Installation and configuration

Formatted Drupal 5.x Installation instructions for better readability

Installation

// $Id: INSTALL.txt,v 1.39 2007/01/08 11:59:16 dries Exp $

Table of Contents

1. Changes
2. Requirements
3. Optional requirements
4. Installation
5. Drupal administration
6. Customizing your theme(s)
7. Multisite Configuration
8. More Information

Changes

As of Drupal 5.0 installation has been automated by an install script. It is no longer necessary to manually edit the "settings.php" file, and database tables are created automatically.

Requirements

Drupal requires a web server, PHP4 (4.3.3 or greater) or PHP5 (http://www.php.net/) and either MySQL (http://www.mysql.com/) or PostgreSQL (http://www.postgresql.org/). The Apache web server and MySQL database are recommended; other web server and database combinations such as IIS and PostgreSQL have been tested to a lesser extent. When using MySQL, version 4.1 or greater is recommended to assure you can safely transfer the database.

For more detailed information about Drupal requirements, see "Requirements" (http://drupal.org/requirements) in the Drupal Handbook.

Guidelines for setting up a server environment with a variety of operating systems and in special cases are available in the Drupal handbook (http://drupal.org/node/260)

Optional Requirements

- To use XML-based services such as the Blogger API, Jabber, and RSS syndication, you will need PHP's XML extension. This extension is enabled by default.

- If you want support for clean URLs, you'll need mod_rewrite and the ability to use local .htaccess files.

Installation

1. Download Drupal

You can obtain the latest Drupal release from http://drupal.org/. The files are in .tar.gz format and can be extracted using most compression tools. On a typical Unix command line, use:

This will create a new directory drupal-x.x/ containing all Drupal files and directories. Move the contents of that directory into a directory within your web server's document root or your public HTML directory:

     mv drupal-x.x/* drupal-x.x/.htaccess /var/www/html 

2. Create the Drupal database

Drupal requires access to a database in order to be installed. Your database user will need sufficient privileges to run Drupal. Additional information about privileges, and instructions to create a database using the command line are available in INSTALL.mysql.txt (for MySQL) or INSTALL.pgsql.txt (for PostgreSQL).

To create a database using PHPMyAdmin or a web-based control panel consult the documentation or ask your webhost service provider.

Take note of the username, password, database name and hostname as you create the database. You will enter these items in the install script.

3. Run the install script

The install script will set the base URL, connect Drupal to the database, and create tables in the database.

To run the install script point your browser to the base url of your website (i.e. http://www.example.com). You will be presented with the "Database Configuration" page.

The install script will attempt to write-protect the settings.php after updating it with the information you provide in the installation routine. If you make manual changes to that file later, be sure to protect it again after making your modifications. Failure to remove write permissions to that file is a security risk. The default location for the settings.php file is at sites/default/settings.php, but it may be in another location if you use the multi-site setup, as explained below.

4. Configure Drupal

When the install script succeeds, you will be directed to the "Welcome" page. In "step one" click "create the first account" which will become the main administrator account with total control. Login as the administrator and complete the initial configuration steps on the "Welcome" page.

Consider creating a "files" subdirectory in your Drupal installation directory. This subdirectory stores files such as custom logos, user avatars, and other media associated with your new site. The sub-directory requires "read and write" permission by the Drupal server process. You can change the name of this subdirectory at "administer > site configuration > file system".

5. Cron Tasks

Many Drupal modules (such as the search functionality) have periodic tasks that must be triggered by a cron job. To activate these tasks, call the cron page by visiting http://www.example.com/cron.php --this will pass control to the modules and the modules will decide if and what they must do.

Most systems support the crontab utility for scheduling tasks like this. The following example crontab line will activate the cron tasks automatically on the hour:

   0   *   *   *   *   wget -O - -q http://www.example.com/cron.php 

More information about the cron scripts are available in the admin help pages and in the Drupal handbook at drupal.org. Example scripts can be found in the scripts/ directory.

Drupal Administration

A new installation of Drupal defaults to a very basic configuration with only aw active modules and minimal user access rights.

Use your administration panel to enable and configure services. For example:

General Settings     administer > site configuration > site information
Enable Modules     administer > site configuration > modules
Set User Permissions     administer > users management > access control
Configure Themes     administer > site building > themes

For more information on configuration options, read the instructions which accompany the different configuration settings and consult the various help pages available in the administration panel.

Community-contributed modules and themes are available at http://drupal.org/.

Customizing your theme(s)

Now that your installation is running, you will want to customize the look of your site. Several sample themes are included and more can be downloaded from drupal.org.

Simple customization of your theme can be done using only CSS. Further changes require understanding the phptemplate engine that is now part of Drupal. See http://drupal.org/handbook/customization to find out more.

Multi-site configuration

A single Drupal installation can host several Drupal-powered sites, each with its own individual configuration.

Additional site configurations are created in subdirectories within the 'sites' directory. Each subdirectory must have a 'settings.php' file which specifies the configuration settings. The easiest way to create additional sites is to copy the 'default' directory and modify the 'settings.php' file as appropriate. The new directory name is constructed from the site's URL. The configuration for www.example.com could be in 'sites/example.com/settings.php' (note that 'www.' should be omitted if users can access your site at http://example.com/).

Sites do not have to have a different domain. You can also use subdomains and subdirectories for Drupal sites. For example, example.com, sub.example.com, and sub.example.com/site3 can all be defined as independent Drupal sites. The setup for a configuration such as this would look like the following:

sites/default/settings.php
sites/example.com/settings.php
sites/sub.example.com/settings.php
sites/sub.example.com.site3/settings.php

When searching for a site configuration (for example www.sub.example.com/site3), Drupal will search for configuration files in the following order, using the first configuration it finds:

sites/www.sub.example.com.site3/settings.php
sites/sub.example.com.site3/settings.php
sites/example.com.site3/settings.php
sites/www.sub.example.com/settings.php
sites/sub.example.com/settings.php
sites/example.com/settings.php
sites/default/settings.php

If you are installing on a non-standard port, the port number is treated as the deepest subdomain. For example: http://www.example.com:8080/ could be loaded from sites/8080.www.example.com/. The port number will be removed according to the pattern above if no port-specific configuration is found, just like a real subdomain.

Each site configuration can have its own site-specific modules and themes in addition to those installed in the standard 'modules'and 'themes' directories. To use site-specific modules or themes, simply create a 'modules' or 'themes' directory within the site configuration directory. For example, if sub.example.com has a custom theme and a custom module that should not be accessible to other sites, the setup would look like this:

sites/sub.example.com/:
settings.php
themes/custom_theme
modules/custom_module

NOTE: for more information about multiple virtual hosts or the configuration settings, consult the Drupal handbook at drupal.org.

More Information

For platform specific configuration issues and other installation and administration assistance, please consult the Drupal handbook at http://drupal.org/handbook. You can view the wide range of other support options available at http://drupal.org/support.

Formatted Drupal 4.7.x Installation instructions for better readability

Installation

// $Id: INSTALL.txt,v 1.6 2004/11/27 11:28:55 dries Exp $

This document outlines the standard installation process.

1. REQUIREMENTS
2. SERVER CONFIGURATION
3. OPTIONAL COMPONENTS
4. INSTALLATION
5. DRUPAL ADMINISTRATION
6. CUSTOMIZING YOUR THEME(S)
7. UPGRADING
8. MORE INFORMATION

REQUIREMENTS

1. Drupal requires a web server, PHP4 (http://www.php.net/) and either
   MySQL, PostgreSQL or a database server supported by the PHP PEAR API
   (http://pear.php.net/).
2. To Install you will need an FTP program to upload files to the server, or shell access if you wish to install using the commands listed below; access to run database scripts directly or a tool such as PHPMyAdmin to manage a database; knowledge of how to use either FTP programs or shell access to set permissions on directories, and how to run database scripts.
3. NOTE: The Apache web server and MySQL database are strongly recommended;
   other web server and database combinations such as IIS and PostgreSQL
   are possible but tested to a lesser extent.

SERVER CONFIGURATION

Your PHP must have the following settings:

session.save_handler     user

In addition, we recommend the following settings:

session.cache_limiter    none

These values are set in php.ini and can be overwritten in a .htaccess
file; you can print out your local PHP settings with PHP's phpinfo()
function.

OPTIONAL COMPONENTS

• To use XML-based services such as the Blogger API, Jabber, RSS
  syndication, you will need PHP's XML extension. This extension is
  enabled by default in standard PHP4 installations.
• If you want support for clean URLs, you'll need mod_rewrite and
  the ability to use local .htaccess files. (More information can
  be found in the Drupal handbook on drupal.org.)

INSTALLATION

1. DOWNLOAD DRUPAL

You can obtain the latest Drupal release from http://drupal.org/.
Download the current tar.gz format and extract the files:

This will create a new directory drupal-x.x.x/ containing all
Drupal files and directories. Move the contents of that directory
into a directory within your web server's document root or your
public HTML directory:

$ mv drupal-x.x.x/* drupal-x.x.x/.htaccess /var/www/html

2. CREATE THE DRUPAL DATABASE

These instructions are for MySQL. If you are using another database,
check the database documentation. In the following examples,
"dba_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 Drupal site:

$ mysqladmin -u dba_user -p create drupal

MySQL will prompt for the dba_user database password and then create
the initial database files. Next you must login and set the access
database rights:

$ mysql -u dba_user -p

Again, you will be asked for the dba_user database password. At the
MySQL prompt, enter following command:

where

• 'drupal' 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.

3. LOAD THE DRUPAL DATABASE SCHEME

Once you have a database, you must load the required tables:

$ mysql -u nobody -p drupal < database/database.mysql

4. CONNECTING DRUPAL

The default configuration can be found in the
'sites/default/settings.php' file within your Drupal installation.
Before you can run Drupal, you must set the database URL and the
base URL to the web site. Open the configuration file and edit the
$db_url line to match the database defined in the previous steps:

$db_url = "mysql://username:password@localhost/drupal";

Set $base_url to match the address to your web site:

$base_url = "http://www.example.com";

In addition, a single Drupal installation can host several
Drupal-powered sites, each with its own individual configuration.
If you don't need to run multiple Drupal sites, you can skip to the
next section.

Additional site configurations are created in subdirectories within
the 'sites' directory. Each site subdirectory must have a
'settings.php' file which specifies the configuration settings. The
easiest way to create additional sites is to copy the 'default'
directory and modify the 'settings.php' file as appropriate. The new
directory name is constructed from the site's URL. The
configuration for www.example.com could be in
'sites/example.com/settings.php' (note that 'www.' should be omitted
if users can access your site at http://example.com/).

Sites do not each have to have a different domain. You can use
subdomains and subdirectories for Drupal sites also. For example,
example.com, sub.example.com, and sub.example.com/site3 can all be
defined as independent Drupal sites. The setup for a configuration
such as this would look like the following:

When searching for a site configuration (for example
www.sub.example.com/site3), Drupal will search for configuration
files in the following order, using the first configuration file it
finds:

Each site configuration can have its own site-specific modules and
themes that will be made available in addition to those installed
in the standard 'modules' and 'themes' directories. To use
site-specific modules or themes, simply create a 'modules' or
'themes' directory within the site configuration directory. For
example, if sub.example.dom has a custom theme and a custom module
that should not be accessible to other sites, the setup would look
like this:

NOTE: for more information about multiple virtual hosts or the
configuration settings, consult the Drupal handbook at drupal.org.

5. CONFIGURE DRUPAL

You can now launch your browser and point it to your Drupal site.

Create an account and login. The first account will automatically
become the main administrator account.

6. CRON TASKS

Many Drupal modules have periodic tasks that must be triggered by a
cron job. To activate these tasks, you must call the cron page;
this will pass control to the modules and the modules will decide
if and what they must do.

The following example crontab line will activate the cron script
on the hour:

0    *   *   *   *   wget -O - -q http://HOSTNAME/cron.php

More information about the cron scripts are available in the admin
help pages and in the Drupal handbook at drupal.org. Example
scripts can be found in the scripts/ directory.

DRUPAL ADMINISTRATION

Upon a new installation, your Drupal website defaults to a very basic
configuration with only a few active modules, one theme, and no user
access rights.

Use your administration panel to enable and configure services. For
example, set some general settings for your site with "Administration -
configuration". Enable modules via "Administration - configuration -
modules". User permissions can be set with "Administration - accounts
- permissions".

For more information on configuration options, read through the
instructions which accompany the different configuration settings and
consult the various help pages available in the administration panel.

Note that additional community-contributed modules and themes are
available at http://drupal.org/.

CUSTOMIZING YOUR THEME(S)

Now that your server is running, you will want to customize the look
of your site. Several sample themes are included in the Drupal
installation and more can be downloaded from drupal.org.

Customizing each theme depends on the theme. In general, each theme
contains a PHP file themename.theme which defines a function header()
that can be changed to reference your own logos.

Most themes also contain stylesheets or PHP configuration files to
tune the colors and layouts; check the themes/ directory for README
files describing each alternate theme.

UPGRADING

1. Backup your database and Drupal directory - especially your
   configuration file (www.example.com.conf or includes/conf.php).
2. Log on as the user with user ID 1.
3. Remove all the old Drupal files then unpack the new Drupal files
   into the directory that you run Drupal from.
4. Modify the new configuration file to make sure it has the
   correct information.
5. Run update.php by visiting http://www.example.com/update.php.

MORE INFORMATION

For platform specific configuration issues and other installation and
administration assistance, please consult the Drupal handbook at
http://drupal.org/. You can also find support at the Drupal support forum or through the Drupal mailing lists.

10 minute install using PuTTY SSH/Telnet client

I've been developing best practices for my development company and wanted to share/collaborate on some of them.

Development environment:

Server: LAMP
SSH/Telenet Client: PuTTY
Server Interface: WHM
Must have root access.

10 minute Install:

How I installed Drupal: The Eightfold Way

Try this for a supereasy install.

This installation is for a test site.

The aim is to have a test site: \http://drupal.yoursite.com\

When the test site is functioning, the drupal subdomain prefix will be deleted. Therefore the domain name in the root will be mysite.com The DNS servers will automatically point to this (hopefully!). This is what worked for me:

1) Downloaded Drupal 5.0
2) Created a subdomain ("drupal") via my webhost's control panel
3) Created a database ("dbname") via my webhost's control panel (note the user name and password). Noted the hostname, e.g., testsite.yoursite.com
4) Using browser, pointed to URL \http://drupal.yoursite.com\
5) The install.php script automatically installed Drupal
6) Entered information. Database name ("dbname"), username, password
7) Clicked "Advanced options"
8) Entered hostname (e.g., testsite.yoursite.com). Went to testsite.yoursite.com in browser.

Installing virtual hosts for Drupal sites and subsites

The purpose of this guide is to concisely summarize how to implement apache vhost settings for each site or subsite.

All steps for this tutorial were implemented with Debian using Apache version 2.0.54.

1. Gain entrance into your shell system, and su to root or another user that can edit apache2 configuration files.
2. Go to your apache configuration files:
   cd /etc/apache2/sites-available
3. Create a configuration file for your new site. For an example site, www.example.com, we make the site as such:
   nano example.com

• Activate the site's configuration:
  a2ensite www.example.com
• Reload Apache's configuration:
  /etc/init.d/apache2 force-reload

• Done!

  Please post any changes or concerns,

  Tarek : )

Mac OS X-specific guidelines

Install and configure Mysql and PHP, if necessary. Server Logistics provides nice pre-compiled packages and instructions. PHP is also available from Marc Liyanage. PHP may already be installed on your system, so check first.

The stock version of Apache should be fine (typically 1.33).

Turn on "personal web sharing" in the sharing panel of System Preferences to start Apache. Now comes the more involved part- changing the webserver configuration.

To make changes to the Apache configuration you should NOT edit /etc/httpd/httpd.conf but instead edit files in /private/etc/httpd/users/. Any file in the directory /private/etc/httpd/users/ ending with “.conf” will effectively be appended to /etc/httpd/httpd.conf. So any changes you want to make should be made in one or more configuration files of your own construction. System updates will leave these files untouched. You can create a file /private/etc/httpd/users/drupal.conf for all your Drupal-specific changes (even if you have no user named Drupal) and they will be loaded when Apache starts up.

Note: for Mac OS X Server 10.4 (Tiger Server) and most likely previous versions as well, do not make changes to /etc/httpd/httpd.conf expecting the AllowOverride All directive to work. The correct file to add the AllowOverride All directive is in the directory /etc/httpd/sites/. In that directory are the virtual host configuration files. Each virtual server has a configuration file in that directory so it is in those files that you must enable AllowOverride All. If you only have one web server on your server configured, then the file you want to modify is /etc/httpd/sites/0000_any_80_.conf.

To enable clean URLs you will need the following code in your conf file. You'll need to be root (or sudo) to do this. Don't forget to restart apache after modifying httpd.conf (turn personal web sharing off, then back on again, or use /usr/sbin/apachectl restart).

You may also need to edit this file to enable the PHP module for Apache. You have to uncomment two lines. First in this section:

Uncomment this line (around line 235) by removing the #:

Then go below to this section:

and uncomment this line (around line 278) by removing the #:

Drupal goes into /Library/WebServer/Documents/, or ~/Sites. If you use ~/Sites, you may also have to edit the .conf file in /etc/httpd/users that corresponds to your user account. You must AllowOverride in this file for your ~/Sites for clean URLs to work there.

After any edits to your .conf files, be sure to restart Apache (as described above).

MacZeaolots has a good tutorial on installing Drupal on Mac OS X 10.4. The same tutorial applies to 10.3 as well. While the tutorial talks about Drupal 4.6, the setup of the server environment is the same for any version of Drupal.

Important notes for MySQL install:

The version of PHP that Apple included with Mac OS X 10.4.4 has mysql.default_socket set to "/var/mysql/mysql.sock", while the binary version of MySQL from mysql.com uses "/tmp/mysql.sock". This will cause PHP to fail to connect to mysql with a message in Drupal like

can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)

Make PHP look for "/tmp/mysql.sock" by setting this in /etc/php.ini:

You can instead set this in /etc/my.cnf.

Both work, but the second one may make the MySQL preference pane stop working.

You may also need to restart apache to have this take effect.

Restart from the terminal:

$ sudo apachectl restart

or restart by disabling and re-enabling personal web sharing.

Prefixed database.mysql for search and replace

Use a texteditor with search & replace functionality to replace 'prefix' with your own eg. site1, site2.
This is database.mysql from 4.6.5. Contributed by Shane Birley.