Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Magento on CentOS 8

by

Magento is a leading open-source e-commerce platform renowned for its ability to help businesses launch fully-functional online stores swiftly. Developed in PHP using the Zend Framework, it employs an Entity Attribute Value (EAV) database model. Magento offers a user-friendly interface, allowing seamless customization of your online store to effectively showcase and sell your products and services.

This guide provides a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial on installing Magento on CentOS 8, including securing it with a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.

Requirements

  • A server running CentOS 8 with at least 2 GB of RAM.
  • A valid domain name pointed to your server IP.
  • Root access to the server.

Step 1: Install LEMP Server

Begin by installing Nginx, MariaDB, PHP, and required PHP libraries. Execute the following command:

dnf install nginx mariadb-server php php-cli php-mysqlnd php-opcache php-xml php-gd php-soap php-bcmath php-intl php-mbstring php-json php-iconv php-fpm php-zip unzip git -y

After installation, start Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP-FPM services, ensuring they are enabled on startup:

systemctl start nginx
 systemctl start mariadb
 systemctl start php-fpm
 systemctl enable nginx
 systemctl enable mariadb
 systemctl enable php-fpm

Next, you need to tweak PHP settings:

nano /etc/php.ini

Modify the following parameters:

memory_limit =512M
upload_max_filesize = 200M
zlib.output_compression = On
max_execution_time = 300
date.timezone = Asia/Kolkata

Save and close the file when finished.

Step 2: Configure the Database

To secure MariaDB, run the following security script:

mysql_secure_installation

Answer the prompts similarly to the following:

Enter current password for root (enter for none): 
Set root password? [Y/n] Y
New password: 
Re-enter new password: 
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] Y
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] Y
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] Y
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] Y

After securing MariaDB, log in to the database shell:

mysql -u root -p

Create a database and user for Magento:

CREATE DATABASE magentodb;
 GRANT ALL ON magentodb.* TO magento@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Flush privileges and exit the database shell:

flush privileges;
 exit;

Step 3: Configure PHP-FPM for Magento

To set up PHP-FPM for Magento, create the following configuration file:

nano /etc/php-fpm.d/magento.conf

Insert these lines:

[magento]
user = nginx
group = nginx
listen.owner = nginx
listen.group = nginx
listen = /run/php-fpm/magento.sock
pm = ondemand
pm.max_children =  50
pm.process_idle_timeout = 10s
pm.max_requests = 500
chdir = /

Save the changes and restart the PHP-FPM service:

systemctl restart php-fpm

Step 4: Download and Setup Magento

Proceed by downloading Magento with the command:

cd /var/www/html
 wget https://github.com/magento/magento2/archive/2.3.zip

Extract the downloaded file:

unzip 2.3.zip

Change the directory to ‘magento2’:

mv magento2-2.3 magento2

Now, install Composer to manage Magento dependencies:

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
 mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer

Navigate to the Magento directory and install necessary dependencies:

cd /var/www/html/magento2
 composer update
 composer install

Set up Magento crontab to automate tasks:

./bin/magento cron:install

You can verify the setup using:

crontab -l

Ensure appropriate permissions on the Magento directory:

chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/html/magento2
 chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/magento2

Step 5: Configure Nginx for Magento

Create an Nginx virtual host configuration file:

nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/magento.conf

Add the following configuration:

upstream fastcgi_backend {
  server unix:/run/php-fpm/magento.sock;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name magento.linuxbuz.com;

    set $MAGE_ROOT /var/www/html/magento2;
    set $MAGE_MODE developer;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/magento-access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/magento-error.log;

    include /var/www/html/magento2/nginx.conf.sample;
}

Apply the changes by restarting the services:

systemctl restart php-fpm
 systemctl restart nginx

Step 6: Configure SELinux and Firewall

Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic through the firewall:

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
 firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
 firewall-cmd --reload

Disable SELinux enforcement temporarily to avoid potential conflicts:

semanage permissive -a httpd_t

Step 7: Secure Magento with Let’s Encrypt SSL

Download and set permissions for Certbot:

wget https://dl.eff.org/certbot-auto
 mv certbot-auto /usr/local/bin/certbot-auto
 chown root /usr/local/bin/certbot-auto
 chmod 0755 /usr/local/bin/certbot-auto

Acquire and apply an SSL certificate to your domain:

certbot-auto --nginx -d magento.linuxbuz.com

Provide the required information and agree to the terms of service. Upon successful verification, choose to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS for better security.

Step 8: Access and Finalize Magento Setup

Now, navigate to https://magento.linuxbuz.com to access the Magento setup wizard. Follow the prompts to complete the installation as shown by the screenshots below:

Magento installer

Once completed, your Magento store will be ready. Access your store’s admin interface using https://magento.linuxbuz.com/admin_your_random_string and begin customizing your store!

FAQ

  • Q: Can I install Magento on a server with less RAM?
    A: While Magento recommends at least 2 GB of RAM, it might operate with less, but performance could be degraded.
  • Q: Why do I need Let’s Encrypt SSL?
    A: SSL encrypts the connection, increasing security for your visitors. Let’s Encrypt offers free SSL certificates.
  • Q: Is SELinux mandatory?
    A: Enforcing SELinux can provide security benefits, but configuring it correctly can be complex. Temporarily making it permissive simplifies setup.