How to Install InvoicePlane on Arch Linux

InvoicePlane is a free, open-source invoicing application that is designed to be easy to set up and use. In this tutorial, we will be installing InvoicePlane on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you will need the following:

• A working installation of Arch Linux
• A non-root user with sudo privileges
• Apache web server
• PHP 7.x
• MySQL or MariaDB server

Step 1: Update System Packages

Before we begin, let's ensure that our system is up-to-date:

sudo pacman -Syu

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Now, we need to install the required packages for InvoicePlane:

sudo pacman -S unzip php php-gd php-intl php-xml mariadb

Step 3: Configure MariaDB

Next, we need to configure the MariaDB database server:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set the root password, disable remote root login, remove anonymous users, and remove test databases.

Then, log into the MariaDB server and create a new database and user for InvoicePlane:

mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE invoiceplane;
CREATE USER 'invoiceplane'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON invoiceplane.* TO 'invoiceplane'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 4: Download and Extract InvoicePlane

Download the latest version of InvoicePlane from GitHub:

wget https://github.com/InvoicePlane/InvoicePlane/releases/latest/download/InvoicePlane.zip

Extract the files to the Apache document root directory:

sudo unzip InvoicePlane.zip -d /srv/http/

Then, change the ownership of the InvoicePlane directory to the Apache user:

sudo chown -R http:http /srv/http/InvoicePlane

Step 5: Configure PHP

Next, we need to configure PHP settings for InvoicePlane. Open the php.ini file:

sudo nano /etc/php/php.ini

Update the following settings:

max_execution_time = 120
memory_limit = 512M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
post_max_size = 100M
date.timezone = "US/Central"

Save and exit the file.

Step 6: Configure Apache

Create a new virtual host for InvoicePlane:

sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf/extra/httpd-invoiceplane.conf

Add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName invoice.local
    DocumentRoot "/srv/http/InvoicePlane/public"
    ErrorLog "/var/log/httpd/invoice.local-error_log"
    CustomLog "/var/log/httpd/invoice.local-access_log" common
    <Directory "/srv/http/InvoicePlane/public">
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Save and exit the file.

Step 7: Enable and Start Services

Enable and start the Apache and MariaDB services:

sudo systemctl enable --now httpd mariadb

Step 8: Complete InvoicePlane Installation

Now that everything is set up, we can complete the InvoicePlane installation by navigating to the server's IP address in a web browser.

http://server-ip/

Follow the prompts to complete the installation. When prompted for database details, use the following:

Database Server: localhost
Database Name: invoiceplane
Database Username: invoiceplane
Database Password: StrongPassword

Once the installation is complete, you can log in to InvoicePlane with the administrator account you created during the installation.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed InvoicePlane on Arch Linux. You can now use this powerful invoicing application to manage your business finances.