Deployment

The following documentation will guide you through the installation of an erxes project using Docker image via Dockerhub that can be used on Ubuntu in order to use erxes. This the guideline will be dedicated to anyone who is about to use erxes for their businesses. If you want to customize or develop additional plugins on erxes, please go to the developer installation guideline.

Docker is an open source platform that allows to develop, ship and run applications by using containers (i.e. packages containing all the parts an application needs to function, such as libraries and dependencies).

Prerequisites

You will need following things before dive into erxes installation.

  • any type of server with 4 core cpu & atleast 8gb ram
  • domain controller's A record must pointed to the instance you are going to install erxes on
  • ability to connect to your instance via ssh protocol
  • basic knowledges to work on ubuntu operating system such as execute commands in user directory

Installation

Create an erxes user on the instance

Assuming you have connected to your instance and ready to execute following steps. First you need to create erxes user because all erxes related installation scripts are made for erxes user. Why? You don't want to use root user to administer your server. So everything will be done by a user called, erxes. To accomplish this, run the following command:

adduser erxes

When prompted, enter unique & strong password. (Finish adding the user simply by pressing the enter or return key through the questions)

Grant adminstrative rights to erxes user by following command:

usermod -aG sudo erxes

All prerequisites are completed now you can proceed to installation steps.

Installation steps

1. Create install.sh file using text editors such as nano or vim. Then copy the following content into install.sh. Following script will install nginx, certbot, docker, docker-compose and nodejs into your server.

#!/bin/bash
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 1 $now : Updating \e[0m"
        sudo apt-get update -y
        # nginx install
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 2 $now : Installing nginx\e[0m"
        sudo apt install nginx -y
        # docker install
        sudo apt update -y
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 3 $now : Installing docker\e[0m"
        sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common -y
        curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
        sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal stable"
        apt-cache policy docker-ce
        sudo apt install docker-ce -y
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 4 $now : Installing certbot\e[0m"
        sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 5 $now : Installing docker-compose\e[0m"
        sudo apt-get update -y
        sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.27.4/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
        sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 6 $now : Installing nodejs\e[0m"
            curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.38.0/install.sh | bash
        #new directory
        sudo apt-get install nodejs -y
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 7 $now : Installing awscli\e[0m"
        sudo apt-get install awscli -y
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 8 $now : Installing npm\e[0m"
        sudo apt install npm -y
            now=$(date +'%H:%M:%S')
            echo -e "\e[1mStep 9 $now : Please enter erxes informations\e[0m"
        sudo npm install -g create-erxes-app -y
            create-erxes-app erxes

2. Before execute script the use below command to make install.sh file executable.

sudo chmod +x install.sh

3. Execute install.sh file.

./install.sh

4. After above steps logout and relogin to your server using erxes user. In order to logout from server give following command:

exit

✏️ Note

you might want to enter command few times if you logged in as root user before.

We will use ssh protocol to access to server. Use below command:

ssh erxes@your-ip address-address

Starting erxes project

1. Below command will trigger erxes installation process.

create-erxes-app erxes

After the execution it will ask your erxes domain name

https://example.com

✏️ Note

Please use full domain or subdomain names including http socket like below

2. After the above command erxes directory will be created. That includes following files in it docker-compose.yml, configs.json, package.json, nginx config. In order to change to erxes directory use below command.

cd /home/erxes/erxes

3. Change erxes package version of /home/erxes/erxes/package.json file to latest version.

{
  "name": "erxes",
  "private": true,
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "scripts": {
    "erxes": "erxes"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "amqplib": "^0.8.0",
    "create-erxes-app": "0.0.28",
    "dup": "^1.0.0",
    #Change here
    "erxes": "change me",
    "ip": "^1.1.5",
    "up": "^1.0.2"
  }
}

4. Now you need to initiate docker swarm mode in order to do that use following command.

docker swarm init
docker network create --driver=overlay --attachable erxes

✏️ Note

In erxes directory we have docker-compose.yml file even with that we do not use docker-compose up, docker-compose down, docker-compose restart commands further

5. Before start application services we need to start databases. Following command will start database services.

npm run erxes deploy-dbs

6. To check database services up use following command it will shows you all running docker services id, name and state etc.

docker ps -a | grep mongo

wait until all services state become up. 7. Now we need to make our mongo have replica set. First we need to enter mongo container then enter mongo instance then execute command following 3 commands will do.

docker exec -it <mongo container name> bash
mongo -u erxes -p <auto generated password in configs.json>
rs.initiate();

✏️ Note

you may want to hit return or enter button few times if we done correctly mongo shell will changes into "RS0: primary"

To quit mongo instance and container run exit command twice.

8. Now we need to create locales directory in our working directory /home/erxes/erxes to do that use following command.

mkdir locales

9. Start application services like erxes core uis and gateway services we run following command.

npm run erxes up -- --uis

After this step ui will be downloaded from AWS:s3 so make sure your server can communicate AWS instances without problem

✏️ Note

Containers are generated one by one, so wait until they finish reading. Meanwhile check for the status using

docker ps -a

To check docker services use

docker service ls

all erxes services needs to be up state Wait until gateway container status becomes healthy also gateway container needs to be start at last.

10. Now we need to setup our web server first we need to configure our nginx.service for erxes to do that we need to move nginx.conf generated by create-app-erxes erxes locates in /home/erxes/erxes to /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/. To do that use following command.

sudo mv nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/erxes.conf

11. After that we need to test nginx config. To do that use following command.

sudo nginx -t

If something goes wrong you can replace /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/nginx.conf to following content

server {
        server_name example.com;
        index index.html;
        client_max_body_size 50M;
        client_header_buffer_size 32k;

        location / {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-front.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-front.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
                proxy_redirect off;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        }

        location /widgets/ {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-widgets.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-widgets.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3200/;
                proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
                proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
                proxy_set_header Host $host;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
        }

        location /gateway/ {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-api.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-api.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3300/;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
                proxy_buffering off;
                proxy_redirect off;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
                proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
                proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
        }

        location /mobile-app/ {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-mobile-app.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-mobile-app.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4100/;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
                proxy_buffering off;
                proxy_redirect off;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
                proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
                proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
        }

        location /integrations/ {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-integrations.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-integrations.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3400/;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
                proxy_redirect off;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        }
        location /dashboard/front {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-integrations.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-integrations.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4200;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
                proxy_redirect off;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        }

        location /dashboard/api/ {
                access_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-integrations.access.log;
                error_log /var/log/nginx/erxes-integrations.error.log;
                proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4300/;
                proxy_http_version 1.1;
                proxy_redirect off;
                proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
                proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
                proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        }
    }

12. If nginx test shows successful message we need to restart Nginx. To do that use following command.

sudo service nginx restart

13. Erxes only works in secure connection to generate free ssl certificate we use Certbot. To configure that use following command.

sudo certbot --nginx

✏️ Note

you have to point your domain's A record to your erxes host machine in order to get certificate without that certbot will not generate certificate order.

After entering this command, provide your email and subscription information, and accept the terms. Following that, you will be prompted about the 'redirect' option. We highly recommend enabling this option for security reasons. Once these steps are completed, open your browser and enjoy our product.

Adding new plugins to erxes

Adding new plugins to erxes is easy task all you need to is add plugin name under "plugins:"[{}] in /home/erxes/erxes/configs.json file then run npm run erxes up -- --uis command. But for some plugins like dashboard does require some extra service we will discuss that in another section. Below we have ideal configs.json file content that includes every nessacery configuration lines for all plugins. Please read following contents carefully some lines need some replacement.

{
    "jwt_token_secret": "will be generated in configs.json",
    "db_server_address": "ip address of your machine",
    "image_tag": "dev",
    "domain": "https://example.com",
    "widgets": {
        "domain": "https://example.com/widgets"
    },
    "elasticsearch": {},
    "essyncer": {},
    "redis": {
        "password": "will be generated in configs.json"
    },

    "mongo": {
        "username": "erxes",
        "password": "will be generated in configs.json",
    },
    "rabbitmq": {
        "cookie": "",
        "user": "erxes",
        "pass": "will be generated in configs.json",
        "vhost": ""
    },

    "plugins": [
        {
            "name": "inbox",
            "extra_env": {
                "INTEGRATIONS_MONGO_URL": "will be generated in docker-compose-dbs.yml",
                "FB_MONGO_URL": "will be generated in docker-compose-dbs.yml"
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "cards"
        },
        {
            "name": "contacts"
        },
        {
            "name": "internalnotes"
        },
        {
            "name": "notifications"
        },
        {
            "name": "automations",
            "db_name": "erxes_automations"
        },
        {
            "name": "products"
        },
        {
            "name": "forms"
        },
        {
            "name": "inventories"
        },
        {
            "name": "segments"
        },
        {
            "name": "tags"
        },
        {
            "name": "engages"
        },
        {
            "name": "logs",
            "db_name": "erxes_logger"
        },
        {
            "name": "clientportal",
            "extra_env": {
                "JWT_TOKEN_SECRET": ""
                    }
        },
        {
            "name": "webbuilder"
        },
        {
            "name": "knowledgebase"
        },
        {
            "name": "emailtemplates"
        },
        {
            "name": "integrations",
            "db_name": "erxes_integrations",
            "extra_env": {
                "ENDPOINT_URL": "https://enterprise.erxes.io"
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "dashboard"
        },
        {
            "name": "documents"
        },
        {
            "name": "filemanager"
        },
        {
            "name": "facebook",
            "extra_env": {
                "ENDPOINT_URL": "https://enterprise.erxes.io",
                "MONGO_URL": "will be generated in docker-compose-dbs.yml"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Adding dashboard plugin

As we mentioned earlier dashboard plugin requires some extra step to install. First we need to generate certificate for mongobi to do that use following commands.

openssl rand -base64 756 > mongo-key
    sudo chmod 400 mongo-key && sudo chown 999:999 mongo-key
    openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout key.pem -x509 -days 365 -out certificate.pem --batch
    cat key.pem certificate.pem > mongo.pem

It will generate mongobi certificate. After we need to add mongobi to configs.json file locates in /home/erxes/erxes/configs.json like below.

 "mongo": {
        "username": "erxes",
        "password": "will be generated in configs.json",
    },
    "mongobi:{},

At last run npm run erxes up -- --uis.

✏️ Note

Everytime we change configs.json we do npm run erxes up -- --uis command to apply change.

Running elasticsearch

If your server is bigger than our required size you can use erxes with elasticsearch. To do that following steps need to be taken.

1. Go into /home/erxes/erxes

cd /home/erxes/erxes

2. Add following lines to configs.json positions does not matter.

"essyncer": {},
"elasticsearch" : {},

3. Then run deploy dbs again with following command.

npm run erxes deploy-dbs
npm run erxes up -- --uis

Removing erxes

1. First this is sad but every server need to be tidy following few commands will remove docker stack and dangling containers of swarm.

docker stack ls

will show you stack informations. To leave that use following command.

docker stack rm erxes

2. To remove all dangling containers use following commands.

List and remove all dangling images.

docker images -f dangling=true
docker rmi $(docker images -q -f dangling=true)

List and remove all dangling containers.

docker ps -a -f status=exited
docker rm $(docker ps -a -q -f status=exited)

List and remove all dangling volumes

✏️ Note

volumes might have data in it so do it with your responsibility

docker volume ls -f dangling=true
docker volume rm $(docker volume ls -q -f dangling=true)

Installation video

Joining erxes community

If you have any trouble with installation please create issues in our github or seek help from our community in discord

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