replace

$checkPath = $this->isAbsolutePath($path) ? $path : $this->rootPath.$path;

With

$checkPath = $this->rootPath.$path;

Follow the Snapshot Procedure to modify code.

Save the changes(ctrl + s).

Successfully deploy Opencart on the server through the ServerAvatar.

Step 6: Install and setup Opencart

Now access the site URL from the Application panel to install and set up Opencart.

Click on Continue.

Configuration

We have already created a database for Opencart in step 1. To establish a connection between the database and the application, enter the database credential we have already made. You can access all your database credentials, like database name, username, and password, by accessing the database tab from the server panel.

1. Enter the following database credential we have already created in ServerAvatar:
   DB Driver: MySQLi
   Hostname: localhost
   Username: Username of database
   Password: Database password
   Database Name: Database name
   Prefix: Change the database table prefix as you want

2. To create administrator enter the following details:
   Username: any username
   Password: your password
   Email: your email

Note:- Please remember the credentials you entered above for logging into Opencart.

Click Continue.

Login as admin with admin username and password on the next page to access the admin panel.

Successfully install and setup Opencart on the server through the ServerAvatar.

Step 7: Secure OpenCart admin panel

Follow the Security Notification popup to the admin panel. It points-
• To delete the installation directory after accessing the store admin panel.
• To move the storage directory outside of the web directory(e.g. public_html).
• To rename the admin directory to your choice.
That’s it. Use the power of an open-source tool flexibly to make an impressive e-Commerce store.
Check OpenCart documentation for more information related to installation and functionalities.

Thank you for choosing ServerAvatar! We warmly welcome you to our vibrant community of ServerAvatar.