Using PrestaShop to Build an E-Commerce Website

Scenarios

PrestaShop is a versatile, cross-platform open-source e-commerce solution built on PHP and MySQL. PrestaShop supports transactions in multiple currencies and almost all payment methods, including Paypal. It is a good choice for you to build cross-border e-commerce websites. FlexusL provides a PrestaShop application image running on Ubuntu 24.04 and deployed with Docker. The image comes pre-installed with Nginx, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, and Docker. This section describes how to use PrestaShop to build an e-commerce website.

If your PrestaShop application image was purchased before August 28, 2026, see Using PrestaShop to Build an E-Commerce Website (Historical Version) for instructions.

Resource Planning and Costs

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

Procedure

Step 1: Purchase a FlexusL Instance

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

   Parameter	Example Value	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 Images	PrestaShop	Select the PrestaShop application image.
   Instance Specifications	2 vCPUs | 2 GiB of memory and 60 GiB of the system disk	Select instance specifications as needed.
   Instance Name	PrestaShop-Example	Customize an instance name that is easy to identify, for example, PrestaShop-Example.
   (Optional) Associated Services	Data Disk: 10 GiB Host Security Cloud Backup Vault: 70 GB	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	Set the required duration. FlexusL supports auto-renewal. Once enabled, FlexusL instances automatically renew before they expire. If you do not enable auto-renewal during purchase, you can still enable it after your FlexusL 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 Next: Confirm.

   On the displayed page, confirm the order details, read and select the agreement, and click Submit.

4. Select a payment method and complete the payment.
5. 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 pre-installed in the image can be accessed.

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

   

3. On the Security Groups tab, click Add Rule to add the rules listed in the following table.

   The following only lists 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: 8080	0.0.0.0/0	Allows external access to the PrestaShop frontend page.
   1	Allow	IPv4	TCP: 8081	0.0.0.0/0	Allows external access to phpMyAdmin (backend management system).

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

A FlexusL instance does not have an initial password. After creating a FlexusL instance, set a password for the FlexusL instance.

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 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 Access to the application dashboard
   
   

   When you click Access to go to the dashboard for the first time, PrestaShop appends a randomly generated string to the address for encryption. Keep the encrypted dashboard address in mind. You can only use the encrypted address to log in to the dashboard and cannot access the dashboard from the console.

   For example, when you access the dashboard http://1.1.1.1/admin for the first time, the address automatically redirects to http://1.1.1.1/admin923reep1k/index..., appending the string 923reep1k after admin. Keep the address http://1.1.1.1/admin923reep1k in mind. (the part after admin923reep1k/ does not need to be recorded).

   You can also reinstall the FlexusL instance to obtain the new dashboard address, but the original data will be lost. Therefore, keep the encrypted address in mind.

   After the application is started, the initialization wizard page of the dashboard is displayed.

   Figure 2 Initialization wizard page of the PrestaShop dashboard
   
   

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

   • The port for accessing the dashboard is not enabled. Enable it as needed.
   • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
2. Locate the resource card and choose > Reset Password. Alternatively, in the list view, click Reset Password in the Operation column to reset the password for the FlexusL instance.

   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 resource card and click Remote Login. Alternatively, in the list view, click Remote Login in the Operation column. In the displayed dialog box, click VNC Login and enter the username and password as prompted to log in to the FlexusL instance. For more login methods, see Login Modes.

   The username is root, and the password is the one you set in the previous step.

   

Step 4: Initialize PrestaShop

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. Obtain the administrator username and password for logging in to the application dashboard.

   Remotely log in to the server and obtain the username and password for logging in to application dashboard.

   cat /root/presta_deploy_info.txt

   

2. 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 enabled. Enable it as needed.
   • The dashboard is being started. Try again later.
3. Enter the password obtained in 1.
   Figure 4 Initialization wizard page of the PrestaShop dashboard
   
   

   If you cannot log in to the application dashboard, see Why Cannot I Access the Dashboard of the Application Pre-installed in the Application Image After Entering the Initial Username and Password?

4. Click LOG IN to log in to PrestaShop. After the login is successful, the address changes to an encrypted address. Remember this address, as you can only use it to log in to the dashboard later. The console cannot be used to log in to the dashboard.

   

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

Step 5: Deploy PrestaShop

This part describes some basic operations of PrestaShop.