Vtiger Open Source CRM needs earnest capital for analyzing the requirements. Indeed, it requires reasoning of business demands and challenges. Further, this article provides comprehensive guidance for Vtiger CRM installation and basic configuration.
Unbinding the Mastership - Vtiger CRM Installation
Installation of Vtiger CRM is not tough these days. To clarify, no matter whatever operating systems you are using, like Windows and Linux. Indeed, find the step-by-step Vtiger open source CRM Installation procedure through different methods.
Installing Vtiger on Windows Operating System
Install Vtiger Open source CRM on a Windows host using the installer and from source. Further, here are the system requirements and prerequisites of installing Vtiger CRM.
System Requirements for Installing Vtiger open Source CRM
- Hardware Minimum: PC with at least an x486 Pentium 4 with 256 MB RAM and 200 MB free disk space. Recommended: x486 Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and 500 MB free disk space. In addition, if you want to store more documents then at least 1 GB is recommended.
- Web Browser Google Chrome, Firefox 2.x and above, Internet Explorer 6 and 7
- Operating system Windows XP, 2003, 2007 and Vista.
Installation Prerequisites for Vtiger Open Source CRM:
- Must have Administrator privileges on the system. Otherwise, you cannot install Vtiger CRM properly.
- Stop the Apache and MySQL services before installing Vtiger CRM.
Installation process of Vtiger on Windows Operating System
The condition to this installation is, your web-based software is new to you. In addition, your Windows system is fresh to host Vtiger, so here the special installer can help you out. Meanwhile, it contains Apache, PHP, and MySQL and all get installed along with Vtiger CRM.
Steps to be followed:
- 1. Download the latest version of Vtiger crm from http://sourceforge.net/
- 2. Save the file and run it to start the installation process
- 3. Click Next to continue with the installation
- 4. Read the License Agreement and click the 'I accept' checkbox and click on Next button
-
5. The Apache and MySQL Configuration Parameters page appears. By default the apache port is 8888 . If a message appears as this port is not free, select a different port.
And the MySQL port is 33307 by default. If a message appears as this port is not free, choose a different port. Provide the MySQL port, user name, and password. By default user name is root and the password is empty, you can change if required and then click on Next - 6. User and Currency Configuration screen prompts. Further, choose an Admin account password and admin email address. Moreover, select the primary currency to be used in Vtiger CRM
- 7. Select the installation directory from the Choose Install Location page. It's c:\program files\ by default
- 8. Click on Next and Select Start Menu Folder page. If you don't want to create a start menu folder, click the checkbox.
- 9. Then, Click on the Install button to start the installation process. Therefore, once installation is over, start the vtiger crm server. Further, it will launch a command window.
- 10. Now Vtiger installation is over and started. Most importantly, skip to the section using the Configuration Wizard.
Your windows computer or server has installed Vtiger CRM now. Further, installation completed using the prepackaged windows installer. Additionally, installation wizard steps allowed to set up Apache web server. Moreover, it allows PHP scripting language and MySQL database engine.
Installation of Vtiger CRM on Windows from Source
A Windows based web server environment can download and install Vtiger source code. Additionally, it installs along with Apache, PHP, and MySQL configuration. Further, it requires XAMP or WAMP stack already installed and configured. To clarify, then only it helps open source software. Moreover, if you are not familiar with these, try using the Windows installer. Most importantly, requires technical familiarity with administering Apache, PHP, and MySQL.
System Requirements for Installing on Windows from Source
- Hardware - Intel x86 with 512 MB RAM or more and at least 250 MB of disk space
- Web Browser - Firefox 2.x and above, Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Google Chrome
- Web Server - Apache version 2.0.40 or higher or Microsoft IIS 5 or higher
- Database - MySQL version 4.1.x through 5.1.x
- PHP - version 5.0.x through 5.2.x
Checking the System Configuration
Check for the proper system configuration before getting the source code and extracting it.
- 1. Enable the following extensions for PHP setup:
- GD
- OpenSSL
- IMAP
- Curl
- Zlib
- Mandatory
- Optional
- Mandatory
- Optional
- Mandatory
- Charts and graphs generation are dependent on this library
- Imap with OpenSSL should be enabled in case Mail server needs to be connected via SSL
- Webmails Module is dependent on this library
- Needed for data transfer
- For compression
- 2. Verify that your PHP configuration file (php.ini) meets the recommended values:
Variable
zend.ze1_compatibility_mode
allow_call_time_reference
error_reporting
safe_mode
display_errors
file_uploads
max_execution_time
memory_limit
log_errors
output_buffering
register_globals
short_open_tag
Value
off
on
E_WARNING & ~E_NOTICE
off
on
on
600
32M
off
on
off
On
- 3. Download the Vtiger CRM latest version source code.
- 4. Extract the downloaded file into your root web directory on Apache. A Windows 7zip program is required to extract this tar.gz file.
- 5. Provide read and write access to the web server user for the following files and folders and all of their subdirectories:
Files, Folders and subdirectories:
config.inc.php
tabdata.php
install.php
test/user/
parent_tabdata.php
cache
storage/
install/
cache/images/
user_privileges/
Smarty/cache/
test/contact/
cache/import/
modules/Emails/templates/
test/logo/
Smarty/templates_c/
cron/modules/
test/vtlib/
modules/
backup/
Smarty/templates/modules/
test/wordtemplatedownload/
logs/
modules/Webmails/tmp/
test/product/
- 6. In a browser, navigate to the index.php file where you have extracted Vtiger CRM to continue with the Configuration Wizard. Skip to the section entitled using the Configuration Wizard to continue.
Now Vtiger CRM source code is downloaded and installed manually on a Windows computer or server.
Installing Vtiger Open Source CRM on Linux Operating System
Linux operating systems have many distributions and different versions. Vtiger CRM can be installed on Linux Host using the LAMP stack which already includes the essentials of open source CRM software usage. The most commonly used version with a large community and easy to use is Ubuntu and the latest Long Term Support (LTS) release, 10.04 called Lucid Lynx is used, as it includes compatible versions PHP and Vtiger. All instructions will be given using the command line and it is recommended to use these exact instructions on your desktop.
System Requirements for Installing on Linux
- Hardware - Minimum: PC with at least x486 Pentium 4 with 256 MB RAM and 200 MB free disk space. Recommended: x486 Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and 500 MB free disk space and 1 GB is highly recommended
- Web Browser - Google Chrome, Firefox 1.5.x and above
- Operating system - Debian 4.0/5.0, Centos up-to 5.2, Fedora Core 6/9 (Ubuntu is a Debian-based system).
Installing Vtiger open source CRM on Linux from source
Installing and configuring Vtiger on an Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS system by installing the required Apache, PHP, and MySQL packages and then installing the Vtiger Source Code. It's not guaranteed that earlier versions of Ubuntu will work properly. If it doesn’t work, upgrade the Ubuntu version or download the latest version and install it.
Be familiar with the apt-get process of installing packages to perform installation on Ubuntu Linux. The packages will be installed from Ubuntu servers over the Internet, so connect your Ubuntu computer to the Internet. Vtiger CRM can be installed and configured by a tech savvy person on a Linux system. The installation would be successful only by installing through the tested steps.
Getting Started with Vtiger Open Source CRM
Start entering company- related data like our contacts, our leads, our accounts—all that good stuff.
A. Entering Company Data
Entering your company data is the first thing to do through Settings. This data will be used on system correspondence like template emails and PDF documents such as invoices and purchase orders.
B. Importing Customer Data
Now you are ready to start importing customer data, start importing some leads. This process is the same for importing leads, accounts, contacts, and potentials. You can only import a .csv file (comma separated values) to make sure that you save the excel file in CSV format before trying to import it. It also helps to have meaningful headers in your data. This will make the data mapping process easier. Try importing only a few records before importing everything just to make sure you’ve mapped everything properly. Also, use a CSV file format that wraps all of the values in commas so they can contain commas. Prepare CSV file neat with meaningful headers and start the process by clicking Import icon from Sales | Leads. Some of your leads are imported into Vtiger. Use the same process to import accounts, contacts, and potentials. Each of them will have their unique set of fields to deal with.
C. Creating Users and Setting
Permissions A very smart role-based security model is available in Vtiger. Users can be created with following different access:
- Create your users with full access
- Control a user's access to specific modules
- Restrict access to specific fields
Create complex permission structures by creating any custom fields that can be included in the structure. User model consists of profiles, roles, and users. By default, there are four profiles in Vtiger - Administrator, Sales, Support, and Guest. Setting up your team in Vtiger CRM by creating relevant profiles, roles, and users for the team.
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Setting up User Permissions
Set up the Sales Manager with full access and a sales representative with partial access to the sales profile. Go to Settings | Profiles and Click the New Profile button. Create a user that has view-only access to everything, perhaps for an investor. You may also have a partner company who sends leads and you want them to have view / create / edit access to leads.
D. Configuring E-mail
Vtiger CRM sends email messages automatically from time to time, like calendar event notifications, messages generated by workflow, etc,. Configure the Outgoing Server settings in the Settings section. Click the Edit button if this is not your first time and fill out the fields for Gmail SMTP server. If you are not using Gmail email service, never specify port number and click Save. Now your Vtiger CRM is ready to send outgoing messages.
Setting up the Mail Client
Set up the Webmail client to check out incoming email from within Vtiger. Go to My Home Page| Webmail and link Incoming Mail Server Settings, if it's your first time. If it's not your first time logging in, get the IMAP server information from your email service provider or from your in-house IT manager or system administrator. Fill out all of the information required, such as the server name/IP address and SSL options and click on Save. Now view the email in our inbox without leaving Vtiger from My Home Page | Webmail.
Submission Process: Basic Steps
E. Configuring Vtiger CRM Backup
Configure the backup to protect information and time invested into Vtiger. Backup feature of Vtiger secures data and the processes which have been set in place in Vtiger CRM. Go to Settings | Backup Server and initially set up local backup by creating a backup folder. Enter that location into the Backup Location field on the Backup Server screen. Set up a backup to an FTP server to have an onsite and an offsite backup for the database. Get the FTP server details from your FTP hosting provider or system administrator or your IT person. Your Vtiger open source CRM is ready to backup onsite and offsite now.
Configuration files and stored documents will not be backed up by this process. Vtiger CRM's entire file system backup can be done by System administrator through a regular backup schedule set up. It will back up CRM data to a folder on the local hosted computer. A remote FTP server backup will protect data from any physical disaster from the Vtiger CRM hosted location.
Wrap Up
Vtiger Open Source CRM can be installed in your first try with the help of given instruction. Once installed and configured, Input your Data and Work Around to get started. Start using Vtiger Open Source CRM in day-to-day business life easily, stay updated with your company data and keep information of reports at your fingertip. We build products over WordPress, VtigerCRM, SuiteCRM and other open sources join with us Reseller Partner. This article walks you through each step of the Vtiger open source CRM installation and configuration. Get various Vtiger Open Source CRM extensions in bundle pack now. If you need any questions or enquiries, please write to us [email protected]