Install on Ubuntu 26.04 - API Error: EspoCRM API is unavailable

[ferradeira]

Trying to install EspoCRM on Ubuntu 26.04
mariadb from 11.8.6-MariaDB, client 15.2 for debian-linux-gnu (x86_64) using EditLine wrapper
PHP 8.5.2 (cli) (built: Jan 21 2026 17:35:28) (NTS)

During the installation I get this error:
API Error: EspoCRM API is unavailable.

Do only necessary steps. After each step check if the issue is solved.

1. Enable "mod_rewrite".

and this error in apache2 log:
[Wed May 20 18:40:11.509071 2026] [core:notice] [pid 20493:tid 20493] AH00094: Command line: '/usr/sbin/apache2 -D FOREGROUND'
[Wed May 20 18:41:16.006298 2026] [php:warn] [pid 20497:tid 20497] [client 10.81.0.130:44120] PHP Warning: preg_match(): Allocation of JIT memory failed, PCRE JIT will be disabled. This is likely caused by security restrictions. Either grant PHP permission to allocate executable memory, or set pcre.jit=0 in /var/www/espocrm/application/Espo/Core/Utils/System.php on line 45, referer: http://crm.logicworks.com.pt/install/
[Wed May 20 18:41:16.343428 2026] [core:alert] [pid 20497:tid 20497] [client 10.81.0.130:44120] /var/www/espocrm/public/api/v1/.htaccess: Invalid command 'RewriteEngine', perhaps misspelled or defined by a module not included in the server configuration, referer: http://crm.logicworks.com.pt/install/

If I enable a2enmod rewrite
doesn't work either

Maybe it's not prepared for Ubuntu 26 yet

[victor]

Similar issue and solution https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/inst...is-unavailable.

[ferradeira]

I follow this https://docs.espocrm.com/administrat...access-support
but did not work
This post https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/inst...is-unavailable. refers to a folder. Don't no what they did.

[ferradeira]

Ok, I found the solution from here: https://docs.espocrm.com/administrat...configuration/
I changed:
<Directory /var/www/espocrm/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>

to:

<Directory /var/www/espocrm/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride None
Require all granted
</Directory>

[jamie]

why don't you just do it with docker?

php 8.5 might be a bit bleeding edge

[ferradeira]

Well, I don't have much experience with Docker

[jamie]

its a lot easier then you think here is some basic advice from chatgpt

📦 docker-compose.yaml
version: "3.8"

services:
espocrm:
image: espocrm/espocrm:latest
container_name: espocrm
ports:
- "8080:80"
environment:
ESPOCRM_DATABASE_HOST: db
ESPOCRM_DATABASE_NAME: espocrm
ESPOCRM_DATABASE_USER: espocrm
ESPOCRM_DATABASE_PASSWORD: espocrm_password

# Optional but commonly useful
ESPOCRM_ADMIN_USERNAME: admin
ESPOCRM_ADMIN_PASSWORD: admin123
ESPOCRM_SITE_URL: http://localhost:8080
volumes:
- espocrm_data:/var/www/html
depends_on:
- db
restart: unless-stopped

db:
image: mariadb:11
container_name: espocrm_db
environment:
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root_password
MYSQL_DATABASE: espocrm
MYSQL_USER: espocrm
MYSQL_PASSWORD: espocrm_password
volumes:
- db_data:/var/lib/mysql
restart: unless-stopped
command: >
--character-set-server=utf8mb4
--collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci

volumes:
espocrm_data:
db_data:


🐳 Dockerfile (optional customisation)

Use this only if you want to extend EspoCRM (custom PHP modules, extensions, tools, etc.)

FROM espocrm/espocrm:latest

# Install extra PHP extensions or tools if needed
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
git \
unzip \
nano \
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Example: enable additional PHP config tweaks (optional)
# COPY ./custom.ini /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/custom.ini

# If you have custom EspoCRM files
# COPY ./custom /var/www/html/custom

WORKDIR /var/www/html
🚀 Run it
docker compose up -d

Then open:

http://localhost:8080

if yuri likes i'd be happy to make up some official documentation on how todo this as this is now at least the 3rd time i have posted this