Configure Apache/Nginx for OpenCart on a VPS

Table of Contents: Introduction Install Web Server Configure Apache Configure Nginx Enable SSL (HTTPS) Configuration Summary

To run OpenCart efficiently on a VPS, you need to configure your web server properly. This guide covers:

• Configuring Apache for OpenCart
• Configuring Nginx for OpenCart
• Enabling SSL (HTTPS) with Let's Encrypt

1. Install Apache or Nginx

Before configuring OpenCart, install your preferred web server.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2 -y

sudo yum install httpd -y

sudo apt install nginx -y

sudo yum install nginx -y

Enable and Start the Web Server

# For Apache
sudo systemctl enable apache2 && sudo systemctl start apache2

# For Nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx && sudo systemctl start nginx

On CentOS/RHEL, use httpd instead of apache2 for Apache service.

2. Configure Apache for OpenCart

Enable Required Apache Modules

sudo a2enmod rewrite headers expires
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Create an Apache Virtual Host for OpenCart

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/opencart.conf

For CentOS/RHEL systems, use:

sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/opencart.conf

Add the following configuration (adjust paths and domain names as needed):

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/opencart/
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com

    <Directory /var/www/html/opencart/>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/opencart_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/opencart_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the OpenCart Site

sudo a2ensite opencart.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

For CentOS/RHEL, restart with:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Now Apache is properly configured for OpenCart!

3. Configure Nginx for OpenCart

Create an Nginx Configuration File

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/opencart

For CentOS/RHEL systems:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/opencart.conf

Add the Nginx Configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/html/opencart/;
    index index.php index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

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

    location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff|woff2|ttf|eot|otf)$ {
        expires max;
        log_not_found off;
    }
}

Enable the Site and Restart Nginx

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/opencart /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx

For CentOS/RHEL (configuration is already in conf.d directory):

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now Nginx is configured for OpenCart!

4. Enable SSL (HTTPS) with Let's Encrypt

To secure your OpenCart store, install a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt.

Install Certbot (SSL Automation Tool)

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

sudo yum install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

sudo yum install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Obtain an SSL Certificate

For Apache:

sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

For Nginx:

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Follow the interactive prompts to complete the certificate installation.

Set Up Auto-Renewal for SSL

Let's Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days. Set up automatic renewal:

sudo crontab -e

Add this line at the end of the file:

0 0 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet

This will check daily for certificates nearing expiration and renew them automatically. Now your OpenCart store is running securely on HTTPS!

5. Summary of OpenCart Web Server Configuration

Following these steps will give you a fully configured, secure OpenCart installation running on your VPS!