Flectra is an open-source, CRM | ERP system that runs on Python with PostgreSQL backend data to power your business to the next level. Whether you’re a small or medium size business, Flectra comes with a modular suite of apps, including inventory, HR, CMS, POS, Project, etc. that will help you run a successful business today affordably. It is an open-source alternative to popular CRM and HRP systems for little or at no cost to you. Flectra is a good place to start when you’re looking for a customer relationship management solution or ERP platform. For more about Flectra, please check its homepage. To get started with installing Flectra on Ubuntu, follow the steps below:

Install require dependencies

To get Flectra installed on Ubuntu, you’ll need to install Python packages and other dependencies. To do that, logon to the terminal and run the commands below: When you’re done running the commands above, continue below to download and install wkhtmltopdf tool set.To do that, run the commands below do download, and install it. After that, continue below to the next step.

Install PostgreSQL

Flectra requires PostgreSQL to store its content in the database. To install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, simply run the commands below: After installing PostgreSQL, it’s a good idea to create/change the default PostgreSQL user password… Run the commands below to create/change the user password in the bash shell and not PostgreSQL interactive shell. Set password for Linux user (Postgres) You should be prompted to create a new Linux password for Postgres users. After installing PostgreSQL, run the commands below to set up a database user for Flectra. Use the PostgreSQL database utility to create the user.

Install Flectra

Now that you’ve installed the required dependencies and PostgreSQL, follow the steps below to get Flectra installed and set up. First, create a new system account called flectra. Then run the second command to create a password for the flectra user account. After that, use Flectra user to download Flectra packages. Once the packages are downloaded, run the commands below to create a python virtual environment. After activating the python virtual environment, run the commands below to open the requirement.txt file and update the highlighted line below to the version of python installed in Ubuntu. Confirm these lines are there in the file. Update the lines above if different, and save the exit the requirements.txt file. Then run these commands When you’re done, deactivate the virtual environment and exit.

Configure Flectra

At this point, Flectra packages should be downloaded and configured. To complete the setup, run the commands below to create directories to support Flectra installation. Next, make sure that the flectra user is the owner of the above directories. After that, open the Flectra configuration file Then add the lines below and save. Finally, run the commands below to create a systemd service to control how Flectra is started, stopped, and enable. Run the commands below to create the service file. Add the lines below to the file and save. When you’re done, reload the systemd and start the Flectra service. To verify that Flectra is running, run the commands below: That should display similar lines as shown below: Flectra should be running on port 7073. You should be redirected to the Flectra setup wizard. Enter the master password from the configuration file above, the database name, the admin email address, and the admin password. That should get you in. However, Flectra works great with a web server. So you may need to install an Nginx proxy to use the Flectra web portal.

Install Nginx

Install the Nginx web server by running the commands below: Then create a virtual host file for Flectra. Copy and paste the lines below into the file and save. Enable the site and restart Nginx Now you should be able to access the portal using the hostname defined in Nginx. Conclusion: This post showed you how to install and configure Flectra on Ubuntu 20.04 | 18.04. If you find any error above, please use the form below to report.