Odoo has a Debian or Ubuntu package available for installation. Using one will provide a working server process that automatically starts on system boot. This installation process is straightforward, and you can find all you'll need at https://nightly.odoo.com. You can also find the rpm builds for CentOS and the .exe installers there.
While this is an easy and convenient way to install Odoo, most integrators prefer to deploy and run version-controlled source code. This provides better control over what is deployed and makes it easier to manage changes and fixes once in production.