Install IceHrm on Linux

Table of Contents

Selecting a Server to Install IceHrm #

We recommend using a Linux server to install IceHrm. When selecting a OS for the server, select an OS version with long-term support. For this tutorial we will be installing IceHrm on a VPS (virtual private server) running Ubuntu 22.04 (LTS). For creating a VPS you may use a provider like AWS, Linode or DigitalOcean. Here we will be using a droplet from DigitalOcean.

After you get the credential for your server, connect to it via SSH.

Install PHP #

IceHrm is a PHP-based application. You should have PHP 7.4, 8.0 or 8.1 to run IceHrm on your server.

Install PHP and supporting modules with the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.1-fpm php8.1-cli  php8.1-mysql php8.1-zip
sudo apt install php8.1-opcache php8.1-curl php8.1-common php8.1-xml

Install MySQL #

IceHrm needs a database to store all the data related to the application. IceHrm uses MySQL as the data storage, which is a popular database management system. Current MySQL version is 8.0.34 which is supported by IceHrm.

Install MySQL by running the following command:

sudo apt install mysql-server

Once the installation has been completed, it is advisable to initiate a security script that is included with MySQL by default. This script is designed to eliminate certain insecure default configurations and secure access to your database system.

To commence the interactive script, execute the following command:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

You will be asked if you want to validate password strength. If you select Yes, then all user passwords need to pass a certain security criteria. But it’s still safe to keep this disabled. Just type <Enter / Return> key when prompted.

Connecting to MySQL using a blank password.

VALIDATE PASSWORD COMPONENT can be used to test passwords
and improve security. It checks the strength of password
and allows the users to set only those passwords which are
secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD component?

Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No:

Select “Yes” for remove anonymous users prompt.

Remove anonymous users? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) :

Select “Yes” for Disallow root login remotely. This will prevent attackers from trying to guess root password and access your database.

Disallow root login remotely? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) :

Select “Yes” for the prompt Remove test database and access to it

Remove test database and access to it? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) :

Finally, select “Yes” to Reload privilege tables.

Reload privilege tables now? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) :

You can use the following command to login as the root user.

sudo mysql

Inorder

Install Nginx #

IceHrm is a web application. It needs a web server to run. IceHrm is tested on both Nginx and Apache Web Servers. But we recommend using Nginx web server as we primarily test IceHrm on Nginx.

To install Nginx, use:

sudo apt install nginx

When prompted, press Y and ENTER to confirm that you want to install Nginx. Once the installation is finished, the Nginx web server will be active and running on your Ubuntu 22.04 server.

Allow incoming HTTP traffic to your server:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'
sudo service nginx restart

Find the IP address of your server and visit the default Nginx page from your server:

http://157.230.XXX.XXX

This will load the following default nginx page:

Prepare Nginx Configuration #

To run PHP applications, some nginx configurations need to be updated. The page you’ve seen above is coming from the default nginx configuration. We should first disable the default site.

Nginx store site configuration files on path /etc/nginx/sites-available. But these are symlinked and loaded from /etc/nginx/sites-enabled directory. Delete the symlink to the default site configuration in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled.

sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Now create the nginx site configuration for IceHrm: 

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/icehrm

Copy the following content into the file:

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

	# SSL configuration
	#
	# listen 443 ssl default_server;
	# listen [::]:443 ssl default_server;

	root /var/www/icehrm;

	# Add index.php to the list if you are using PHP
	index index.php;

	server_name _;

    # For Rest API
    location /app/api/ {
        try_files $uri /app/api/index.php?/$uri&$args;
    }

    # Prevent access to data directory
    location /app/data/ {
        deny all;
        return 404;
    }
    
    # prevent access to the core directory
    location /core/ {
        deny all;
        return 404;
    }

    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|css|js|ico|xml)$ {
        expires 5d;
    }

	# pass PHP scripts to FastCGI server

	location ~ \.php$ {
		include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;

		# With php-fpm (or other unix sockets):
		fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
	}

	# deny access to .htaccess files, if Apache's document root
	# concurs with nginx's one

	location ~ /\.ht {
		deny all;
	}
}

Use Ctrl + X to save and quit from nano editor.

Now create a symlink in sites-enabled directory

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/icehrm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/icehrm

Check Nginx configuration:

If the following command isn’t successful, that means you’ve made some mistake wile updating the configuration. Probably on the step where you’ve updated the icehrm nginx site configuration file.

sudo nginx -t

Restart Nginx:

sudo service nginx restart

Download IceHrm Opensource #

IMPORTANT: Do you have an active license for IceHrmPro? Then go to the next section (Download IceHrmPro).

First install unzip

apt install unzip

You can download the open-source version of IceHrm from github latest release. On the release page copy the link to the release zip file.

Use the link to the release file to download IceHrm

cd /var/www
wget https://github.com/gamonoid/icehrm/releases/download/v32.4.0.OS/icehrm_v32.4.0.OS.zip
unzip icehrm_v32.4.0.OS.zip
sudo rm icehrm_v32.4.0.OS.zip
sudo mv icehrm_v32.4.0.OS icehrm
chown -R www-data:www-data icehrm

Download IceHrmPro #

If you have purchased IceHrmPro, you should have received an email containing the download link for IceHrmPro.

First install unzip

apt install unzip

Use the link in email to download IceHrmPro:

cd /var/www
wget -O icehrmpro.zip <link to download icehrm pro>
unzip icehrmpro.zip
cd v32.4.1.PRO # the version can be different, run ls, to find exact version
cp -r icehrm_v32.4.1.PRO ../icehrm
cd ..
rm icehrmpro.zip
rm -r v32.4.1.PRO
chown -R www-data:www-data icehrm

Create the Database #

The next step is to create the IceHrm Database.

First login to mysql as root:

sudo mysql

Create a database for IceHrm:

create database icehrm;

Create a user (replace <password> with a secure password)

create user 'icehrm_user'@'localhost' identified by '<password>';

Grant privileges to the new user:

grant all on icehrm.* to 'icehrm_user'@'localhost';

Install the Application #

Visit the default URL of the nginx (IP address or hostname of the server with HTTP) to complete the installation. You should see a page similar to the following.

Update the correct database name, database user and password. Then click “Test Database Connectivity” button.

After the database connection is established, you can click “Install Application” to complete the installation.

Then you can login to Icehrm with default user/password which is admin/admin. Please change this password once you logged in.

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