Installing Joomla

How to install Joomla on Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo.

Joomla is a powerful Open Source Content Management Systems that is easy to install on Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo. After installation, a minor tweak is required to make it portable you can then run it from a memory stick on any designated drive.

If you have never used Joomla then take this opportunity to have a play and enjoy. It will take several hours to master I think well worth the effort to produce an easily up-dateable web site. Joomla on UniServer is a great addition to any home web server.

Pre-Installation

Download files and and copy to their correct location. 1  To begin, I have assumed you have downloaded Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo from SourceForge and unzipped it to your computer. If you intend going live check out this page first security check list. Note: You will need a database user name and password in this tutorial I use the Uniform defaults name=root password=root. Database user name root - No need to change this Database password root - Before installing WordPress I recommend changing this using apanel 2  A) Next you need to download Joomla 1.0.13 (or newer version) from here follow the download links and choose the full package. Save to a convenient folder for example c:\joomla_temp 3  B) Extract this file to the current folder (right click on the file to be extracted wordpress-2.3.1.zip and select Extract All... click Next and Next again). This creates a new folder named: Joomla_1.0.13-Stable-Full_Package containing all the required files. 4  C) Copy folder Joomla_1.0.13-Stable-Full_Package and all its contents to Uniform Server's root folder *\Uniform Server\udrive\www 5  D) Rename the folder to joomla (or to a name you prefer)

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Installation - Create a Joomla Database

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

1  Start Uniform Server (Double click on Server_Start.bat in folder Uniform Server). 2  From apanel (displayed in your browser when the server starts) click on the phpMyAdmin link. (left menu under tools) 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 joomla (or something easy to remember) 4  B) Click on Create to create the database

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PHP register_globals

For security Joomla requires that register_globals be switched off.

• In apanel select PHP Configuration (left menu)
• Locate Register globals text box and change from On to Off
• Click save.
• The servers need restarting for the changes to take effect restart servers.

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Installation

To start the Joomla installation process type http://localhost/joomla/ into your browser and follow the instructions.

There are six pages to the process as follows:

• pre-installation check (Automatically checks your system for suitability).
• license (If you like a read then do so otherwise click on next.)
• step 1 (MySQL database configuration)
• step 2 (Enter the name of your Joomla site)
• step 3 (Confirm the site URL, path, admin e-mail and file/directory chmods)
• step 4 (Joomla is installed just delete installation folder)

For completeness, I have reproduced the steps and added a few extra notes.

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pre-installation check

This page automatically checks your system for suitability Uniform Server is 100% compatible hence, all entries will be green for go. Click on next to continue.

"If any of these items are highlighted in red then please take actions to correct them. Failure to do so could lead to your Joomla installation not functioning correctly."

PHP version >= 4.1.0	Yes
- zlib compression support	Available
- XML support	Available
- MySQL support	Available
configuration.php	Writeable
Session save path	Writeable
/tmp

"These settings are recommended for PHP in order to ensure full compatibility with Joomla. However, Joomla will still operate if your settings do not quite match the recommended"

Directive	Recommended	Actual
Safe Mode:	OFF:	OFF
Display Errors:	ON:	ON
File Uploads:	ON:	ON
Magic Quotes GPC:	ON:	ON
Magic Quotes Runtime:	OFF:	OFF
Register Globals:	OFF:	OFF
Output Buffering:	OFF:	OFF
Session auto start:	OFF:	OFF

"In order for Joomla to function correctly it needs to be able to access or write to certain files or directories. If you see "Unwriteable" you need to change the permissions on the file or directory to allow Joomla to write to it. "

administrator/backups/	Writeable
administrator/components/	Writeable
administrator/modules/	Writeable
administrator/templates/	Writeable
cache/	Writeable
components/	Writeable
images/	Writeable
images/banners/	Writeable
images/stories/	Writeable
language/	Writeable
mambots/	Writeable
mambots/content/	Writeable
mambots/editors/	Writeable
mambots/editors-xtd/	Writeable
mambots/search/	Writeable
mambots/system/	Writeable
media/	Writeable
modules/	Writeable

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License

Click Next (top right) read the license if you like. Click next to continue.

step 1 - MySQL database configuration

The MySQL database configuration is straightforward I have highlighted the values that need changing or adding. Do change the default root password especially before going live.

Field Name	Value	Comment
Host Name	localhost	This is usually 'localhost'
MySQL User Name	root	Either something as 'root' or a username given by the hoster
MySQL Password	root	For site security using a password for the mysql account is mandatory Check this page and use the password you set for user root.
MySQL Database Name	joomla	Some hosts allow only a certain DB name per site. Use table prefix in this case for distinct Joomla sites.
MySQL Table Prefix	jos_
Drop Existing Tables	leave unchecked
Backup Old Tables	leave unchecked
Install Sample Data	checked	gives you a chance to experiment

A confirmation pop-up is displayed Clik OK

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step 2 - Enter the name of your Joomla site

"Type in the name for your Joomla site. This name is used in email messages so make it something meaningful."

I have used MPG International

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step3 - Confirm

"Confirm the site URL, path, admin e-mail and file/directory chmods"

Confirm is slightly misleading! You do need to enter the admin e-mail address other values and selections can remain as shown. However, unless you like the admin password change it to something you can remember.

Field Name	Value	Comment
URL	http://localhost/joomla
Path	W:\www\joomla
Your E-mail	xxx@fred.com	Real email
Admin password	9gsPipfw	Change this now or after installation
Dont CHMOD files (use server defaults)	Selected
Dont CHMOD directories (use server defaults)	Selected

step4 - Joomla is installed just delete installation folder

"Congratulations! Joomla is installed"

Click the "View Site" button to start Joomla site or "Administration" to take you to administrator login.

Field Name	Value	Comment
User Name:	Admin
Password:	9gsPipfw	You can change this from admin

"For your security please completely remove the installation directory including all files and sub-folders - then refresh this page" Note: You will be forgiven if you believe that the message is for information only, ignore it and you will not be able to access Joomla. It forces security makes lazy people like me take notice.

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Running Joomla

To start Joomla type http://localhost/joomla/ into your browser address bar the index page will open.

Change Admin Password

If you need to change the admin password first login using the above name and password. Click on the administrator link (Index page left menu) to login into the admin account. Enter name (admin) and password (9gsPipfw) or the one you set in step3 Details: A) Click on the adminlink. This takes you to the user details page,allowing you to create a new password.

User details as shown. Note this is where you can also change the email address.

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Going Live

The above installation allows you to test Joomla and become familiar with its operation. Putting it online requires no special work.

Joomla is effectively online when your servers are connected to the Internet as a public server'

Public server

To check your servers are enabled for on line operation open the file .htaccess in folder www (*\Uniform Server\udrive\www) and make sure these three lines are commented out:

Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 127.0.0.1

As shown below:

# This file provides security to the server limiting access to the localhost only.
# Comment to deactivate.

#Order Deny,Allow
#Deny from all
#Allow from 127.0.0.1

Internet Access

Type your domain into a browser and append the folder joomla to it.

For example suppose your domain is www.xxx.gotdns.com to access your Joomla site type this into your browser:

www.xxx.gotdns.com/joomla/

Problems

If the above does not work and you are having problems with links (they display localhost in their address) you will need to change the Joomla configuration file:

Open the file configuration.php located in folder *\Uniform Server\udrive\www\joomla Locate the line: $mosConfig_live_site = 'http://localhost/joomla'; Change it to: $mosConfig_live_site = 'http://www.yourlivesite.com/joomla';

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Installation to run on a local network

The above installation was purely for local testing or to put it online, however it is easy to change the default installation to run on a local network.

Open the file configuration.php located in folder *\Uniform Server\udrive\www\joomla Locate the line (tenth line): $mosConfig_live_site = 'http://localhost/joomla'; Change it to this: $mosConfig_live_site = 'http://your machines IP number/joomla'; for example: $mosConfig_live_site = 'http://192.168.1.078/joomla';

The file looks similar to this, depending on your own installation will vary slightly however it is that last line shown you need to change.

<?php
$mosConfig_offline = '0';
$mosConfig_host = 'localhost';
$mosConfig_user = 'root';
$mosConfig_password = 'root';
$mosConfig_db = 'joomla';
$mosConfig_dbprefix = 'jos_';
$mosConfig_lang = 'english';
$mosConfig_absolute_path = 'W:/www/joomla';
$mosConfig_live_site = 'http://192.168.1.078/joomla';

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IP Address

Note sure what your IP address is, use ipconfig/all to check it as follows:

start > run, in the pop-up type in cmd and then OK

In the dos window that appears type in ipconfig/all and press return

Scroll down the list of information until you find this section:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom ####### Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : ##-##-##-##-##-## Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.078 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : ###.##.###.## ###.##.###.##

To view Joomla type http://192.168.1.078/joomla/ into any of your local network PCs.

Number pain! If like me you find it a pain to remember numbers map the IP to a real name.

On each of your network PC's open the host (host details) file and map the IP to a name for example:

On an XP machine the hosts file is located in the following folder: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

At the end of this file add the line as shown bold:

File C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
# For example: # # 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server # 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host 127.0.0.1 localhost 192.168.1.078 joomla

To view Joomla from any of your network PCs type the following into a browser: http://joomla/

Problems encountered

None

Portability

Once Joomla is installed, it becomes a fixed installation running on the drive letter you selected for UniServer (default drive W).

This may be inconvenient I cover a solution to portability on the next page.

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Ric