PCQLinux 2005 has reached another milestone by adding a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) application to its distro-SugarCRM provides integrated management of corporate information on contacts and accounts, sales leads and opportunities, plus activities such phone calls, meetings and assignments of tasks.
If you are installing fresh PCQLinux 2005 for SugarCRM only, then boot your system with PCQLinux 2005 CD 1. From the Install screen select Server and under server install select GroupWare server. This will install SugarCRM package and its dependency packages. During installation, disable SELinux, otherwise the SugarCRM package will not work. If you have already installed PCQLinux 2005 and need SugarCRM, then you need to install SugarCRM and its other dependent packages. To install it, insert PCQLinux 2005 CD 1 and open a terminal window. Now issue the following commands.
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# cd /mnt/cdrom/PCQLinux/RPM
# rpm -ivh mysql-server*
# rpm -ivh mysql-client*
Insert the CD 3 and issue commands as following.
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# cd /mnt/cdrom/PCQLinux/RPM
# rpm -ivh php-gd-4.3.9-3.rpm
# rpm -ivh SugarSales*
To configure SugarCRM, check if Apache and MySQL server services are started. If they are not, issue the following commands from the terminal window.
# service httpd start
# service mysql start
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You need to keep the above-mentioned services in the startup, so that these services get started when the server is booted. To do this, open a terminal window and type 'setup' on the hash prompt. You will get a CUI (Character User Interface) , here select 'System services'. You will get a list of services installed on your PCQLinux machine. Scroll down the list and select 'httpd' and 'mysql' by pressing space bar key. Finally press 'OK' to close the CUI. Next, create an empty database in MySQL. For this, open a terminal window and issue the following command.
#mysql -u root -p
When prompted, supply the password that you had specified in the above step. You will be dropped into a mysql> prompt. Issue the following at this prompt:
use mysql;
delete from user where user='';
Now create a database (sugarcrm) in MySQL. >
#mysqladmin -u root -p create sugarcrm
When prompted supply the password set for MySQL's root user in the previous step. Next issue:
#mysql -u root -p
Issue the following (at the mysql> prompt) to create a user (say sanjay) with privileges to access the sugarcrm database.
#grant all on sugarcrm.* to sanjay@localhost identified by 'secret123'
Move to any remote machine and type in the URL http://
This will open a Web page with the SugarCRM wizard, here, click on Next. Here, SugarCRM software analyzes your system and shows you all the things required for SugarCRM are installed correctly or not. If everything is correct click on Next. Here you will get a Web page where you need to fill the database configuration. Under Database Configuration, fill MySQL Username as 'root', MySQL password as we have given earlier and MySQL database name as 'sugercrm'. Now on the same web page, go to Site Configuration and set the admin password for SugarCRM. After filling the entire database configuration correctly click on Next. And in few seconds SugarCRM will create blank tables inside the MySQL database. With this, SugarCRM is ready to serve you.
To use SugarCRM, open a Web browser from a remote machine and type http://
and with the 'Admin' user. On the Web interface, you will see eight links (Home, Activities, Contacts, Accounts, Leads, Opportunities, Cases and Dashboard). The Home tab shows the general overview of current appointments, top opportunities, pending tasks, open cases, open leads and sales pipeline graph. It also includes shortcuts to enter data such as contacts, accounts and task.
Next you have the Activity tab, which offers the facility to create or update scheduled activities or allows you to search for existing activities. Its allows you to manage the uncountable number of calls, meetings, notes, e-mail and tasks that you need to track in order to get your work done. Following things can be done under the Activity tab. Tasks is for tracking any act that needs to be managed and need to be accomplished by a due date. Notes allow you to record note information and upload file attachments. Calls allow you to track all of your phone calls with leads and customers. Meetings are like calls that also allow you to track the location of the meeting. E-mail allows you to archive sent or received e-mail messages. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can quickly archive e-mail messages with
SugarCRM.
Next, you have the Accounts tab. This allows you to maintain an accounts list or search for an account. You can click on a specific account to zoom in on the detailed account record. A specific account record can be linked to related contacts, activities, leads, opportunities, cases or member organizations. Accounts are the clients' with which your organization does business. It keeps track of all the information about the company such as its website, main address, number of employees and other data.
Next are the Lead tabs. Here you can note and track down leads. Leads are the people or companies with whom your organization might do business in the future. You can add new Leads or search for a specific Lead. On clicking the individual lead, it lists down details lead information record. Lead record can be linked to all related activities and also be tracked on its activity history.
In the Opportunities tab you can store list of opportunities. Opportunities track the process of selling goods or services to a potential customer. Once a selling process has commenced with a Lead, a Lead should be converted into a contact and then possibly in to account. Next is the Cases tab. Cases are handoff between the sales and the customer support department. This helps customer supports departments to manage and track support problems. You can generate information about each case and track its status instantly. Dashboard tab is the last but very informative tab. It displays a graphical repartition of your Opportunities by Lead Source, Opportunity Pipeline by Sales Stage, and Pipeline by Month and Pipeline by Outcome. The administration of SugarCRM is very easy. Its administration like users management and currency setup can be done from its home page. On its home page you will find an Admin link, click on it and you are ready to do the above-mentioned administrative tasks. If you have contacts on your Microsoft Outlook, or on ACT then you can import them easily to SugarCRM.