Deployment Overview of OpenCart on Server¶

Prerequisites and Basic Requirements¶

To ensure a successful deployment, the server must meet the following requirements:

• Operating System: Compatible with Debian/Ubuntu or RedHat-based distributions (CentOS, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux).

• Privileges: Root or sudo access is required for package installation and service management.

• Ports:

• 80 (HTTP): Used by the proxy for SSL certificate challenges.

• 443 (HTTPS): The primary external port for secure web traffic.

• 8080: Internal port used by the web server to communicate with the proxy.

FQDN of the final panel on the hostkey.in domain¶

The application is accessible via a specific subdomain template.

File and Directory Structure¶

The deployment utilizes the following directory structure for configuration and application data:

• /root/opencart/: Source files for the OpenCart installation.

• /var/www/html/opencart/: The web root containing the application files.

• /root/nginx/: Contains the Docker Compose configuration for the Nginx proxy.

• /data/nginx/user_conf.d/: Stores custom Nginx configuration files for specific domains.

• /etc/apache2/ or /etc/httpd/: Web server configuration directories (distribution dependent).

Application Installation Process¶

The installation process varies depending on the operating system:

Debian and Ubuntu Systems¶

1. System Preparation: The system is updated, and necessary repositories (such as PHP PPA) are added. IPv6 is disabled via sysctl to prevent connectivity issues.

2. Dependency Installation: Packages including apache2, mysql-server, php8, git, and various PHP extensions (php-gd, php-curl, etc.) are installed.

3. Application Deployment:

4. The OpenCart source code (version 3.0.x.x) is cloned from GitHub to /root/opencart/.

5. Files are moved to the web root at /var/www/html/opencart/.

6. Configuration files (config-dist.php) are renamed to config.php in both the root and admin directories.

7. Database Setup: A MySQL database named opencart is created, along with a dedicated user for the application.

RedHat-based Systems (CentOS, Rocky, AlmaLinux)¶

1. System Preparation: EPEL and Remi repositories are enabled to provide modern PHP versions.

2. Dependency Installation: Packages including httpd, mysql-server, and required PHP modules are installed via the package manager.

3. Application Deployment:

4. The OpenCart source code is cloned from GitHub.

5. Files are moved to /var/www/html/opencart/.

6. Configuration files (config-dist.php) are renamed to config.php in both the root and admin directories.

7. Database Setup: A MySQL database named opencart is created, along with a dedicated user for the application.

Access Rights and Security¶

• Firewall: On RedHat systems, firewalld is configured to allow traffic on ports 80/tcp and 443/tcp.

• Web Server Permissions: The web root /var/www/html/opencart and its contents are owned by the www-data (Debian) or apache (RedHat) user/group to ensure proper execution.

• Internal Binding: To allow a Docker container to handle SSL, the local web server (Apache/httpd) is reconfigured to listen on an internal port (8080) instead of the standard port 80.

Databases¶

The application uses a MySQL/MariaDB database for data storage.

• Database Name: opencart

• Connection Method: Local socket connection.

• User Management: A dedicated user is created with full privileges restricted to the opencart database.

Docker Containers and Their Deployment¶

The deployment utilizes a Docker container to manage SSL certificates via Nginx and Certbot.

Nginx-Certbot Container¶

• Image: jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest

• Network Mode: host

• Environment Variables:

• CERTBOT_EMAIL: Set via configuration (default: [email protected]).

• Volumes:

• nginx_secrets:/etc/letsencrypt: For storing SSL certificates.

• /data/nginx/user_conf.d:/etc/nginx/user_conf.d: For custom Nginx site configurations.

• Restart Policy: unless-stopped

Custom Scripts and Additional Setup¶

The deployment includes several configuration adjustments to ensure the application functions correctly behind a reverse proxy:

1. Proxy Header Configuration: The web server is configured to honor X-Forwarded-Proto headers. This ensures that OpenCart recognizes incoming requests as HTTPS, even though the local connection between Nginx and Apache is HTTP.

2. Nginx Proxy Headers: Custom configuration files are generated in /data/nginx/user_conf.d/ to include:

3. proxy_set_header Host $host;

4. proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

Application Update Instructions¶

To update the main OpenCart application, follow these steps:

1. Manual Update: Since the application is installed via source files from GitHub, you must pull the latest changes into the /root/opencart/ directory and copy them to /var/www/html/opencart/.

2. Configuration Preservation: Ensure that your config.php and admin/config.php files are backed up before overwriting application files.

Location of Configuration Files and Data¶

• Application Configs: /var/www/html/opencart/config.php and /var/www/html/opencart/admin/config.php.

• Nginx Proxy Configs: /data/nginx/user_conf.d/.

• Docker Compose File: /root/nginx/compose.yml.

Available Ports for Connection¶

Starting and Stopping the Application¶

• Web Server (Debian):

• systemctl restart apache2

• Web Server (RedHat):

• systemctl restart httpd

• Database:

• systemctl restart mysqld

• Nginx Proxy Container:

• Navigate to /root/nginx and run docker compose up -d or docker compose down.

Proxy Servers¶

The application is deployed behind an Nginx proxy container (jonasal/nginx-certbot) which handles SSL termination using Let's Encrypt. The proxy forwards requests to the local web server (Apache or httpd) running on port 8080.