How to launch OpenCart on VPS?

@noemy.bosco 

To launch OpenCart on a VPS, you can follow these steps:

1. Choose a VPS provider: Select a VPS provider that meets your requirements and set up an account with them. Popular VPS providers include DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Vultr.
2. Set up the VPS: Once you have an account, create a virtual machine (instance) with the operating system of your choice. Most providers offer a range of options, but Linux distributions such as Ubuntu or CentOS are commonly used.
3. Configure networking: Assign a static IP address and set up domain name records (DNS) to point to your VPS. This allows you to access OpenCart using your desired domain.
4. Install LAMP stack: OpenCart is built on PHP and requires a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack. Install Apache web server, MySQL database server, and PHP on your VPS. You can use the package manager of your chosen Linux distribution to install and configure these components.
5. Create a MySQL database: Use the MySQL command-line tool or a graphical interface such as phpMyAdmin to create a database for OpenCart.
6. Download OpenCart: Visit the OpenCart website and download the latest version of the software. Extract the files on your VPS in the document root of your webserver. The default location for Apache is often "/var/www/html".
7. Configure OpenCart: Open a web browser and navigate to your VPS's IP address or domain name. The OpenCart installation wizard should guide you through the setup process, where you'll provide database credentials, an admin username, and password.
8. Secure OpenCart: Change the default admin URL, use strong passwords, and keep OpenCart updated. Additionally, consider enabling HTTPS using SSL/TLS certificates to encrypt data transmission.
9. Customize and extend: Once your OpenCart installation is complete, you can customize the appearance of your store and install extensions or themes to further enhance its functionality.

That's it! You should now have OpenCart up and running on your VPS, ready to be configured and used as an ecommerce platform.