REQUIREMENTS ------------ First you must have the base environment for Joomla. We have thoroughly tested Joomla! on: Linux, Free BSD, Mac OS X and Windows NT/2000. Linux or one of the BSD's are recommended, but anything else that can run the 3 pieces of software listed below should do it. Apache -> http://www.apache.org MySQL -> http://www.mysql.com PHP -> http://www.php.net SERVER CONFIGURATION -------------------- You MUST ensure that PHP has been compiled with support for MySQL and Zlib in order to successfully run Joomla. While we have reports that Joomla! works on IIS server we recommend Apache for running Joomla! on Windows. OPTIONAL COMPONENTS ------------------- If you want support for SEF (Search Engine Friendly) URLs, you'll need mod_rewrite and the ability to use local .htaccess files. INSTALLATION ------------ 1. DOWNLOAD Joomla You can obtain the latest Joomla! release from: http://www.joomla.org Copy the tar.gz file into a working directory e.g. $ cp JoomlaVx.x.x-Stable.tar.gz /tmp/Joomla Change to the working directory e.g. $ cd /tmp/Joomla Extract the files e.g. $ tar -zxvf JoomlaVx.x.x-Stable.tar.gz This will extract all Joomla! files and directories. Move the contents of that directory into a directory within your web server's document root or your public HTML directory e.g. $ mv /tmp/Joomla/* /var/www/html Alternatively if you downloaded the file to your computer and unpacked it locally use a FTP program to upload all files to your server. Make sure all PHP, HTML, CSS and JS files are sent in ASCII mode and image files (GIF, JPG, PNG) in BINARY mode. 2. CREATE THE Joomla! DATABASE Joomla! will currently only work with MySQL. In the following examples, "db_user" is an example MySQL user which has the CREATE and GRANT privileges. You will need to use the appropriate user name for your system. First, you must create a new database for your Joomla! site e.g. $ mysqladmin -u db_user -p create Joomla MySQL will prompt for the 'db_user' database password and then create the initial database files. Next you must login and set the access database rights e.g. $ mysql -u db_user -p Again, you will be asked for the 'db_user' database password. At the MySQL prompt, enter following command: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON Joomla.* TO nobody@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password'; where: 'Joomla' is the name of your database 'nobody@localhost' is the userid of your webserver MySQL account 'password' is the password required to log in as the MySQL user If successful, MySQL will reply with Query OK, 0 rows affected to activate the new permissions you must enter the command flush privileges; and then enter '\q' to exit MySQL. Alternatively you can use your web control panel or phpMyAdmin to create a database for Joomla. 3. WEB INSTALLER Finally point your web browser to http://www.mysite.com where the Joomla! web based installer will guide you through the rest of the installation. 4. CONFIGURE Joomla You can now launch your browser and point it to your Joomla! site e.g. http://www.mysite.com -> Main Site http://www.mysite.com/administrator -> Admin You can log into Admin using the username 'admin' along with the password that was generated or you chose during the web based install. Joomla! ADMINISTRATION ---------------------- Upon a new installation, your JoomlaS website defaults to a very basic configuration with only a few active components, modules and templates (CMTs). Use Admin to install and configure additional CMTs, add users, select default language and much more. Note that additional community-contributed CMTs and languages are available via http://www.joomla.org