Getting started
You’ve ordered a managed Odoo at server.camp — congratulations! Odoo is an all-in-one business software: instead of juggling many separate tools, you manage CRM, sales, accounting, inventory, projects and more in one integrated interface. This guide is aimed at freelancers and small to medium-sized businesses and walks you through the most important first steps in your running instance.
Unlike many other tools, Odoo is modular: after provisioning, your instance is deliberately “empty” — only the base is installed, with no apps and no demo data yet. You decide which features you need and install them from the Apps screen. This keeps your system lean and clear.
Your database is prepared, but intentionally minimalWe initialise your database with the German language and without demo data. You install the chart of accounts / accounting localisation yourself once you start using accounting (see Accounting & the German chart of accounts) — so you get exactly the configuration that fits your business.
As soon as your Odoo instance is set up, we automatically create your administrator account. We use the email address you provided when ordering as the login, together with the initial password.
Open your instance at the address we provided (e.g. https://your-odoo.srv.camp) and sign in.
Change your password right awayChange your password after the first login: top right, click your avatar / name → My Profile → Account Security tab. Best store your credentials in a password manager such as Vaultwarden.
- Top left, the main menu (app switcher) takes you back to the Apps overview at any time.
- Within an app, the top bar shows its own menu items (e.g. Overview, Configuration).
- Top right you’ll find the activities icon, messaging (Discuss) and your avatar (profile, settings, log out).
On a freshly provisioned instance, the Apps screen is your starting point — that’s where we go next.
Odoo consists of individual apps (modules) that you add as needed.
- Open the Apps app.
- Find the app you want (e.g. CRM, Sales, Invoicing, Project, Inventory, Website).
- On the app tile, click Activate (in some views Install). Odoo automatically installs any required dependencies.
Uninstalling deletes dataYou remove an app via the tile’s three-dot menu → Uninstall. Caution: this permanently deletes the associated database records. Only uninstall apps if you really no longer need the data captured in them.
We host either the Community Edition (free open-source base) or the Enterprise Edition with the full feature set (including full double-entry accounting, Odoo Studio, the mobile app). Some apps — such as full Accounting — are reserved for the Enterprise edition; in Community, Invoicing is available instead for plain invoicing.
Adding your Enterprise licenseYou purchase the Enterprise license directly from Odoo. Send us the license code you receive via a support ticket — we’ll add it to your instance and unlock the full feature set. Important: the Standard license only works with Odoo directly. To use your Enterprise license at server.camp, you need the Custom license.
Before you start, enter your company details — the country in particular matters, because the later accounting localisation depends on it.
Go to Settings → Users & Companies → Companies and fill in:
- Company name and logo
- Address and — importantly — Country: Germany
- VAT / Tax ID
- Currency (your company’s main currency)
- Contact details such as phone, email, website
Many of these are also available compactly under Settings → General Settings in the Companies section.
You add further team members under Settings → Users & Companies → Users:
- Click New, enter the name and email address, and save. Odoo automatically sends an invitation email through which the user sets their own password.
- In the Access Rights tab, set the permission level per installed app (e.g. for Sales: no access / own documents / all documents / administrator).
Prerequisite: outgoing emailInvitation emails are only sent if an outgoing mail server is configured (see next section). It’s best to set up email sending before inviting users.
There are different user types: internal users (full, rights-controlled access), portal users (limited external access, e.g. for a customer portal) and public users (website visitors without login).
For Odoo to send email (invitations, quotes, invoices), you need to add an outgoing mail server from your email provider — this is deliberately not pre-configured in the hosting.
- Go to Settings → General Settings, the Discuss / Emails section, and enable Use Custom Email Servers → Save.
- Click the now-visible Outgoing Email Servers link and then New.
- Enter your provider’s values:
- SMTP Server (hostname)
- SMTP Port — usually
587(STARTTLS) or465(SSL) - Connection Security — TLS (STARTTLS) or SSL/TLS
- Username and Password
- Click Test Connection to check the settings.
Improve deliverabilityAdd matching SPF and DKIM records from your email provider to your sender domain’s DNS so your Odoo mail doesn’t end up in spam.
Since your database was initialised without a localisation, you set up the German chart of accounts yourself when first starting accounting:
- Make sure Germany is set as the country on your company (see Setting up your company).
- Install and open the Accounting app (Enterprise) or Invoicing (Community). On first open, Odoo automatically installs the fiscal localisation matching the country.
- Check or choose the chart of accounts under Accounting → Configuration → Settings, Fiscal Localization section. For Germany, SKR03 and SKR04 are available.
Choose the chart of accounts before your first entryThe chart of accounts can only be changed as long as no entry has been posted yet. So choose the right package (SKR03 or SKR04) before you post any documents — switching later is only possible via a new database.
You can then review the relevant tax rates (19% / 7% VAT) and use the German reports (balance sheet, P&L, advance VAT return, optional DATEV export).
- CRM — track leads and opportunities through a pipeline (Kanban).
- Sales — create quotations and orders and turn them into invoices.
- Invoicing / Accounting — customer and vendor invoices, payments; in Enterprise with full bookkeeping and bank reconciliation.
- Project — projects and tasks in Kanban/list, optionally with timesheets.
- Inventory — stock management, receipts and deliveries, multiple warehouses.
- Website / eCommerce — website and online shop via drag-and-drop, integrated with CRM and Sales.
You can have your own or third-party modules pulled in from a Git repository. Just get in touch with us at server.camp/support.
Some technical settings (e.g. the Settings → Technical menu) are hidden by default. You enable developer mode under Settings, at the very bottom, in the Developer Tools → Activate the developer mode section. Use it deliberately — technical settings reach deep into your system.
Database managerYour instance contains exactly one pre-configured database. The database manager at/web/databaseis additionally password-protected and not needed for normal operation. Please don’t create additional databases there or delete the existing one — neither is supported by the managed hosting.
If you need help setting things up, reach us any time at support@server.camp or via server.camp/support. You’ll also find detailed technical documentation in the official Odoo documentation. We answer frequently asked questions on our Odoo product page.