CiviCRM | Open source constituent relationship management for non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations

[scooke]

I tried. Failed. There is some mix up that I can't unravel between the installation directory and final URL. I tried installing with the pertinent items in /app/data/public, using crm.example.com, and even though the install said it worked, I couldn't login because it was looking for crm.example.com/civicrm. So I emptied the db and started again, this time using /app/data/public/civicrm, but that time it seemed to want to just use crm.example.com; a partial admin login appeared if I used crm.example.com/civicrm, but after pressing Enter the page wouldn't load and a message about some problem popped up. Bizarre. I really don't feel like trying again. All permissions were fine. I've already uninstalled the LAMP app. Oh well.

[luckow]

@scooke quick & dirty:

• install LAMP on your Cloudron
• open the webterminal
• cd /app/data/
• wget https://storage.googleapis.com/civicrm/civicrm-stable/5.80.1/civicrm-5.80.1-standalone.tar.gz
• tar -xzf civicrm-5.80.1-standalone.tar.gz
• rm -rf public civicrm-5.80.1-standalone.tar.gz
• ln -s civicrm-standalone public
• chown -R www-data: civicrm-standalone public

Open civicrm.example.com. Install CiviCRM.
Credentials for mysql -> (easiest way) open credentials.txt in the filemanager

[scooke]

@luckow Instead of ln -s to /app/data/public, I extracted the tar to that directory. Permissions were all fine.

So you're saying you have it up and running? Because I did essentially what you outlined, and it didn't work.

[imc67]

@scooke said in CiviCRM | Open source constituent relationship management for non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations:

@luckow Instead of ln -s to /app/data/public, I extracted the tar to that directory. Permissions were all fine.

So you're saying you have it up and running? Because I did essentially what you outlined, and it didn't work.

I did exactly step by step what @luckow wrote and had it up and running within a minute. Though I didn’t manage to get the cron working and didn’t liked the UI so waiting for v6.

[scooke]

Well, geez, now I gotta try again.

[LoudLemur]

@luckow said in CiviCRM | Open source constituent relationship management for non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations:

Open civicrm.example.com. Install CiviCRM.
Credentials for mysql -> (easiest way) open credentials.txt in the filemanager

Thanks for this, but I wasn't able to complete it.

For "open civicrm", you can just click on the GLAMP (LAMP) application in cloudron and it will take you to the CiviCRM page.

There were errors which meant the civicrm wasn't installable. I am not sure how to proceed

[jdaviescoates]

@LoudLemur said in CiviCRM | Open source constituent relationship management for non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations:

There were errors which meant the civicrm wasn't installable. I am not sure how to proceed

Looks like perhaps you didn't give it the correct mysql credentials to me:

@luckow said in CiviCRM | Open source constituent relationship management for non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations:

Credentials for mysql -> (easiest way) open credentials.txt in the filemanager

[scooke]

@jdaviescoates @LoudLemur Most ikely it is the server bit. The default is 127.0.0.1:3306 but that is replaced with mysql
EDIT: i tried again and it once more didn't work. I can't even access the /phpmyadmin to empty the db to retry without having to install.

The error this time, in the logs, was a table not being found. But, it failed as soon as I pressed INSTALL, and gave me a 500 error. I will try one more time, fresh.

[scooke]

3rd times a charm. THIS time, I choose "Allow all users" rather than just my specific user. THEN I increased the memory in the Cloudron app dashboard to 2GB, AND I edited the php.ini to reflect the same, then restarted. AND instead of just writing mysql in the db location I typed mysql:3306. So which ensured it worked this time? Who knows.

SPOKE TOO SOON. I had forgotten to edit the admin user fields, and pressed Install. It alerted me to this... but continued with the install! So I filled in the fields even though the spinning activity wheel was present (Chrome on a Mac). A few minutes later, as I was logged in somehow and editing the details for my company, it all crashed with a note about a fatal db error. I will try ONE MORE TIME, and if it still doesn't work, I'm turning my back on this infernal app.

[LoudLemur]

A lot of improvements have happened to CiviCRM since it was first requested. These are summarized here. I hope we can package it for Cloudron:

CiviCRM Improvements Since March 2018 (Focus on Standalone for Cloudron Packaging) + Roadmap

Hey folks,

CiviCRM is now at 6.12 (as of March 2026), and the changes have been transformative — especially for self-hosted use cases like Cloudron.

Here's a breakdown of the main improvements:

1. No-Code/Low-Code Revolution: SearchKit + FormBuilder (Powered by APIv4)

• SearchKit (rolled out ~2020–2021, constantly enhanced): Visual query builder that replaced most legacy searches. Create complex joins, aggregations, charts, calendars, maps, saved searches, dashboards, and Smart Groups — all shareable and embeddable.
• FormBuilder (Afform): Drag-and-drop custom forms and workflows (events, contributions, petitions, data entry, etc.). Supports conditionals, multi-step forms, drafts ("save and finish later"), and deep SearchKit integration.
• These tools + mature APIv4 are the biggest game-changer for flexibility without PHP hacking.

2. CiviCRM Standalone – The Big Win for Self-Hosting & Cloudron

• Introduced as an extension (early 2020s), then moved to core and stabilized/promoted with CiviCRM 6.0 (March 2025).
• Runs completely without Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, or any CMS — just CiviCRM + a web server + database.
• Cloudron-friendly features:
  • Official tarballs, Composer support, and Docker images published with every release (civicrm/civicrm on Docker Hub).
  • Built-in user management, email login, 2FA, and dedicated extensions (Auto Logout for Standalone, Standalone Switch User, etc.).
  • Simpler stack, fewer dependencies, easier updates, and cleaner resource usage.
• This is the single biggest reason to be excited: packaging Standalone is far more straightforward and maintainable than the old CMS-integrated versions.

3. Modern Theming & UX: RiverLea Theme Framework

• New theming system launched ~2024 and made default/popular in 6.x.
• Uses CSS variables (separates structure from styling), resulting in much lighter/faster themes (~15–30 kb vs. megabytes).
• Major UX/accessibility gains: Dark mode, better contrast, keyboard navigation, accordions, error messaging, and responsive design.
• Makes branding and future core UI changes far less painful.

4. Technical Infrastructure, Performance & Stability

• Smarty5 migration completed in 6.12 (2026): Dropped old Smarty2 for better security, performance, and modern PHP compatibility.
• Entity Construction Kit (ECK) (stable ~2025): Create custom entities via UI — they automatically get SearchKit/FormBuilder support.
• Ongoing performance tweaks, better multilingual support, improved logging, imports, and admin screens rebuilt with the new tools.
• Regular monthly releases + Extended Security Releases (ESR) option for stability-focused users.

5. Core Feature & Extensibility Enhancements

• Better handling across Contributions, Events, Cases, Mailings, and CiviMobile (native app).
• Stronger integrations (e.g., Mailchimp Sync) and a thriving extension ecosystem.
• Accessibility upgrades throughout and general polish that makes the whole system feel more modern and reliable.

Promising Features on the Horizon / Roadmap (2025–2026+)

• RiverLea polish: In-app customizer, better frontend/public theming, and full accessibility compliance (community interest high, though some core funding paused).
• Deeper SearchKit/FormBuilder integration into more core admin screens (AdminUI/SearchUI work ongoing).
• Continued ECK evolution for even richer custom data models.
• Enhanced reporting (Pivot Reports), financial tools, and automation features.
• Focus on Standalone improvements, headless/API-first use cases, and overall stability (community sprints and CiviConf driving this).

Overall verdict: CiviCRM has gone from a capable but somewhat rigid tool to a highly flexible, modern, self-hostable platform. Standalone + RiverLea + SearchKit/FormBuilder make it especially attractive for Cloudron packaging right now.

Tips on must-have core extensions would be awesome too!

Links for reference:

• Release announcements → https://civicrm.org/blog/tags/release
• Standalone install docs → https://docs.civicrm.org/installation/en/latest/standalone/
• Docker repo → https://github.com/civicrm/civicrm-docker

Looking forward to your thoughts!