Getting Started

Step 1.  Bitnami

Go to https://bitnami.com/stack/odoo

Step 2. Create New Account

Click "Create Account" to create a new Google Account

Step 3. Complete Details

Fill in the forms to create your new Google Account. 

If you sign up for a new account and enter your payment details you can qualify for free credits to evaluate Odoo at no charge for 90 days.

Step 4. Link Cloud Account

Set up your new Virtual Machine with Odoo image from Bitnami. Click on the link to link your Google Cloud Account so you can create a project.

Step 5. Link Bitnami

The next screen will allow you to set a password for your Bitnami Vault - the location where you can find the software you are running. This is very helpful if you are using more than one cloud provider so that you can see all instances from one screen.

Step 6. Allow Access

Allow Bitnami to access your Google Cloud Account

Step 7. Create Project

Create a new project in Google Cloud Platform

Step 8. Enable Billing

Enable the billing API to allow access to enable other APIs.

Step 9. Add Payment Info

Add your billing information and claim your free Google credits and enable the necessary apis.

Step 10. Verify Account

Verify your account.

Step 11. Validate Payment

Validate your payment method to claim your credits.

Step 12. Enable Compute API

Enable the Compute API. If you encounter an error in the link then you can go to https://console.cloud.google.com and click on Compute > VM instances.

Step 13. Enable Deployment API

Enable the Deployment Manager API

Step 14. Completed Milestone 1

You should have completed all the steps and get the "launch" button. Click this to start setup of your Odoo ERP application server.

Step 15. Setup New Odoo VM

Create your new Virtual Machine.

1. Enter a name for your machine i.e. my-odoo-eval
2. Select the project you made in the previous stage.
3. Select the default network type
4. Choose between Magnetic (cheaper) or Solid State (faster) hard drives
5. Choose the server configuration. You can start with the smallest and move up as needed in the future.
6. Choose a region close to you or your customers to serve your app from. Prices for Compute Engines vary by location.

Step 16. Review App Details

After you created your Virtual machine you will get your application details.

1. You can click the Administrator link and use the supplied credentials to access the application.
2. You can access the application at the IP address until you stop the server, then a new ip address will be assigned unless you use a dedicated IP address.
3. You will have a link to mange this machine in Google Console.
4. You will have a link to access the SSH tunnel with one click. Useful for setting up addons and running Bitnami tools such as the SSL certificate generator

You will need a domain name (or sub-domain) to add a Free SSL certificate and secure your app

Step 17. Your Odo Apps

Welcome to the Apps home screen. This is where you install the "Apps" or modules that you will use within Odoo ERP. We are going to install the eCommerce, Website and Invoice modules to get our website and store setup quickly.

Step 18. Install eCommerce

Install the eCommerce App

Step 19. Start Setup

Follow the prompts to build your custom website

Step 20. Type of Site

Choose the type of website you want to launch

1. A Business Website: information and promotional business website which can be integrated into Project management and CRM modules. Generate business leads, display your expertise or showcase your work with this option.
2. An Online Store: Allow customers to shop in a modern mobile first app. your store can be B2B, B2C or anything in between. Tons of options allow you to customize the shop to your needs.
3. A Blog: Get more visitors with a fast, modern blog with numerous features to increase exposure through SEO and social sharing. A blog is a great component of any type of site you are creating!
4. An Event Website: A full event management system for managing your public, company or private events. Allow users to register, require payment, issue badges, gather attendance and more in a modern web app that can be installed on iOS or Android!
5. An eLearning Platform: Educate your employees or the public with a comprehensive eLearning platform. Issue quizzes, test, points and certificates to your users.

Step 21. Site Category

Search for your business category. I chose a Vaporizer Store.

Step 22. Choose Your Goal

Choose your objective.

1. Get Leads: Capture user interest with landing pages and forms that integrate with the additional CRM and Project modules.
2. Develop the Brand: Design a Brand promotional site with information and resources to promote your brand.
3. Sell More: Drive customers to your shop.
4. Inform Customers: Keep customers up to date on new products, services, promotions.
5. Schedule Appointments: Attract customers with landing pages and easy to fill out forms that integrate with the Appointments modules (Upgrade to Paid version required)

Step 23. Choose a Color Theme

Choose your color theme or upload a logo to have the app provide a suggested color theme.

Step 24. Select New Pages

Select the pages and features to add to your website. pages are shown in green and the features in yellow. You can choose any combination of the open source modules.

Step 25. Building....

Let the system build a few new site themes for you.

Step 26. Choose a Theme

Choose one of the generated layouts

Step 27. Review your new website!

Welcome to your new website! You can edit or explore the pages that the system generated for you by clicking "Discard" in the upper right and then navigating around like a normal website. Click "Edit" in the top right to start editing the page!

Step 28. Explore

Explore the Administration area by click on the tab in the upper left of your screen. The drop down will show you the modules that you have installed. You can head to settings to configure your user accounts but you should setup SSL first!