Installing phpBB V2

Installing phpBB V2 | Installing phpBB V3

How to install phpBB V2 on Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo.

Uniform Server is ideal for testing and evaluating programs like phpBB (version 2.0.22). I tend to keep a clean version of Uniform Server ready to do quick test, add the software to be tested. After testing just archive the lot using 7Z.

If you do not intend to go live with phpBB, use defaults during set-up and you will have a working bulletin board in a very short time, it is so quick to install. Once installed you can break it as many times as you like, that is the beauty of this type of set-up. It gives you the chance to resolve any issues before going live.

When going live use real passwords and make sure you implement any security where noted.

Pre-Installation

Download files and and copy to their correct location I have shown the complete steps below:

1  To begin, I have assumed you have downloaded Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo from SourceForge.net and unzipped it to your computer. If you intend going live check out this page first security check list. Note: You will need the database user name (root) and password that you set for MySQL. In this tutorial I use the Uniform default password (root) .  2 A) Next you need to download phpBB 2.0.22 (or newer version 3 has a different installation) from phpBB.com Save it to a convenient folder for example c:\phpbb_temp  3 B) Extract the file you downloaded (phpBB-2.0.22.zip) to the current folder (right click on the file to be extracted and select Extract All... click Next and Next again). This creates a new folder named: phpBB-2.0.22 that contains a folder named phpBB2 containing all the required files.  4 C) Copy the folder phpBB2 (and all its content) to the root folder www.

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Installation - Create phpBB Database

Creating the phpBB database is straight forward tables are automatically inserted during installation

1  Start Uniform Server (Double click on Server_Start.bat).  2 From apanel click on the phpMyAdmin link. (left menu) Note you can always return to apanel by typing http://localhost/apanel/ into your browser address bar.  3 A) We want to create a new database. Name it phpbb (or something easy to remember)  4 B) Click on Create to create the database

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Installation

Installing phpBB is done via your browser navigate to the phpBB installation file by typing http://localhost/phpBB2/install/install.php into the address bar.

You are greeted with a form to fill in, some of the fields are pre-populated and do need changing. You will be pleased to learn this is the only form that needs filling in. The following lists the fields with comments:

1	Default board language:	English (your choice)
2	Database Type:	Drop down select MySql 4.x/5.x (default not suitable for Uniform Server)
3	Choose your installation method:	Install (We are doing a full install and not an up-date)
4	Database Server Hostname / DSN:	localhost
5	Your Database Name:	phpbb (unless you chose a different name)
6	Database Username:	root
7	Database Password:	root (use the one you set in pre-installation)
8	Prefix for tables in database:	phpbb_ (Default no need to change)
9	Admin Email Address:	xxx@zzz.com (your real e-mail address)
10	Domain Name:	localhost
11	Server Port:	80
12	Script path:	/phpBB2/ (default unless yo renamed or moved the folder)
13	Administrator Username:	ric (your name)
14	Administrator Password:	fred123 (your real admin password)
15	Administrator Password [ Confirm ]:	fred123
16	Press Start Install	Installs phpBB

At this point, your basic installation is complete. Database tables and admin have been created. Click on Finish Installation to complete.

Screen shots of before and after:

Delete these folders

This is not just for information:

For security reasons you do need to action and delete these folders: contrib/ and install/ You will be forgiven if you believe that the message is for information only, ignore it and you will not be able to access your bulletin board. Now that I like forced security makes lazy people like me take notice.

After deleting both folders either refresh the page that displayed the message or go directly to the bulletin board by typing http://localhost/phpBB2/ into your browser and login.

Alternatively, type this http://localhost/phpBB2/admin/ to access the administration page.

Problems encountered

Problems I found were with avatars I download some from http://www.phpbb.com installed them into the gallery folder (*\Uniform Server\udrive\www\phpBB2\images\avatars\gallery) only to find they did not work. Apart from incorrect image size and file size settings, I discovered that my image folders were read only that might have explained why the image up-load did not work.

Adding a new account the mail function failed, this can be resolved in one of two ways check out this section PHP mail function.

General

It has taken longer to write this page than actually perform the installation and testing. Although not exhaustive, I tested with different drive letters, ran from a memory stick on two other machines. Looks fine to me but remember its always the components you do not test or assume, that flaw you in the end.

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Ric