39,59 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Odoo is an all-in-one management software that offers an array of business applications, forming a complete suite of enterprise management applications. Odoo 11 comes with advances on usability, speed, and design.
Working with Odoo 11 starts with how to set up Odoo, both online and on your own server. You’ll then configure the basic company settings required to quickly get your first Odoo system up and running. Later, you’ll explore customer relationship management in Odoo and its importance in a modern business environment. You'll then dive into purchasing applications with Odoo, learn some of the primary functionalities of ERP systems for manufacturing operations, and use analytic accounting to provide better reporting.
After that, you'll learn how to work with Odoo for mobile, and finally, you will walk through the recent Odoo 11 features with respect to the community and enterprise edition, giving you a complete understanding of what Odoo can do for your business.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Seitenzahl: 384
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
Ähnliche
Working with Odoo 11 Third Edition
Copyright © 2018 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Commissioning Editor: Merint MathewAcquisition Editor: Aiswarya NarayananContent Development Editor: Nikhil BorkarTechnical Editor: Jijo MaliyekalCopy Editors: Safis EditingProject Coordinator: Ulhas KambaliProofreader: Safis EditingIndexer: Mariammal ChettiyarGraphics: Tania DuttaProduction Coordinator: Deepika Naik
First published: August 2015 Second edition: January 2017Third edition: March 2018
Production reference: 1270318
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78847-695-9
www.packtpub.com
Mapt is an online digital library that gives you full access to over 5,000 books and videos, as well as industry leading tools to help you plan your personal development and advance your career. For more information, please visit our website.
Why subscribe?
Spend less time learning and more time coding with practical eBooks and Videos from over 4,000 industry professionals
Improve your learning with Skill Plans built especially for you
Get a free eBook or video every month
Mapt is fully searchable
Copy and paste, print, and bookmark content
PacktPub.com
Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.PacktPub.com and as a print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy. Get in touch with us at [email protected] for more details.
At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters, and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and eBooks.
Contributors
About the author
Greg Moss has been a business and information systems consultant for over 25 years. Starting in 1988, he began to work extensively in financial and accounting-related applications. He has worked extensively in the healthcare, point of sale, manufacturing, telecommunications, entertainment, and service industries. Greg is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, and former Chief Information Officer of Crownline Boats, Inc.
About the reviewer
With an academic background in engineering and mathematics, Géry Debongnie has always been passionate about technology. He is now the frontend framework team leader at Odoo.
He has been involved in the design and architecture of the Odoo web client for several years. He has worked on various projects at Odoo, most of them involving JavaScript.
Packt is searching for authors like you
If you're interested in becoming an author for Packt, please visit authors.packtpub.com and apply today. We have worked with thousands of developers and tech professionals, just like you, to help them share their insight with the global tech community. You can make a general application, apply for a specific hot topic that we are recruiting an author for, or submit your own idea.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Working with Odoo 11 Third Edition
Packt Upsell
Why subscribe?
PacktPub.com
Contributors
About the author
About the reviewer
Packt is searching for authors like you
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the color images
Conventions used
Get in touch
Reviews
Setting Up Odoo 11
What's new in Odoo 11?
Community and Enterprise Editions of Odoo
Getting started with Odoo Online
Taking advantage of Odoo Online Instant Access
Odoo browser requirements
Odoo mobile phone and tablet support
Accessing the Odoo free online trial
Continuing to use the trial version of Odoo
Subscribing to Odoo
Using Odoo without subscription fees
Getting to know the Odoo architecture
Introducing the PostgreSQL database
Writing code with Python
Following the Model-View-Controller design
Designing models
Rendering views
Authoring controllers
Choosing your installation operating system
Choosing a Microsoft Windows Odoo installation
Learning Ubuntu is not required
Introducing Ubuntu
Choosing an Ubuntu Odoo installation
Choosing another OS option for Odoo
Understanding Odoo releases
Upgrading Odoo
Installing Odoo on Windows OS
Performing an all-in-one Odoo installation on Windows
Configuring PostgresSQL on Windows
Installing Odoo on Ubuntu
Modifying the sources.list file
Testing your Odoo installation
Troubleshooting and Odoo management tips
Checking your browser destination
Verifying that the Odoo service is running
Checking for the Odoo services running in Windows
Checking for Odoo services running in Ubuntu
Starting and stopping Odoo services in Ubuntu
Finding the primary Odoo log file
Modifying the Odoo configuration file
Changing port numbers
Accessing the database management tools
Changing the admin password
Finding additional resources on installing Odoo
Summary
Installing Your First Application
What's new in Odoo 11?
Gathering requirements
Implementing Odoo using a modular approach
Introducing Silkworm – our real-world case study
Creating a new database in Odoo
Selecting a database name
Loading demonstration data
Specifying our default language
Choosing an email and password
Managing databases in Odoo
Securing the Odoo database manager
Installing the Sales Management module
Getting to know the basic Odoo interface
Using the Search box
Picking different views
Creating your first customer
Is this customer a company?
Entering data into Odoo forms
Editing customer Sales & Purchases
Editing customer invoicing
Entering a product in Odoo
Creating products in Odoo
Product Name
Can be Sold
Can be Purchased
Product Type
Internal Reference
Sale Price
Cost Price
Nothing in the Sales page
Entering a product's invoicing page
The invoicing policy
Saving the product record
Setting company information
Saving company information
Entering your first sales order
Selecting the customer
Expiration Date
Payment terms
Entering line items on a quotation sales order
Product field
Description
Ordered quantity
Taxes
Unit price
Saving a sales order as a quotation
Understanding the sales order workflow
Confirm Sale
Send by Email
Cancel
Invoicing the sale
What do you want to invoice?
Creating the invoice
Summary
Exploring CRM in Odoo 11
Using CRM as a business strategy
Managing the customer experience
Treating your customer like a real person
Using your mission statements and company goals to drive the design of your CRM system
Real-world case study – improving customer experience
Installing the CRM application
Your first look at the CRM Dashboard
Assigning the sales representative or account manager
Specifying the name of the user
Email address
Access Rights
Sales application settings
User: Own Documents Only
User: All Documents
Manager
Language and Timezone
Email Messages and Notifications
Signature
Manually setting the user password
Assigning a salesperson to a customer
Understanding Your Pipeline
Creating a new opportunity
Opportunity Title
Customer
Expected revenue
Rating
Looking at opportunities in Your Pipeline
Next Activity
Expected Closing
Tags
Email and Phone
Internal Notes
The Contact Information page
Address and Contact Information
Mailings
Marketing
An introduction to sales stages
Viewing the details of an opportunity
Actions you can take on an opportunity
Using Odoo's OpenChatter feature
Changing the status of an opportunity
Managing the opportunity
Following a business document
Modifying the stages of the sale
Closing the sale
Your opportunity converted to a quotation
Leads and opportunities
Turning on Leads in Odoo 11
Creating Leads in Odoo
Converting a Lead into an opportunity
Using Odoo to schedule calls, meetings, and events
Scheduling an event
Adding attendees to your meeting
Specifying meeting details
Specifying tags for your meeting
Setting up reminders for your meeting
Specifying additional meeting options
Summary
Purchasing with Odoo
What's new in Odoo 11
Understanding the overall purchasing process
Setting up a vendor
Setting up warehouse locations
Generating quotations and purchase orders
Receiving the product
Settling the invoice
Installing the purchasing application
Setting up your first vendor
Designating vendor as Individual or Company
Configuring your product for procurement
Supply chain information
Using buy routes
Using Make to Order
Purchasing information
Product type
Setting the cost price of the product
Assigning vendors to the product
Establishing the vendor
Designating the vendor product name and product code
Setting minimum quantity
Calculating delivery time
Setting price and validity
Creating your first purchase quotation
Adding products to your request for quotation
Printing RFQs and updating status
Confirming a purchase order
Receiving products
Getting ready to receive
Receiving our goods
Handling Back Orders
Paying vendor bills
Handling Complex Units of Measure
Looking at the defined Unit of Measures
Examining a specific Unit of Measure
Configuring the Product to purchase in Dozen(s)
Understanding costing methods and inventory valuation
Setting up costing in Odoo
Summary
Making Goods with Manufacturing Resource Planning
What's new in Odoo 11?
Creating manufacturing orders
Producing the product
Delivering the order
Defining the workflow for your business
A real-world example of producing a custom printed T-shirt
Installing Manufacturing Resource Planning
Creating your first manufacturing order
What product are we going to manufacture?
Building your Bill of Materials
Confirming production
Checking availability
Producing the product
Analyzing stock valuation
Managing production by work orders
Creating a work center
Setting General Information
Time Efficiency
Capacity
OEE target
Time before and after production
Creating routing orders
Assigning the routing to a bill of materials
Creating a Manufacturing Order with routing and work center
Creating routings based on product variants
Using Unbuild Orders or reverse bill of materials
Creating a kit using a bill of materials
Summary
Configuring Accounting and Finance Options
What's new in Odoo 11?
Defining the chart of accounts for your business
Configuring a user to see all accounting options
Viewing the current chart of accounts
Getting more information on a specific account
Learning how transactions in Odoo get posted to accounts
Following transactions through the sales and accounts receivable process
Viewing the transactions created by validating the invoice
Practicing posting transactions and tracking the results
Setting up your own accounts
Specifying a new account for your product category
Practicing with another product
Examining the available legal reports in Odoo
Creating journal entries
Summary
Administering an Odoo Installation
Basic considerations for an Odoo administration
Having an implementation strategy
Development, staging, and production servers
Clear documentation of all Odoo configurations
Focusing on business continuity
Backing up your Odoo database
Restoring an Odoo database
Administering users in Odoo
Selecting a user to administer
Managing user preferences
Understanding groups in Odoo
Understanding group inheritance in Odoo
Defining menus for your group
Understanding access rights in Odoo
Understanding group rules in Odoo
Internationalization in Odoo
Configuring language translation
Using translation features to customize Odoo for your business
International currencies
Purchasing in a different currency
Managing supplier price lists
Managing sequences in Odoo
Multiple companies in Odoo
Setting up a second company in Odoo
Setting up the Chart of Accounts for your second company
Implementing a multi-company solution
Summary
Implementing the Human Resources Application
What's new in Odoo 11?
The modular approach to Human Resources
Installing the Employee Directory
Creating a new employee
Department
Job Title
Manager and Coach
Employee Private Information
HR settings
Managing Departments
Timesheets
Implementing Leave Management
Creating a leave request
Leave type
Duration
Mode
Employee
Department
Submitting for approval
Approving leave requests
Recruitment process
Recruiting for a new job position
Creating an employment application
Hiring employees
Summary
Understanding Project Management
What's New in Odoo 11?
Basics of Project Management
Installing the Project Management application
Understanding the Project dashboard
A real-world project example for a customer
Creating our first project
Understanding project stages
Defining project tasks
Creating additional tasks
Completing project tasks
Scheduling an activity
Monitoring task completion
Calculating project costs and time
Summary
Creating Advanced Searches and Dashboards
What's New in Odoo 11
Determining the search requirements for your business
Creating a database with demonstration data
Accessing the database manager
Searching in Odoo
Using filters in list views
Grouping information
Performing a custom search
Specifying multiple advanced searches
Saving your favorite filters
Creating custom dashboards in Odoo 10
Looking at Odoo's Business Intelligence Features
Summary
Building a Website with Odoo
What's new in Odoo 11?
What is a CMS?
WordPress
Joomla
Drupal
Evoq or DotNetNuke
Why use Odoo website builder for your CMS?
Potential advantages to using Odoo as a CMS
Current limitations of using Odoo as a CMS
Backing up the website you make in your Odoo database
Installing the Odoo website builder
Saving your web page
Previewing our website on a mobile device
Adding new pages and menus to your website
Adding a new page
Creating our Frequently Asked Questions web page
Managing menus on your website
Adding a new menu to your website
Changing themes in Odoo
Promoting your website
Specifying keywords for your website
Creating a title and description for your website
Summary
Implementing E-Commerce with Odoo
E-commerce and Odoo
Popular e-commerce platforms
Magento
Volusion
Shopify
Yahoo Small Business
Odoo as an e-commerce platform
Installing Odoo e-commerce
Basics of Odoo e-commerce
Setting the product price from the e-commerce page
Adding a picture to your product
Describing the product
Publishing your product
Additional configuration options for your Odoo shop
Modifying the order of the products on the store
Setting up product variants
Advanced e-commerce product options
Alternative products
Accessory products
Looking at the shopping cart
Seeing the draft sales order in Odoo
Checking out
Adding PayPal as a payment processor
Summary
Customizing Odoo for Your Business
What's new in Odoo 11?
Understanding the Odoo architecture
Models
Views
Actions
Activating developer mode
Getting out of developer mode
Backing up your database
Restoring a database in Odoo
Adding a custom field to Odoo
Viewing the model in Odoo
Creating a new field in the sale order model
Editing the form view
Customizing search operations in Odoo
Specifying additional fields
Editing the search view
Understanding actions
Creating a new menu
Summary
Modifying Documents and Reports
What's new in Odoo 11?
Getting the skills required to modify reports
What is the QWeb template engine?
Company report configuration
Problems with the Wkhtmltopdf installation
Specifying the paper format for your reports
Modifying the internal report header using QWeb
Making our first simple change
Learning how Odoo organizes reports
Understanding the report types
Looking at the definition for the Sales order form
Creating a new QWeb report in Odoo
Learning more about the power of QWeb templates
Using a t-if to create a dynamic QWeb template report
Summary
Discovering Custom Odoo Modules
Exploring the Odoo application and module directory
Building our first Odoo module
Preparing your basic development environment
Finding your Odoo configuration file and installing it
Specifying a custom directory to hold our Odoo modules
Contents of your module directory
Creating and editing the files
The __init__.py file
The __manifest__.py file
Extending an Odoo model in silkworm.py
Using a module to add custom fields to a model
Inheriting from the sales application in Odoo
Python conventions
Adding the fields to our sales order view
Getting ready to install our module
Troubleshooting your module installation
Using a module to add a filter to a search view
Adding the code to create the rush order filter
Creating the filter
Using Odoo to create websites and web services
Creating an XML template
Integrating with the Odoo API
Connecting to the API
Filtering and returning records through the API
Using the search_read method
Creating custom themes in Odoo
Basic architecture of Odoo themes
Creating an Odoo theme using scaffolding
Modifying the default Odoo theme header
Creating a custom page layout
Summary
Comparing Community and Enterprise Edition
Getting an overview of the Community and Enterprise editions
Using the Odoo runbot to compare Odoo versions
Launching Odoo Community edition from Odoo runbot
Launching Odoo 11 Enterprise from Odoo runbot
Examining the Odoo Enterprise interface
Examining Odoo 11 Enterprise Accounting
Looking at Odoo 11's dynamic Accounting reports
Using the bank integration features of the Enterprise edition
Sales-related enhancements
Automating calls with VOIP integration
Understanding the Subscriptions application
Understanding the available shipping connectors in Enterprise
Understanding the available manufacturing applications in Odoo
Product Lifecycle Management
Handling maintenance requests
Managing production quality in Odoo
Using Odoo Studio
Modifying the Sales application with Odoo Studio
Summary
Another Book You May Enjoy
Leave a review - let other readers know what you think
Preface
Working with Odoo 11 provides a comprehensive walkthrough for installing, configuring, and implementing Odoo in real-world business environments. This book will assist you in understanding the value of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and best practice approaches for getting a system up and running in your organization. For those who are new to ERP systems, this book will serve as an introduction so that you will be better prepared to understand more advanced ERP concepts. If you are already experienced in ERP systems, this book will give you an overview of the primary applications for Odoo and how those applications can be used in a real business environment.
Odoo is a feature-filled business application framework with literally hundreds of applications and modules available. We have done our best to cover the most essential features of the Odoo applications you are most likely to use in your business. Unfortunately, there are just not enough pages to cover more advanced topics.
Who this book is for
This book is for everyone who is interested in implementing an ERP system in a business organization. If you are an IT professional looking to get a functional understanding of Odoo, then this book is for you. This book is also appropriate for business and operations managers who wish to get a comprehensive understanding of Odoo and how it can be used to improve business processes.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Setting up Odoo 11, gets you started right away by showing how you can use Odoo online without any setup. Next, the chapter covers the different installation types and prerequisites for both Windows and Ubuntu. Instructions are provided for finding the right download package and setting up Odoo on your own server. The chapter then goes into the basics of configuring Odoo. At the end is a useful collection of tips on how to troubleshoot your Odoo installation.
Chapter 2, Installing Your First Application, takes you through a real-world case study that will be used as an example throughout the book. The chapter continues by showing you how to create a company database and configure the basic company settings required to quickly get your first Odoo system up and running. The first module, Sales Management, will be installed, and you'll walk through the steps to enter a customer and a product into the database.
Chapter 3, Exploring CRM in Odoo 11, starts with a basic overview of CRM systems and their importance in today's modern business environment. We cover the installation of the CRM module; a lead is entered for our example company. We demonstrate CRM workflow by turning the lead into a customer. Next, a quote is generated for our newly acquired customer and a call is scheduled for follow-up using Odoo’s meeting functionality. We also cover the Open Chatter feature, which is used throughout Odoo to provide notes and messages associated with Odoo documents.
Chapter 4, Purchasing with Odoo, shows us how to install the Purchasing module, set up suppliers, and begin purchasing and receiving products in Odoo. Later in the chapter, we learn how to tie purchasing into sales orders to automatically generate draft purchase orders based on our business requirements.
Chapter 5, Making Goods with Manufacturing Resource Planning, begins to explore some of the primary functionalities of ERP systems for manufacturing operations. You will learn how to set up your manufacturing orders and define bills of materials to specify the raw materials that will go into your final products. Manufacturing operations can then be extended with routing and work centers to provide you with more control over tracking time and resources.
Chapter 6, Configuring Accounting and Finance Options, discusses the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable basic functions. Then, you're introduced to the chart of accounts and will discover how to set up fiscal periods. This chapter also includes basic accounting reports and how to close a period.
Chapter 7, Administering an Odoo Installation, begins by discussing overall considerations for implementing Odoo in a business environment. These include advice on server configurations, documenting your processes, and the importance of considering business continuity. The chapter then goes into how to manage users and groups and set up security roles to manage access to various applications within Odoo. Finally, we look at how to implement internationalization for multiple languages and currencies.
Chapter 8, Implementing the Human Resources Application, begins by installing the basic HR modules and going over the employee directory. Other topics in the chapter include time sheets, recruitment, and leave management. At the end of the chapter, you'll see how to create online interviews and hire employees using the tools in Odoo.
Chapter 9, Understanding Project Management, covers the features of the Project Management module in Odoo. You'll create a project, see how to enter tasks, and tie a project to a specific customer. Next, team members are assigned to the project, and you'll configure task stages. You'll then go over real-world examples of using the Project Management module to more easily manage complex orders and customer needs. Finally, you'll see how Project Management can be used along with analytic accounting to provide better reporting.
Chapter 10, Creating Advanced Searches and Dashboards, demonstrates how to utilize advanced search features and configure custom dashboards in Odoo. By the end of the chapter, the reader will be able to create and save custom searches to reuse later and add search results to dashboards.
Chapter 11, Building a Website with Odoo, explores Odoo’s powerful new website building platform. At the beginning of the chapter, you'll look at what a CMS (Content Management System) is and some of the other popular website building platforms. You'll follow along with Odoo’s website building tutorial and then look at the features that can be used to promote your website right from within Odoo.
i, Implementing E-Commerce with Odoo, builds on the previous website chapter by adding a fully functional online shopping cart to the website. You'll see how to publish products to the website and the various options for changing their appearance. Midway through the chapter, you'll see product variants that add more flexibility to how you manage your products within Odoo. Finally, the chapter concludes by examining how to set up a payment processor to take payment online through PayPal.
Chapter 13, Customizing Odoo for Your Business, explains how to enter Developer Mode for making a variety of custom changes to Odoo. You will walk through the steps to add fields to the sales order form and then include the fields in tree views for sorting and reporting. From here, you will get into advanced configuration topics to better customize Odoo for your specific business requirements.
Chapter 14, Modifying Documents and Reports, goes over the basic reporting mechanisms available in Odoo and weighs the advantages and disadvantages of the various options. The chapter then demonstrates how to install the OpenOffice reporting module and make changes to a report.
Chapter 15, Discovering Custom Odoo Modules, introduces the process of developing custom solutions in Odoo. You'll build on what you have learned by customizing Odoo and create a module that will persist the custom fields and views within your module. Next, you'll build on the workflow modifications you made in the chapter and upgrade your module to approve art designs for our real-world example.
Chapter 16, Comparing Community and Enterprise Edition, goes through the recent Odoo 11 features with respect to the community and enterprise editions.
To get the most out of this book
You should have Odoo version 11 installed on your system. To get the most out of this book, you should also have an understanding of basic business operations. For example, you should know the purpose of a sales order and a purchase order. You should also have basic computer skills such as understanding filesystems and installing software. For more advanced customization topics in the book, you should have a basic knowledge of databases and programming concepts.
Download the color images
We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/WorkingwithOdoo11ThirdEdition_ColorImages.pdf.
Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "Limit those customers to just the names that include camp."
A block of code is set as follows:
<span t-if="o.state not in ['draft','sent']">Sales Order # </span> <span t-if="o.state in ['draft','sent']">Quotation #:</span>
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
$ mkdir css
$ cd css
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "This brings up all the QWeb views associated with the report."
Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: Email [email protected] and mention the book title in the subject of your message. If you have questions about any aspect of this book, please email us at [email protected].
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.
Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.
If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.
Reviews
Please leave a review. Once you have read and used this book, why not leave a review on the site that you purchased it from? Potential readers can then see and use your unbiased opinion to make purchase decisions, we at Packt can understand what you think about our products, and our authors can see your feedback on their book. Thank you!
For more information about Packt, please visit packtpub.com.
Setting Up Odoo 11
Odoo is a powerful set of open source business applications built on the OpenObject framework. When you first install Odoo, the only functionality you will have is limited messaging options between users. From there, Odoo allows you to install the modules you need, as you need them. This flexibility makes Odoo much more accessible than many business software solutions.
In this chapter, we will get started working with Odoo by covering the installation and the basics of setting up an Odoo database.
The topics we will cover include:
Exploring Odoo Online
Setting up a trial company
Installing Odoo on Windows and Ubuntu
Troubleshooting and configuring your installation
What's new in Odoo 11?
While much of the process is the same as previous versions of Odoo, there have been some pricing changes in Odoo 11. No longer are there two free users and you pay for additional users. There is still one free application that you can install for an unlimited number of users, but as soon as you have more than one application, then you must pay $25 for each user, including the first.
In Odoo 11, the online installation documentation continues to improve and there are now options for Docker installations. In addition, Odoo 11 uses Python 3 instead of Python 2.7. This will not change the steps you take in installing Odoo but will change the specific libraries that will be installed.
Community and Enterprise Editions of Odoo
Beginning with Odoo 9, Odoo SA started releasing two versions of Odoo: a Community Edition and an Enterprise Edition. The Community Edition is free, open source, and primarily supported by the Odoo community. Odoo Enterprise, while also open source, requires a license based on the number of users. More recently, Odoo pricing for the Enterprise version varies depending on region.
Odoo Enterprise offers an alternative (arguably better) user interface. Additionally, there is better functionality in some applications as well as support by SA, and perhaps most critical of all, migration to the new releases of Odoo. More information on the differences between Odoo Community Edition and Odoo Enterprise Edition is available in Chapter 16, Comparing Community and Enterprise Edition.
This book primarily targets the Community Edition of Odoo.
Getting started with Odoo Online
Not long ago, nearly all companies kept their primary information systems inhouse. This approach not only requires a lot of capital expense in purchasing servers and software licenses, but also creates a lot of responsibility and risk in backing up data and ensuring business continuity. Today, more and more companies are choosing to host their business applications in online networks commonly called the cloud. Odoo allows you the flexibility of both options—either hosting on your own hardware, or utilizing Odoo's online software services.
Taking advantage of Odoo Online Instant Access
The best thing about accessing Odoo Online is that you can jump in and start using the software right away. You don't have to decide what operating system to use, and you don't have to install any software at all. Just enter the URL into your web browser and you are ready to get started.
Another added benefit of taking this approach is you will verify that your web browser is up to date and compatible with the latest version of Odoo. So, even if you intend to install Odoo on your own hardware, it is still worth taking a minute to test out the online trial version of Odoo. Expect to put a great deal of time into determining which Odoo applications are right for your company.
Taking a few hours to use the Odoo Online version is time well spent, and you can put off installing Odoo until you are more certain it is the right software for your business.
Odoo browser requirements
Odoo is designed to run on a variety of modern web browsers. Supported browsers include:
Google Chrome (recommended)
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Safari
Odoo mobile phone and tablet support
Beginning with Odoo 8, Odoo has included native support for mobile phones and tablets. This has been further improved in Odoo 10. Menus are designed to flow and format properly. The new website application even includes a preview within the portal administration to emulate how the site would appear on a mobile phone. While you still suffer many of the limitations that come with a small screen size, the applications are functional and make it even easier for developers to create mobile Odoo applications.
Odoo's mobile application support covers both the Android and Apple iOS platforms. Make sure, however, that for any processes you intend to implement for your business, you test all processes thoroughly for both desktop and any mobile solutions. The smaller screen sizes might make some data unreadable or very awkward to work with.
Accessing the Odoo free online trial
Accessing the online trial version of Odoo Online could not be simpler. Just open up your browser and navigate to https://www.odoo.com/trial.
You will then be prompted to choose one of Odoo's primary business applications, as shown in the following screenshot:
Don't worry, because you can add more applications later.
Clicking on the appropriate button for the application immediately begins installing your own unique Odoo instance.
For our example, let's go ahead and install the CRM application by clicking on the CRM button, which looks like the following:
Next, you will be taken to a simple sign-up page as follows:
After filling out the form, simply click Start Now.
Be patient, as it can take 30 seconds or longer for the servers to build the database and bring up the starting page. When the installation is complete, Odoo automatically signs you in so you can begin trying out the software. The goal of this approach is to get users to start using the software right away, and avoid having to fill out lengthy forms or create logins and passwords to begin using the software. It really is just one click and you have your own version of Odoo to evaluate.
The screen now contains the Odoo dashboard for the Enterprise Edition. Please be aware that this will look a lot different than the Community Edition of Odoo, even though they are very similar in terms of functionality.
We will discuss the CRM application in detail in Chapter 3, Exploring CRM in Odoo 11.
Take a few minutes to look around in Odoo to get familiar with the interface. You don't have to worry about breaking anything or doing anything wrong. If you run into problems or get confused, just close your web browser and try again.
Continuing to use the trial version of Odoo
At the very top of the Odoo application, just under the address bar in the browser, you will see a message that informs you of how much longer your trial version of Odoo will run before you need to register. Also, remember that it is possible to lose this instance of Odoo before the time runs out, as seen here:
Clicking on the Activate by email link will send a message to the email address that you provided, containing a link to activate your Odoo database. Currently, you may use Odoo for free as long as you only install one application.
Subscribing to Odoo
You can use one Odoo application for free without subscribing. If you wish to install more applications (as you likely will), you must subscribe to Odoo in order to keep using their Enterprise cloud-hosted version of the software.
For each user, the current pricing is $25 per-month at the time of writing. Each application you use will also incur a monthly cost, which varies by application.
Below is the Odoo Online Pricing calculator for February 2018 in the United States with one user and three applications.
You can locate the Odoo Online Pricing page at https://www.odoo.com/pricing-online.
Depending on your requirements, an Odoo subscription might be a good decision. Installing and maintaining an Odoo installation takes a degree of expertise and has risks for production systems. You must maintain adequate disaster recovery procedures in case of server crashes or hard drive failures. There are also complexities in applying bug fixes and migrating to newer versions of Odoo. This book will help you with many of these tasks. It can be quite convenient to have an Odoo subscription so that you can focus on the functional, rather than the technical, aspects of working with Odoo.
Using Odoo without subscription fees
If you choose not to pay the subscription fee, do not fear! The remainder of this chapter will assist you with installing Odoo on your own hardware.
Getting to know the Odoo architecture
Setting up and managing an Odoo installation will require a basic understanding of the components that make up Odoo. Every business system has a set of technologies and underlying software platforms that are required for the system to function. Fortunately, unless you plan to customize Odoo, you only need to understand the very basics of the Odoo architecture to complete a successful installation.
Introducing the PostgreSQL database
Like most ERP systems, Odoo has specific database requirements: in this case, PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL is an open source, cross-platform Object Relational Database Management System (ORDMS). While not popular on the scale of Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL, PostgreSQL is an enterprise-class database server with many advanced features. In fact, PostgreSQL stacks up very well against far more expensive databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Database.
PostgreSQL runs on every major operating system. For most Odoo installations, Ubuntu is the operating system of choice. However, PostgreSQL will also run quite well under other versions of Linux, Microsoft Windows, and even Mac OS X.
You can learn more about PostgreSQL at http://www.postgresql.org/.
Writing code with Python
The primary programming language of Odoo is Python. Like the other technologies underlying Odoo, the Python language is open source and runs on all the major contemporary operating systems. It is an extremely popular programming language, which makes it very easy to find resources to help you get started.
You can learn more about the Python programming language at http://python.org/.
Following the Model-View-Controller design
Odoo is built upon a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. One of the primary goals of this architecture is to separate the visual display of the information from the business rules and management of the underlying data. For example, if you need to change the way data is organized in the model, it is desirable not to have to make dramatic changes to how you view data. This is true for maintaining flexibility in viewing data. Today, it is common to have many different client applications sharing the same underlying data.
Designing models
The model is essentially the data that makes up your Odoo installation, which is stored in the PostgreSQL database. Odoo is unique in that database structures are typically defined by the Odoo modules at the time they are installed. The Odoo framework takes the model definitions and automatically creates the necessary table structures inside of the PostgreSQL database. Furthermore, a web interface in Odoo allows administrators to easily extend the Odoo data model in a variety of ways without having to modify the Odoo source code.
Rendering views
Each view in Odoo is defined in XML documents. The Odoo framework is responsible for rendering these view files in a web browser. Alternative views can be built to render Odoo functionality upon other platforms such as mobile devices.
Authoring controllers
The controller component of the architecture is where the business logic and workflow rules of the Odoo application are applied. The controller components in Odoo are written in Python code and stored as objects in Odoo modules.
Choosing your installation operating system
In this section, we will discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing Ubuntu or Windows for your first Odoo installation.
Choosing a Microsoft Windows Odoo installation
For the most part, Ubuntu has been the platform of choice for most Odoo installations. However, there are some reasons why you might choose to run Odoo under a Windows installation.
Some of you, after buying this book, might have already jumped ahead and installed Odoo on your Microsoft Windows computer. So, for you go-getters, that working installation of Odoo might function just fine for researching and testing its features. Often the Windows all-in-one installer provides a simple method to get Odoo up and running in a snap on your hardware. Basically, you do not have to install a new operating system.
Learning Ubuntu is not required
If you are familiar with Windows and have no Ubuntu experience, you might get going a little faster by sticking with a Windows installation for your first setup. Downloading and installing modules and making changes to configuration files will be much easier if you are familiar with the operating system.
Introducing Ubuntu
While Microsoft Windows does not really need an introduction, it is probably worth giving a brief introduction to Ubuntu. In short, Ubuntu (pronounced oo-boon-too) is a very popular open source operating system based on the Linux kernel. It has enjoyed increasing popularity because it is easy to install and very stable. Ubuntu can be installed either as a server operating system without a graphical interface, or as a desktop operating system with a graphical interface that closely resembles Windows.
You can learn more about the Ubuntu operating system, and why it is so popular, at http://www.ubuntu.com/.
Choosing an Ubuntu Odoo installation
It is generally accepted that Ubuntu is the recommended operating system for running a production installation of Odoo. There are several reasons why this is true:
Ubuntu is the primary target platform
: While Odoo is released for Windows and still well supported, the Ubuntu installation continues to be favored. The development team for Odoo works primarily with Ubuntu for bug fixes and platform releases. It can be expected that, for the most part, Odoo development will be optimized around Ubuntu, not Windows or Mac.
Ubuntu is open source
