How to host OpenCart on Linode VM Instance - ServerAvatar

OpenCart supports a wide range of extensions and themes, allowing for easy customization and scalability. It includes essential tools for managing products, orders, and customers, as well as built-in SEO and marketing options. Linode is a dependable hosting option for OpenCart, providing scalable infrastructure and simple deployment solutions. ServerAvatar makes it easy and user-friendly to deploy the OpenCart application on the Linode platform.

Create a server in Linode

First of all, Let's create a VM instance in Linode. It provides a lot of different types of VM instances. You can create shared VM instances, Dedicated Instances, Memory-optimized instances, and GPU instances. To host a simple website, You will need a shared VM instance.

If you think your application uses high CPU or RAM, You can go for a Dedicated CPU VM or Memory Optimised VM respectively. Let's get started with the process.

Step 1: Go to Linode VM Instance Creation Form

When you log in to your Linode account, You will see the "Create Linode" button on the top-right corner of the page. Click on it to go to the Linode creation form.

Step 2: Select the Distribution

The OpenCart application generally requires Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or a later version for compatibility and support. ServerAvatar supports Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. So, it is recommended to select any one of the supported OS.

Step 3: Select the Region

Linode has multiple data centers located in different regions worldwide. It is recommended to choose the region that is closest to your major traffic source to reduce latency and improve the performance of your applications.

Step 4: Select Linode Plan

Linode offers various plans with different configurations of CPU, RAM, and storage. Choose a plan that fits in your budget and meets your application's needs. With ServerAvatar, You can also host multiple applications on a single Linode VM Instance.

Step 5: Set Label and Select Tags

The label is a human-readable name that you can use to identify your instance. Tags are keywords that you can use to categorize and search for your instances. You can also group Linodes by Tags on the dashboard.

Step 6: Set Strong Root Password and Select SSH Key

The root password is the administrator password that you will use to access and manage your VM instance. Make sure to use a strong password that is hard to guess and includes a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.

Next, select an SSH key if you want to authenticate with SSH keys. SSH keys are a more secure way to log in to your VM instance than using passwords. If you have an SSH key, you can upload it to your Linode account and use it to log in to your VM instance.

Step 7: Select VLAN (If Required)

A VLAN is a logical network that separates traffic from different virtual machines or physical servers. It can be used to isolate network traffic and improve security.

Step 8: Select Add-ons - Backups and Private IP

Linode provides an easy way to create and store backups for your VM instances. Backups are highly recommended as they can help you with disaster recovery quickly. In the last step, You can enable the Private IP address for your VM instance if required.

Step 9: Click on "Create Linode"

Finally, Click on the Create Linode button at the end of the form to create a Linode VM instance. It usually takes around 2 minutes to create a new Linode instance. Once done, You can connect it with ServerAvatar for ease of site and server configuration management.

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.