Using Odoo to Build an ERP System

Application Scenario

Odoo is an open-source ERP/CRM software that integrates a comprehensive suite of applications for managing all aspects of your business, including procurement, inventory, finance and accounting, marketing, manufacturing, human resources management, service support, e-commerce, and website building, achieving fully automated service processes. Supported By FlexusL, the Odoo application image uses Ubuntu 22.04 and is deployed using Docker. The Nginx, pgAdmin, and Docker have been preconfigured in the image. This section describes how to use Odoo to build an ERP system.

Resource Planning and Costs

This practice uses the following resource planning as an example. You can adjust it as required.

Process

Step 1: Purchase a FlexusL Instance

1. Log in to the FlexusLconsole and click Buy FlexusL.
2. Specify required parameters for the FlexusL instance.
   

   Parameter	Example	Description
   Region	CN-Hong Kong	For low network latency and quick resource access, select the region nearest to your target users. After a FlexusL instance is created, the region cannot be changed. Exercise caution when selecting a region.
   Application Image	Odoo	Select the Odoo application image.
   Instance Specifications	2 vCPUs | 2 GiB memory and 60 GiB system disk	Select instance specifications as needed.
   Instance Name	Odoo-Example	Customize an instance name that is easy to identify, for example, Odoo-Example.
   (Optional) Associated Services	Data disk: 10 GiB Host security Cloud backup vault: 70 GiB	You can bundle any of EVS, HSS (basic edition), and CBR to your FlexusL instances as needed and set specifications as needed.
   Required Duration	1 month	The minimum duration of a purchase is one month and the maximum duration is three years. Auto-renew is enabled by default, which means the purchased FlexusL instances will be automatically renewed before they expire. If you do not enable auto-renew during the purchase process, you can still enable it later after the instances are created. For more information about auto-renewal rules, see Auto-Renewal Rules.
   Quantity	1	Set the number of FlexusL instances to be purchased.

3. Click Buy Now and complete the payment as prompted.
4. Go back to the FlexusL console and view the purchased FlexusL instance.

Step 2: Configure Security Groups

Add inbound security group rules to ensure that the application preinstalled in the image can be accessed.

1. Log in to the FlexusL console and click a resource card to go to the instance details page.
2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Cloud Servers. Locate the server and click its name.

   

3. On the Security Groups tab, click Add Rule. In the displayed dialog box, add rules displayed in the following figure and click OK.

   The following figure only displays common rules. You can add more rules as needed.

   Table 1 Security group rules

   Priority	Action	Type	Protocol & Port	Source	Description
   1	Allow	IPv4	TCP: 80	0.0.0.0/0	Specifies the internal forwarding port of application images
   1	Allow	IPv4	TCP: 9001	0.0.0.0/0	Allows external access to the application dashboard.

Step 3: Reset the Password and Log In to the FlexusL Instance

This section describes how to log in to a FlexusL instance. A FlexusL instance does not have an initial password. After creating a FlexusL instance, set a password for the FlexusL instance before logging in to it.

1. In the Image area on the Overview page of the FlexusL console, click Access to go to the application dashboard and check whether the application has been up and running. If yes, go to the next step.
   

   Wait for several minutes until the image with the pre-installed application is up and running. Then, you can perform operations such as restarting or stopping the instance, or resetting the password. Otherwise, the initial password may become invalid and you cannot log in to the application dashboard.

   Figure 1 Entry to the application dashboard
   

   After the application is started, the initialization wizard page of the dashboard is displayed, as shown in Figure 2.

   Figure 2 Initialization wizard page of the Odoo dashboard
   
   

   If the dashboard is not properly displayed, check the following causes:

   • The port for accessing the dashboard is not allowed. Check whether the port is allowed based on Step 2: Configure Security Groups.
   • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
2. Locate the resource card and choose > Reset Password to reset the password.

   A FlexusL instance does not have an initial password. Set a password for the FlexusL instance before logging in to it. For details, see Resetting the Password for a FlexusL Instance.

   Figure 3 Resetting a password
   
3. Locate the target instance and click Remote Login and enter the username and password as prompted to log in to the FlexusL instance.

   The username is root, and the password is the one set in 2.

   

Step 4: Initialize Odoo

Application images use code-based Ubuntu. They provide graphical user interfaces to make your operations easier. You need to initialize the application dashboard upon the first login. Then you can directly log in to the dashboard from the FlexusL console afterwards.

1. On the Overview page, click Access in the Dashboard field in the Image area.

   

   

   If the dashboard is not properly displayed, check the following causes:

   • The port for accessing the dashboard is not allowed. Check whether the port is allowed based on Step 2: Configure Security Groups.
   • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
2. Configure the parameters and click Create database.

   If you have had a backup database on your local device, click or restore a database.

   Figure 4 Initialization wizard page of the Odoo dashboard
   

   Table 2 Parameter descriptions

   Parameter	Description
   Master Password	The system automatically generates a database master password. You can change it but be sure to remember it. NOTE: The database master password will be asked for future operations on databases, so please keep it safe.
   Database Name	Specifies a database name.
   Email/Password	Specifies the email address and password for the administrator to log in to Odoo. Please keep it safe.
   Phone number	Specifies the telephone number of the administrator.
   Language	Specifies the language you want to use on the management console.
   Country	Specifies the country or region where you are located.
   Demo data	After this option is selected, data samples are automatically generated for the created database.

3. Enter the email address and password, and click Log in.

   The management console is displayed.

   

After the Odoo application is initialized, you can deploy your applications on the dashboard.

Step 5: Deploy Odoo

This section describes some basic operations of Odoo. For more information, see Odoo Documentation.