Install Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11 to track your payments, manage your expenses, and monitor your taxes seamlessly without facing any issues whatsoever.
To install Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11, you can choose from one of the two available methods. You can either take action on your own and proceed manually or employ Docker to get the job done in an instant. Read through this article for I’ll be guiding you to both processes in an easy-to-digest manner.
Method 1: Manual Approach to Install Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11
First, I’ll teach you how to manually install the Carter Invoicing Solution on your system. But before that, make sure you have all the prerequisites sorted out.
Pre Requisites
The things that you’ll need for proceeding with the manual installation include:
- Apache web server
- MariaDB Database
- PHP 7.4, alongside its expansions
Step 1: Get the System Updated
Start the process by updating your system, its dependencies, and repositories. To do that, simply invoke the sudo
apt update
command in the following manner:
$ sudo apt update
Step 2: Downloading Carter Archive
For the next step, download the Carter archive. You can either use the curl and wget command for this purpose or pull the archive directly using the wet command.
In both cases, the input should look something like this:
$ sudo apt install curl wget unzip

$ sudo wget [link]
Step 3: Extract the Archive
Once the download process concludes, invoke the tar xvf
command and get the file extracted.
Input:
$ tar xvf $ {VER}.tar.gz
Step 4: Install Apache
After getting the Carter archive extracted, you’ll need to shift your attention toward the Apache web server. In case your system lacks the latest version, install it by running the following command:
$ sudo apt install apache2

You’ll then need to install the composer. The command for the same will maintain the following format:

Step 5: Bringing Required Configurations
In this step, you have to head over to the extracted Carter directory and proceed with the dependency composer installation. For this, simply invoke the following commands:
$ cd carter-${VER} composer install
Now find and copy the ‘.env.example
’ file and bring edits to the Database connection parameters. Also, modify the App URL accordingly.
Input:
APP_URL=//carter.distroid.net DB_DATABASE=carter DB_USERNAME=carter Save the file and exit.
Step 6: Move the Saved File and Grant Ownership
After saving the file post all the edits, move the file to your Apache web server directory. You can employ the cd command for this.
Input:
$ cd sudo mv carter-${VER} [directory]
For granting folder ownership, invoke the chown command together with the -R flag as seen below:

Step 7: Create Virtual Host Files
Creating a virtual host file is very important when configuring Carter on your system. To build one, you can use any of your favorite editors (for this, I’ll be using vim) for launching the .conf file.
Input:
$ sudo vim [conf-file]
Inside the file, simply replace the existing Server Name with your personalized one.
Once done, save the file and then enable the rewrite module. Here is the required command:
$ sudo a2enmode rewrite

Finally, enable the created site and move to the next step by invoking the following command:
$ sudo a2ensite carter
After doing so, make sure you restart the Apache client and confirm that the changes have been successfully made.
Step 8: Install PHP Together With Extensions
Installing PHP is a very straightforward process. All you need to do is launch the Terminal and invoke the sudo apt install command in the following manner:

It is always a good idea to verify the installed version by running the php -v
command. Once you’re satisfied, restart the Apache web server one more time.
Step 9: Get the MariaDB Database Installed
As soon as you’re done with PHP installation, head over and repeat the same for MariaDB Database. The utility is already available in the default repository, and for that reason, you can directly use the sudo apt install
command together with the maridadb-server
option.
After that, secure the instance using the following command:
$ sudo mysql_secure_installation

Once finished. bring all the necessary changes and proceed.
Step 10: Creating Database for Carter Invoicing Solution
To begin the process, get inside the shell with the help of a root password.
Input:
$ sudo mysql -u root -p
Conclude the database creation process as below, and you’re ready to access the web-installation wizard (for example, http://carter.distroid.net
)
That’s how you can manually install Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11 and configure it properly.
Method 2: Install Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11 Using Docker
If you find the manual approach to be tricky, I’d recommend using Docker, as it is one of the easiest methods of setting up the Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11.
Before you proceed, it is crucial that your system already has the latest version of Docker installed.
Step 1: Add User to Docker Group
The first step is adding the concerned user to the existing docker group. For this, pass the usermod
command alongside the -aG
flag inside the Terminal in the following manner:
$ sudo usermod -aG docker $CONCERNEDUSER newgrp docker
Step 2: Clone the Carter Repository
The next task will be cloning the carter repository. You need to ensure that the git utility is installed on your Debian 11 system.
Input:
$ sudo apt install git
git clone [link to carter invoice]

After the cloning is done, head over to the dedicated directory and get the environment copied as below:

Step 3: Finalizing the Process
Start the Carter container using the following command:
docker-compose up -d

Run the docker -ps
command to verify the containers’ running status.
Provide the proper permissions using the chown command, and you’re pretty much good to go.
And that’s how you can install Carter Invoicing Solution on Debian 11. In this tutorial, I’ve guided you through the manual approach alongside an alternative method with the help of Docker. Let us know which process works best for you!
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