WhatACart is a simple, fast, open-source eCommerce system developed using the YiiChimp framework. YiiChimp framework is written on top of Yii2 and it’s great for building web apps. WhatACart software has everything that you need to build an eCommerce website for your business to run your stores. It comes with rich sets of features that enable merchants to quickly and easily start selling their products. On top of other great features, it also comes with modules like Top Rated, Featured Products, Payment gateway, and more. For more on WhatACart, please visit its home page When you’re ready to get WhatACart working on Ubuntu, please continue with the steps below.

Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. so install it, since WhatACart needs it. To install Apache2 HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below. After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots. To test the Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see the Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

Install MariaDB Database Server

MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with Magento. To install MariaDB run the commands below. After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the MariaDB service always to start up when the server boots. Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Run these on Ubuntu 19.04 and 18.04 LTS After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access. When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter password Re-enter new password: Repeat 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

Restart MariaDB server To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to logon into the MariaDB server Then type the password you created above to sign on. if successful, you should see MariaDB welcome message

PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories. Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2 Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2 Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules. After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open the PHP default config file for Apache2. Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is a great setting to apply in your environment. After making the change above, save the file and closeout. After installing PHP and related modules, you must restart Apache2 to reload PHP configurations. To restart Apache2, run the commands below To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in the Apache2 root directory by running the commands below Then type the content below and save the file. Save the file. then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php You should see the PHP default test page.

Create WhatACart Database

Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for WhatACart to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, run the commands below to create a blank Magento database. To log on to the MariaDB database server, run the commands below. Then create a database called whatacart Create a database user called whatacartuser with a new password Then grant the user full access to the database. Finally, save your changes and exit.

Download and Install WhatACart

To get WhatACart’s latest release you may want to use the GitHub repository… Install Composer, Curl and other dependencies to get started… After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Nginx root directory and download WhatACart packages from GitHub… Next, run the commands below to change the root folder permissions.

Configure Apache2 WhatACart Site

Finally, configure the Apache2 configuration file for WhatACart. This file will control how users access WhatACart content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called whatacart.conf Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your domain name and directory root location. Save the file and exit. After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below

Enable the WhatACart Site and Rewrite Module

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below, then restart the Apache2 server. Next, open your browser and go to the URL. and continue with the installation. You should see the WhatACart installation page. Follow the installation wizard to complete the setup On the setup screen, make sure all requirements are met. then continue. Next, type in your store information. Switch to the Database tab and enter the database info created above. After a brief moment, your store should be created and ready to use. That’s it! Conclusion: This post shows you how to install WhatACart on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04 and begin selling your products online. If you find any errors, please mention them in the comment section below: You may also like the post below: