How to host Snipe-IT on AWS EC2 VM Instance - ServerAvatar

Published : Dec 9, 2024

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cloud-platform

AWS EC2

In the dynamic landscape of cloud computing, Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) stands as a cornerstone service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), offering a flexible and scalable solution for hosting virtual servers in the cloud. Designed to cater to a diverse range of computing needs, EC2 allows businesses and developers to deploy virtual machines quickly and securely, enabling them to run various applications and manage workloads with ease.

Get started with AWS EC2
application

Snipe-IT

Snipe-IT is specifically designed for IT asset management, offering a comprehensive solution for IT departments to efficiently track their assets.

More info

Snipe-IT is a flexible open-source tool designed for managing and organizing assets with ease. It enables users to store, categorize, and retrieve assets efficiently. When considering hosting Snipe-IT, deploying it on AWS EC2 is a dependable choice due to its scalable infrastructure and user-friendly deployment solutions. ServerAvatar assists with AWS EC2 VPS and simplifies the deployment of the Snipe-IT application on the AWS EC2 platform through easy steps.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Getting Started with AWS EC2:

In the dynamic landscape of cloud computing, Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) stands as a cornerstone service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), offering a flexible and scalable solution for hosting virtual servers in the cloud. Designed to cater to a diverse range of computing needs, EC2 allows businesses and developers to deploy virtual machines quickly and securely, enabling them to run various applications and manage workloads with ease.

From startups seeking cost-effective computing power to enterprises requiring robust, scalable infrastructure, EC2 provides a vast array of instance types optimized for different use cases. These instances offer customizable configurations, including computing power, memory, storage, and networking capabilities, empowering users to tailor their virtual environments precisely to their application requirements.

Whether it's launching a single instance for a small-scale project or orchestrating a complex network of instances across multiple regions, EC2 simplifies the process with its intuitive management console and comprehensive APIs. This versatility makes it a preferred choice for businesses looking to leverage the scalability and reliability of cloud computing without the overhead of managing physical hardware.

Using AWS EC2 instances offers a multitude of benefits that cater to diverse business needs and technical requirements. Here are some key advantages:

  • Scalability: EC2 enables swift adjustments to your computing capacity according to demand, offering elasticity that efficiently manages fluctuating workloads for businesses, preventing resource over-provisioning.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: With EC2, you pay only for the compute capacity you use. This pay-as-you-go pricing model eliminates the need for upfront investments in hardware and allows for cost optimization by scaling resources as needed.
  • Flexibility: EC2 provides a diverse range of instance types tailored for various use cases, including compute-optimized, memory-optimized, storage-optimized, and GPU instances. This versatility allows you to select the ideal instance type that best suits your specific application needs.
  • Security: AWS offers a secure environment for hosting EC2 instances, incorporating features such as security groups, network access control lists (ACLs), and Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to manage network access effectively. Integration with other AWS services, such as AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), further enhances security by providing detailed access control capabilities.
  • Ease of Use: EC2 instances can be easily launched, managed, and configured using the AWS Management Console, Command Line Interface (CLI), or SDKs/APIs. Automation tools like AWS CloudFormation and AWS Elastic Beanstalk further simplify deployment and management tasks.
  • Reliability: AWS ensures a high level of reliability for EC2 instances with SLAs that guarantee a specific level of uptime. Additionally, EC2 instances can be configured to automatically recover from failures using features like Auto Scaling and Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) snapshots.

Let’s Get started with Creating a Virtual Machine on AWS EC2:

To create a server in Amazon. First log in to Amazon web service. Once you are there, Follow the steps given below.

Step 1: Search for the EC2 service in the AWS search bar

  • The first step is to search for EC2 services, as Amazon provides multiple web services. Then click on the EC2 with virtual servers in the cloud option which is shown in the image below.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 2: Launching Instances from the EC2 Dashboard

  • Now you are in the EC2 Dashboard, navigate to the running instances section. After that new tab for instances will be displayed there you have to click on the Launch Instances button as shown in the images below.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 3: Naming and Tagging Your EC2 Instance

  • The next step is to name the instance of your choice and you can also add tags to your instance which can help organize, manage, and track resources.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 4: Select the OS for your Instance

  • After following the steps, proceed to select the operating system for your instance. In this case, First, click on Ubuntu and then select the Amazon Machine Image of Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS as an operating system. In addition to this, select the architecture to 64-bit(x64/86) as shown in the image below.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 5: Select the Instance type

  • In this step, select the size of your VM instance. AWS EC2 provides lots of different options when it comes to plans and pricing. The minimum requirement for hosting Snipe-IT is 2GB of RAM, but 4GB or more is recommended for better performance, especially if handling high traffic volumes, and a minimum 10GB of free disk space is recommended, but more may be needed depending on the size of your asset database and logs.
  • The selection of instances completely depends on your requirements. So, select the instance based on the complexity and traffic of your sites.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 6: Select SSH Key pair or create one

  • Here you can select the Key pair name for SSH. If you don't have any key pair stored, you can also create a new key pair by clicking on the Create new key pair option as shown in the following image.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 7: Configuring Network Settings

  • In this step, you have to configure the network by simply clicking on the Edit button as shown in the following image.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

  • Then you have to create a new security group by selecting the create security group radio button. You can enter the security group name of your choice and can also add a description for your security group for that you can refer to the image below.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 8: Add Inbound Security Group Rules

  • The next step is to add inbound security group rules which are necessary to configure for connecting your instance to ServerAvatar. Click on the button shown in the image below to add security group rules.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

  • ServerAvatar requires 43210 port to be open. In total, You need to keep the following ports open on the instance.
    • 22 (SSH): To access your server via SSH
    • 80 (HTTP): To access your sites on HTTP
    • 443 (HTTPS): To access your sites on HTTPS
    • 43210 (ServerAvatar): To allow communication between ServerAvatar and your instance
  • To understand and proceed further, please take the reference of the image depicted below.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

Step 9: Configure the storage for your instance

  • The final step is to configure the storage. You can select the size of the storage according to your needs. However, it is recommended to select at least 25GB disk volume, and in AWS EC2 there is also an option to select the root volume which you can choose as per your requirements. Now click on the Launch Instance button, as shown in the image below.

Create an AWS EC2 Instance

  • Congratulations! You have successfully created your AWS EC2 Instance which is now ready to connect with ServerAvatar.

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.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Getting Started With Snipe-IT:

Snipe-IT is designed for IT asset management, offering a comprehensive solution for IT departments to track their assets efficiently. It allows teams to monitor which laptops are assigned to whom, record the purchase dates of these devices, and keep an updated inventory of software licenses and accessories. This centralized tracking system improves visibility and accountability, ensuring that all assets are properly managed. By using Snipe-IT, organizations can streamline their asset management processes, reduce the risk of asset loss or mismanagement, and enhance overall operational efficiency. The platform’s detailed tracking capabilities and user-friendly interface make Snipe-IT an invaluable tool for IT departments aiming to maintain an organized and well-managed asset portfolio.

Requirements:

If you want to host Snipe-IT yourself, you will need a server with:

  • PHP 8.1 or newer
  • HTTP server with PHP support (eg: Apache, Nginx)
  • MySQL or MariaDB
  • Composer

Install and Setup Snip-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar:

Step 1: Create Snip-IT Database

  • The Snip-IT installation process requires a database. To create a MySQL database for Snip-IT, navigate to the Database tab on the ServerAvatar server panel and create a new Database.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • To create a database, enter the necessary details, such as the database name, in the database creation form and click on the Create Database button as shown in the image below.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Step 2: Create a Custom Application

  • To create a new Custom application for Snip-IT, navigate to the Applications tab on the server panel. Click on the Create button on the server panel to start the process of application creation.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • To create an application and proceed with the installation and deployment of Snip-IT, you need to complete the prerequisite setup.

    • Start by entering an application name of your choice. Then, input the domain name where you want to direct your URL. You can select between a test domain or a primary domain. If you want to host it on a test domain, you can use ServerAvatar’s test domain. This flexibility allows you to make the perfect selection for your project.
    • Note: If you want to host the Snip-IT application on your domain, then make sure to point your domain to the current IP address of your server.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Next, clone Snipe-IT from the available repository on GitHub.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Let's move on to the next step in creating your application. Now, you need to set up deployment scripts. These are the manually entered commands that will run automatically after cloning the repository.
  • Installing Snip-IT does not involve executing any manual scripts or commands during the deployment process. Therefore, you can simply leave this section blank.
    • Deployment Scripts: (Leave it blank)
  • To proceed further, click on "Show Advanced Options". You will find this option located just below the deployment scripts section.
  • The next step is to create a system user for your application. You have the option to either select an existing user or create a new one specifically for this application.
  • Now, select the PHP version. Choose a PHP version 8.1 or a newer version if available. For the custom webroot of Snip-IT, ensure it is set to public as shown in the provided snapshot.
    • Select PHP Version: PHP version 8.1 or higher
    • Custom Webroot: public

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Once you have configured all these settings, proceed by clicking the Create Application button to finish the process.

Step 3: Configure .env file

  • In this step, we're connecting the database we created in Step 1 with the application we created in Step 2. To configure the database, we need to edit the environment (.env) file.
  • To edit the .env file, you can access the public_html directory from your file manager or navigate through the directory path. Once you're there, make sure to select the checkbox for showing hidden files.
  • Now, within this directory, you'll find a file named .env.example. To rename it, follow the procedure shown in the snapshot. Simply rename .env.example to .env This step is crucial for configuring the database properly.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • After renaming the file to .env, open it and enter the database credentials that were created in Step 1. These credentials are necessary to establish a connection between the database and the application, enter the database credential we have already made. You can find all your database credentials, such as the database name, username, and password, by accessing the database tab from the server panel.
  • Enter the following database credential we have already created in ServerAvatar:
    • Database Name: Your Database name
    • Database Username: Your Username
    • Database password: Your Password
  • Moreover, set the APP_URL to “your domain url”.
  • Furthermore, you can set the Time Zone by making changes in APP_TIMEZONE='UTC'. This should use a PHP-supported timezone and should be enclosed in single quotes.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Setup your Outgoing Mail Settings:

  • Configuring outgoing mail settings is required for your Snipe-IT installation to send emails.
  • Without these settings, users won't be able to request a password reset if they get locked out, and your email alerts for expiring licenses and assets (etc) will not work. Additionally, asset acceptance and EULA requirements cannot be used on your system.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Don't forget to Save the changes you've made to the ".env" file.

Set Directory Permissions:

  • To fix the directory permissions, simply go to the Settings option within the application section. Click on the Fix Permission option from the “Fix File/Directory Ownership and Permission” section as shown in the below image.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • To establish a connection, access the SSH credentials from the application panel dashboard. Ensure that the SFTP/SSH Credentials option is enabled, as illustrated in the provided snapshot.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Execute the command to log in to the root user on your application in your terminal. ssh {username}@{ip}
  • Replace {username} with your actual username and {ip} with your server's IP address. You will be prompted to enter your password. After successful authentication, you will have remote access to your server. Enter the SSH Password to log in.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Go to the Public_html directory (by using commands ls and cd) and run the below commands.

    curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar php composer.phar install --no-dev --prefer-source

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • OPTIONAL: It is not required to install Composer globally, however, if you wish to, you can find the command as shown in the image below:

composer install --no-dev --prefer-source

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • The above command will install all the necessary packages.
  • After that run the command to generate an application key. This will set APP_KEY with the right value automatically.

php artisan key:generate

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Once you've executed these commands, you will have successfully configured both the database and the application.
  • When you open the Snip-IT by clicking on the link it will open the pre-flight page like the image below. Now, configure your Snipe-IT Pre-Flight with the required information.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • Once you've configured Snip-IT, you will see the login page like the image below.

Install and Setup Snipe-IT on Cloud using ServerAvatar

  • To log in to Snip-IT, use the credentials you have set during the configuration and setup process.
    • Username: Your Username
    • Password: Your Password