How to host Prestashop on Linode VM Instance - ServerAvatar

Create a server in Linode

First of all, Let's create a VM instance in Linode. It provides a lots of different types of VM instances. You can create shared VM instances, Dedicated Instances, Memory Optimised instances and GPU instances. To host a simple website, You will need a shared VM instance. If you want to learn more about Linode and How to manage servers in linode, Follow our [Linode guide](.

If you think your application uses high CPU or RAM, You can get 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 "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

We will use ServerAvatar as a server management panel. It supports Ubuntu 20.04 as well as Ubuntu 22.04. So, 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 your budget and meets your application's requirements. 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. And 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 "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 easy site and server configuration management.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes 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 optimisation can be automated.

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

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

Auto-install Prestashop with ServerAvatar

Step-1 Create a PHP application

On the server panel, access the Application tab from the sidebar and click the Create button like the image below.

Fill up the details, including the Application Name, Primary Domain name, and other Advanced Settings if required.

Note that:

If you want to host PrestaShop e-commerce platform 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 hosting provider site, where you buy your domain. You can check your domain information with one click.

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.

Click the Create Application button.

Step-2. Auto-install PrestaShop with ServerAvatar

Now on the application panel, click the Auto Deploy button from the sidebar.

Click the PrestaShop Auto Install card, as you can see in the above image.

It asks to enter PrestaShop details to deploy an application, which includes-

Database details

• Database Server: Select the server you want to host your database.
• Database Name: Enter the database name.

PHP Settings

• PHP Version: Select the supported PHP version for Prestashop application

Admin Information

• First Name:Admin's first name
• Last Name: Admin last name
• Email: Admin email address. This email will be used in case you forget your password
• Password: Admin login password

Once you fill in all the details, click the Install Now button.

Step-3. Install SSL Certificates

Go to the application panel. Click the SSL Certificate tab from the sidebar.

You can also Force HTTP to HTTPS to redirect all your traffic to the secure connection.

Access the URL of your application on the browser and log in using admin credentials to use Prestashop admin panel.

That’s it. Now you can add your products and manage all your products on one dashboard.