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Learn How to Deploy ERPNext on Ubuntu VPS! This article provides a guide demonstrating how to deploy ERPNext on Ubuntu VPS. This guide uses Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, ERPNext v15, Frappe Bench, MariaDB, Redis, Supervisor, Nginx, and Let’s Encrypt SSL. Frappe’s production docs identify Bench as the CLI used to manage Frappe/ERPNext deployments and show the standard production flow: install Bench, create a site, get the ERPNext app, install it, check Supervisor, and update with bench update. What is ERPNext? ERPNext is a free, open-source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform that helps organizations manage nearly every aspect of their business from a single, integrated web application. It is built on the Frappe Framework using Python and JavaScript and is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL v3), making it suitable for self-hosting or customization. Unlike traditional ERP systems that often require expensive licensing, ERPNext can be deployed on your own servers, in the cloud, or through managed hosting providers. What does ERPNext do? ERPNext combines multiple business applications into one system, allowing departments to share data in real time. Major modules include: Module Purpose Accounting General ledger, accounts payable/receivable, bank reconciliation, taxes, financial statements CRM Lead management, opportunities, customer interactions, quotations Sales Quotes, sales orders, invoicing, customer management Purchasing Supplier management, purchase orders, receipts Inventory Warehouses, stock movements, serial numbers, batches Manufacturing Bills of Materials (BOMs), work orders, production planning Projects Tasks, milestones, timesheets, budgeting Human Resources Employees, payroll, leave, attendance, recruitment Asset Management Asset lifecycle, depreciation, maintenance Support Help desk, issue tracking, SLAs Website CMS, forms, blogs, landing pages E-Commerce Product catalog, shopping cart, online orders Point of Sale Retail sales, barcode scanning, cash drawers Education Student records, courses, instructors Healthcare Patients, appointments, clinical workflows Non-Profit Donor management, memberships, fundraising Key Features Complete Accounting ERPNext includes a comprehensive accounting system with: Double-entry bookkeeping Multi-company support Multi-currency support Tax management Budgeting Fixed assets Profit & Loss Balance Sheet Cash Flow Bank reconciliation Automated journal entries Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Track: Leads Opportunities Quotations Sales pipeline Customer communications Follow-up reminders Marketing campaigns Inventory Management Features include: Unlimited warehouses Stock transfers Barcode support Batch tracking Serial number tracking Reorder levels Landed costs Stock valuation Inventory forecasting Manufacturing ERPNext is especially popular among manufacturers. It supports: Multi-level Bills of Materials Production planning Capacity planning Workstations Job cards Material Requirements Planning (MRP) Quality inspections Production costing Human Resources Manage: Employees Departments Payroll Attendance Leave requests Expense claims Performance reviews Recruitment Project Management Includes: Gantt charts Kanban boards Task assignments Time tracking Billing Project budgets Milestones Website & Portal ERPNext includes a built-in web framework for: Company websites Blogs Customer portals Supplier portals Product catalogs Web forms Knowledge bases No external CMS is required, though it can integrate with others if desired. Reporting & Dashboards Users can create: Custom reports Interactive dashboards Charts KPIs Scheduled reports Print formats PDF exports Workflow Automation ERPNext can automate many business processes, such as: Document approvals Email notifications Role-based permissions Scheduled jobs Server scripts Custom workflows Business rules Customization One of ERPNext's biggest strengths is its flexibility. You can customize: Forms Fields Workflows Reports Print templates Dashboards Email templates Permissions Web pages Client scripts Server-side Python code Most changes can be made through the web interface without modifying the core application. Integrations ERPNext offers APIs and can integrate with: REST API GraphQL (via extensions) Webhooks Zapier (through community connectors) Payment gateways (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Authorize.net, depending on available integrations) Shipping providers LDAP/Active Directory OAuth providers Email servers SMS gateways QuickBooks migration tools Shopify and WooCommerce (via community apps) Mobile Access ERPNext is fully web-based and responsive, allowing access from: Windows macOS Linux iPhone Android Tablets There are also community-supported mobile apps available. Typical Users ERPNext is used by organizations such as: Manufacturers Wholesalers Retailers Distributors Professional service firms Construction companies Healthcare providers Educational institutions Non-profits Technology companies Government organizations It is particularly well suited for small to medium-sized businesses but can scale to larger deployments with appropriate infrastructure. Advantages No per-user licensing fees for self-hosted deployments Comprehensive suite of integrated business applications Modern web interface Highly customizable Strong API support Active open-source community Self-hosted or cloud deployment options Frequent feature updates Multi-company and multi-currency capabilities Considerations Initial implementation requires planning, especially if migrating from another ERP. Customizations may require knowledge of the Frappe Framework and Python. Performance and reliability for larger organizations depend on proper server sizing, database tuning, backups, and high-availability architecture. ERPNext vs. Odoo SEE ALSO: 🚀 Deploy Odoo on Rocky Linux VPS Feature ERPNext Odoo Community Open Source Yes (GPL v3) Yes (LGPL), but many features are Enterprise-only Self-hosting Yes Yes Accounting Included Limited in Community edition Manufacturing Included Basic in Community CRM Included Included HR & Payroll Included (varies by localization) Basic in Community Website Builder Included Included Licensing No per-user fees for self-hosting Enterprise edition uses per-user licensing Customization Extensive via Frappe Framework Extensive via Odoo framework Is ERPNext a good fit? ERPNext is an excellent choice if you want a full-featured, customizable ERP without recurring per-user licensing costs. It is especially appealing for organizations with in-house technical expertise or access to a hosting provider that can manage the deployment. For companies already operating Linux infrastructure or providing managed hosting—such as Rad Web Hosting—it can be deployed on a VPS or dedicated server and tailored to specific business processes while retaining full control over the data. Recommended VPS Requirements For a small production ERPNext server: OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS CPU: 2+ vCPU RAM: 4 GB minimum, 8 GB+ recommended Disk: 40 GB+ SSD/NVMe Domain: erp.example.com pointed to VPS IP Ports: 22, 80, 443 open Deploy ERPNext on Ubuntu VPS To deploy ERPNext on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps below: Update the server SSH in as root: ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP Update packages: apt update && apt upgrade -y apt install -y software-properties-common curl git wget unzip build-essential cron reboot Reconnect after reboot. Create a dedicated ERPNext user Do not run ERPNext as root. adduser frappe usermod -aG sudo frappe su - frappe Install system dependencies sudo apt install -y \ python3-dev python3-pip python3-venv \ redis-server mariadb-server mariadb-client \ nginx supervisor \ xvfb libfontconfig wkhtmltopdf \ libmysqlclient-dev pkg-config Enable services: sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb redis-server nginx supervisor Secure and configure MariaDB Run: sudo mysql_secure_installation Recommended answers: Switch to unix_socket authentication: Y Change root password: Y Remove anonymous users: Y Disallow root login remotely: Y Remove test database: Y Reload privilege tables: Y Edit MariaDB config: sudo nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf Under , add or confirm: character-set-client-handshake FALSE character-set-server utf8mb4 collation-server utf8mb4_unicode_ci default-character-set utf8mb4 Restart MariaDB: sudo systemctl restart mariadb Install Node.js and Yarn ERPNext/Frappe needs Node.js and Yarn for frontend assets. curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt install -y nodejs sudo npm install -g yarn Verify: node -v npm -v yarn -v Install Frappe Bench sudo pip3 install frappe-bench --break-system-packages Verify: bench --version Initialize a new Bench From the frappe user home directory: cd ~ bench init frappe-bench --frappe-branch version-15 cd frappe-bench Create the ERPNext site Replace erp.example.com with your real hostname. bench new-site erp.example.com You will be prompted for: MariaDB root password New Administrator password The Administrator password is the ERPNext admin login password. Download and install ERPNext bench get-app erpnext --branch version-15 bench --site erp.example.com install-app erpnext Set the site as default: bench use erp.example.com Test ERPNext before production mode Start the development server: bench start Visit: http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8000 Or, if DNS already points correctly: http://erp.example.com:8000 Stop it with: CTRL+C Configure production mode Run: sudo bench setup production frappe This configures Supervisor and Nginx for the Bench deployment. Frappe’s production docs note that a healthy production setup should show Frappe, Redis, Socket.IO, scheduler, and worker processes running under Supervisor. Reload services: sudo supervisorctl reread sudo supervisorctl update sudo supervisorctl restart all sudo systemctl reload nginx Check status: sudo supervisorctl status You should see processes like: frappe-bench-web frappe-bench-workers frappe-bench-redis Configure DNS Create an A record: erp.example.com A YOUR_SERVER_IP Wait for DNS propagation, then test: dig +short erp.example.com It should return your VPS IP. Install SSL certificate Install Certbot: sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx Issue SSL: sudo certbot --nginx -d erp.example.com Verify renewal: sudo certbot renew --dry-run Log in to ERPNext Open: https://erp.example.com Login: Username: Administrator Password: the password you created during bench new-site Complete the ERPNext setup wizard: company name, country, currency, timezone, chart of accounts, and first user. Useful management commands Switch to the Bench directory: su - frappe cd ~/frappe-bench Update ERPNext: bench update Restart services: sudo supervisorctl restart all sudo systemctl reload nginx Run database migrations: bench --site erp.example.com migrate Clear cache: bench --site erp.example.com clear-cache bench --site erp.example.com clear-website-cache Check installed apps: bench --site erp.example.com list-apps Create manual backup: bench --site erp.example.com backup --with-files Backups are stored under: ~/frappe-bench/sites/erp.example.com/private/backups/ Add automatic off-server backups At minimum, sync backups to remote storage. Example using rsync: crontab -e Add: 0 2 * * * cd /home/frappe/frappe-bench && /usr/local/bin/bench --site erp.example.com backup --with-files >/tmp/erpnext-backup.log 2>&1 30 2 * * * rsync -az /home/frappe/frappe-bench/sites/erp.example.com/private/backups/ backupuser@backup.example.com:/backups/erpnext/ Firewall hardening Enable UFW: sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw allow 80/tcp sudo ufw allow 443/tcp sudo ufw enable sudo ufw status Troubleshooting Check Nginx: sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl status nginx sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log Check Supervisor: sudo supervisorctl status sudo supervisorctl restart all Check Frappe logs: cd /home/frappe/frappe-bench tail -f logs/web.log tail -f logs/worker.log tail -f logs/scheduler.log Restart everything: sudo supervisorctl restart all sudo systemctl restart nginx redis-server mariadb Common issues 502 Bad Gateway Usually caused by stopped Frappe web workers. sudo supervisorctl status sudo supervisorctl restart all Site not loading by domain Check DNS: dig +short erp.example.com Check Nginx: sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl reload nginx CSS or JS broken after update cd /home/frappe/frappe-bench bench build bench --site erp.example.com clear-cache sudo supervisorctl restart all Scheduler not running bench --site erp.example.com enable-scheduler bench --site erp.example.com doctor sudo supervisorctl restart all ERPNext should now be running at: https://erp.example.com Conclusion You now know how to deploy ERPNext on Ubuntu VPS.