SNIPE-IT Installation on Ubuntu Server (NGINX)

February 21 2021

Jay Singh Open Source, Snipe-IT 39

In this blog post, we will look at SNIPE-IT installation on Ubuntu Server with NGINX web server.

Last updated on 9th of March 2021

Check-out step-by-step video demonstration of SNIPE-IT installation.

Requirements for this guide to follow

Ubuntu server up and running
Static IP assigned to the server
Internet connectivity
Logged in with user account created during Ubuntu server installation or Root user (logging in as root not recommended)

Table of Contents

1. Connect to Ubuntu server

Highly recommend to use a SSH client for connectivity and it will make easy to copy/paste commands as compare to directly interacting with your Ubuntu server console.
I will be using Putty as SSH client. Here is the direct link to download Putty or you could use your preferred SSH client.

OpenSSH server status/installation

OpenSSH is already installed. You can check SSH server status

sudo service ssh status

If Open SSH server is not installed, you can install it by using the following commands:

sudo apt install OpenSSH-Server

Verify Open SSH server status

sudo service ssh status

Open SSH server’s configuration file is located here, file name is sshd_config. Open SSH should work out of the box, however, you can edit it if needed with your preferred choice of editor

cd /etc/ssh

2. Update/Upgrade installed packages

Update and upgrade installed packages on Ubuntu server. You will need to run this command as sudo and enter ‘y’ when prompted to confirm.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

3. Install NGINX, MySQL, PHP and PHP FPM

Install NGINX
```
sudo apt install nginx
```
Install MySQL
```
sudo apt install mysql-server
```

Install PHP and PHP-FPM

sudo add-apt-repository universe

sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysql

Check versions

MySQL server version
```
sudo mysql -V
```
NGINX version
```
sudo nginx -V
```
PHP Version
```
sudo php --version
```

Test Installation

NGINX: Browse to IP address of your server and you should see NGINX generic web page
MySQL: Run the following command to see the status of MySQL Server
```
sudo service mysql status
```

4. Create a new site and test PHP

In this step, we will create a new site for Snipe-IT, disable default site and test php. Also, we will restart the relevant services. We will come back to this later and update the root folder once SNIPE-IT is downloaded.

Create new site with name ams.teknex.com.au, you can update this name if you like to something else
```
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/ams.teknex.com.au
```

Add site content as follows, update Directory if you download Snipe-IT in a different folder and Server Name to your Ubuntu Server’s IP address

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

    server_name  172.24.200.95;
    root   /var/www/html;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    
    access_log /var/log/nginx/ams.teknex.com.au.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/ams.teknex.com.au.error.log;


    location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
      }

    location ~ \.php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
         include fastcgi_params;
         fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
         fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
    }
}

Line number	Config	Update
5	server_name	Enter your server’s IP Address/Host Name
9	access_log	Update name of your website
10	error_log	Update name of your website
20	location ~ \.php$	Update PHP-FPM version in fastcgi_pass

Easiest way to check PHP-FPM version is by typing the following in the terminal and hit tab. This should populate the value as shown below. For instance if your PHP-FPM version is 7.4 then enter the value as php7.4-fpm.

php-fpm

Enable new site

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/ams.teknex.com.au /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Disable default site

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

Restart Nginx
```
sudo service nginx restart
```

PHP: Create a simple PHP page and browse to IP_Address/phpinfo.php

sudo bash -c "echo -e '<?php\nphpinfo();\n?>' > /var/www/html/phpinfo.php"

Do not proceed further if PHP is not working

5. Download Snipe-IT

Clone recent version of Snipe-IT from GIT into a local folder snipeit.

Working directory is /var/www
```
cd /var/www/
```

Clone Snipe-IT to local folder snipeit

sudo git clone https://github.com/snipe/snipe-it snipeit

Make a copy of .env environmental file

cd /var/www/snipeit

sudo cp .env.example .env

If you like, you can have a quick look inside the .env file with nano editor. We will come back to this file later on. Don’t make any changes to the file and use Ctrl + X to exit
```
sudo nano .env
```

6. Configure MySQL Server

Run MySQL secure installation command line wizard and secure the installation.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

yes or no, if you would like to install Validate Password Plugin (I selected no for this in my lab environment)
The next part offers you to change the password for the root of MySQL and enter password twice
The next option to remove anonymous users, I will choose Yes
The next option to stop root login remotely, I would go for no
Reload privileges table: Yes
You will see, “All done”, once it is all done

7. Create an initial database and a user

In this step, we will create database, user and grant specific privileges to new user.

Database	snipeit_db
User	snipeit_user
Password	password

Login to MySQL server, provide password for MySQL root user when it prompts
```
sudo mysql -u root -p
```
Create new database snipeit_db
```
CREATE DATABASE snipeit_db;
```

Create new user snipeit_user

CREATE USER 'snipeit_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Grant permissions to sipeit_user on database snipeit_db

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON snipeit_db.* TO 'snipeit_user'@'localhost';

Verify permissions

Show GRANTS FOR 'snipeit_user'@'localhost';

Flush privileges
```
flush privileges;
```
Quit
```
quit;
```
Restart MySQL service
```
sudo service mysql restart
```
Check MySQL service status
```
sudo service mysql status
```

8. Update .env file

Let’s update .env file with the required information.

cd /var/www/snipeit

sudo nano .env

Update the following:

App_URL
DB_DATABASE
DB_USERNAME
DB_PASSWORD

9. Update folder permissions

Update folder permissions in the Snipe-IT root directory

Working directory is /var/www/snipeit
```
cd /var/www/snipeit
```

Update permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/snipeit/

sudo chmod -R 755 storage

sudo chmod -R 755 public/uploads

10. Download Composer

Working directory is logged in user’s home directory. In my case it is /home/snipeit

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

sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer

11. Install PHP dependencies

There are a number of PHP dependencies, ensure these all are successfully installed.
Working directory: Home directory of logged in user

sudo add-apt-repository universe

sudo apt-get install -y git unzip php php-curl php-mysql php-gd php-ldap php-zip php-mbstring php-xml php-bcmath php-tokenizer

12. Install Composer

Working directory: /var/www/snipeit

cd /var/www/snipeit

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

13. Generate App Key for .env file

Run the following command and enter yes when prompted

sudo php artisan key:generate

Verify the key generation

Open .env file and check APP_KEY value

sudo nano .env

14. Update Snipe-IT site

We created a site earlier and in this step we will update the root folder.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/ams.teknex.com.au

Update the root to the following:

/var/www/snipeit/public

Restart the web server

sudo service nginx restart

15. Snipe-IT pre-flight setup

Browse to IP address of your Ubuntu server and you should see the pre-flight page. Follow the prompts and you are done!!

Your feedback is important for us and other users. Leave it in the comments how did you go with your setup 🙂

Liked it? Take a second to support Jay Singh on Patreon!

39 Comments

TAN WEI KANG
March 30, 2021 @ 2:32 pm

hi i have a problem SQLSTATE[42S21]

Reply
Val Wong
June 1, 2021 @ 3:37 pm

Hi Jay!
Thanks for the tutorial. I really enjoy your teaching style. Concise, to the point, and easy to understand. And your blog is phenomenal. Appreciate your work

Reply
- Jay Singh
  June 2, 2021 @ 5:16 pm
  
  Hi Val,
  
  You are welcome. I am glad you find my videos and tutorial helpful.
  
  Cheers!
  Jay
  
  Reply
Adam
July 8, 2021 @ 3:47 pm

I installed snipe-it together with zabbix so I cannot go to last step. is there any link to go to pre flight?

Reply
- Jay Singh
  July 8, 2021 @ 6:01 pm
  
  your_ip_address/setup is the direct link to pre-flight.
  
  If both services are running on the same port, then there will be an issue.
  
  Reply
  - Adam
    July 8, 2021 @ 6:35 pm
    
    yeah, same port 80. Hurm
    
    Reply
isai
August 18, 2021 @ 10:59 pm

me dice error en el server

Reply
LUCASAR
August 19, 2021 @ 12:21 am

Very userful and well done tutorial and explanations. Thanks.
Can I install it on win 10, but isnt server? Cheers!

Reply
Charly
September 15, 2021 @ 5:12 am

Hi Jay, Thanks, it is a great tutorial…

Reply
- Jay Singh
  September 15, 2021 @ 4:22 pm
  
  Glad to hear you find it helpful.
  
  Reply
Jain
October 26, 2021 @ 8:31 pm

I am installed SnipeIT on my Ubuntu 20 server. suddenly I can’t login with any user or admin credentials. what is this issue? I have checked on my mysql DB but in the users table I can see only admin name but also I could not login with admin credentials. ? I am fed up.

Reply
Edwin Yongo
October 29, 2021 @ 11:21 am

Hey, Great video and tutorial, would you mind doing one where you update an existing system, would the php upgrade.php command work? after using your steps?
thanks

Reply
- Jay Singh
  November 1, 2021 @ 1:26 pm
  
  I have not tested it.
  
  You might have to change the permissions on some specific files in order to achieve the upgrade.
  
  Reply
Chijioke Nwafor
November 30, 2021 @ 12:02 am

Nice tutorial Jay.

Reply
- Jay Singh
  November 30, 2021 @ 7:20 pm
  
  Thanks for the feedback.
  
  Reply
Yamuna
December 9, 2021 @ 9:34 pm

Really nice one…More Useful.. Thanks for the video

Reply
Md Ispak
February 25, 2022 @ 4:02 pm

Thanks for the blog, It’s helpful & really working.

Reply
The
March 2, 2022 @ 8:12 pm

hey i have error
500 Server Error

can you help me

Reply
- Jeff
  March 18, 2022 @ 9:40 am
  
  I’m getting 500 server error too. I’ve checked everything. Document root is as specified in the tutorial. :-/
  
  Reply
- Jeff
  March 18, 2022 @ 10:29 am
  
  I found the problem. In his tutorial, if you used the information in his screenshot, that was different from the commands that created the snipeit database and username. If you used the same information provided in this tutorial when setting up snipe IT, then apply the following to correct the issue.
  
  cd /var/www/snipeit
  sudo nano .env
  
  Change:
  DB_DATABASE=snipeit
  DB_USERNAME=mysqlsnipeit
  
  To this:
  DB_DATABASE=snipeit_db
  DB_USERNAME=snipeit_user
  
  Ctrl + Shift + x and Y to save the changes.
  
  sudo service mysql restart
  sudo service nginx restart
  
  Open a browser and hit your IP. You should get the pre-flight page. Hope this helps someone!
  
  Reply
- Marcus
  April 8, 2022 @ 5:02 am
  
  I figured out why for anyone else having this issue. Edit the below and make sure you have the IP address entered in. As well for the .env the full http://<ipv4 or FQDN>:
  
  sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/<site-name>
  
  Reply
Michael
March 5, 2022 @ 9:03 am
```
When running this line, I get an error message:
# sudo composer install --no-dev --prefer-source
"Do not run Composer as root/super user! See https://getcomposer.org/root for details"
It is highly suggested not to install this as root, is this a known issue for this project, or am I missing someting, like permissions?
```
Reply
Marcus
April 7, 2022 @ 6:25 am

I am getting the 500 Server Error after I complete all the steps on ubuntu server 20.04 LTS. Following other tutorials using Centos 7, AlmaLinux and Ubuntu desktop 20.04 I get the same error. I never get the pre-flight check page.

Reply
- RyRy
  May 22, 2022 @ 11:46 am
  
  I had these issues after an upgrade. Check out their shell that changes permissions https://snipe-it.readme.io/docs/debugging-permissions. I did that and the site loaded right up. What’s weird, is their documentation gives read/write to apache to all files. (Actually this tutorial here gives read write execute because apache is the owner, that seems even more weird to me)
  
  Reply
  - Rafi
    July 15, 2022 @ 8:22 am
    
    This worked for me, thanks
    
    Reply
Vignesh Balakrishnan
May 4, 2022 @ 11:20 am

I’m unable to generate the key. Tried all the possible ways…

Reply
rozdo
July 5, 2022 @ 2:14 pm

i completed 15 steps, but when I load site show error ??

Fatal error: Uncaught ErrorException: file_put_contents(/var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/storage/framework/cache/cf/90/cf906e7195218453e4ff6f1bdcdc6b2d9f6cae71): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:187 Stack trace: #0 [internal function]: Illuminate\Foundation\Bootstrap\HandleExceptions->handleError(2, ‘file_put_conten…’, ‘/var/www/www-ro…’, 187, Array) #1 /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php(187): file_put_contents(‘/var/www/www-ro…’, ‘9999999999N;’, 2) #2 /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/FileStore.php(77): Illuminate\Filesystem\Filesystem->put(‘/var/www/www-ro…’, ‘9999999999N;’, true) #3 /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/FileStore.php(200): Illuminate\Cache\FileStore->put(‘snipeit_app_set.. in /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php on line 187

Fatal error: Uncaught ErrorException: file_put_contents(/var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/storage/framework/cache/cf/90/cf906e7195218453e4ff6f1bdcdc6b2d9f6cae71): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:187 Stack trace: #0 [internal function]: Illuminate\Foundation\Bootstrap\HandleExceptions->handleError(2, ‘file_put_conten…’, ‘/var/www/www-ro…’, 187, Array) #1 /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php(187): file_put_contents(‘/var/www/www-ro…’, ‘9999999999N;’, 2) #2 /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/FileStore.php(77): Illuminate\Filesystem\Filesystem->put(‘/var/www/www-ro…’, ‘9999999999N;’, true) #3 /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/FileStore.php(200): Illuminate\Cache\FileStore->put(‘snipeit_app_set.. in /var/www/www-root/data/www/findmyphone.today/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php on line 187

Reply
Gayatri
November 18, 2022 @ 7:55 pm

Hi Jay.. I was stuck installing Snipeit. unable to clone from github. at the 5 th point. pls do assist.

Reply
vaishal
April 8, 2023 @ 6:07 am

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:
Please set the password for root here.

New password:

Re-enter new password:
… Failed! Error: SET PASSWORD has no significance for user ‘root’@’localhost’ as the authentication method used doesn’t store authentication data in the MySQL server. Please consider using ALTER USER instead if you want to change authentication parameters.

Reply
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