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Last Updated: Apr 15th, 2008 - 18:38:37 |
Introduction
osCommerce can be installed on any server where a web server is running that has been installed with PHP, which includes shared servers, dedicated servers, and locally on the computer you are currently using.
osCommerce is not an application that can be started by clicking on an executable file, but a web based solution that needs its relevant files to be copied to the web server.
This can be done by extracting the osCommerce download package locally and copying the files and directories to the server via FTP, or by copying the download package to the server and extracting the package there. Although there are two compressed file archives available for download here, one for Linux/Unix and one for Windows, they contain identical files. There is only one set of files, regardless of which operating system the server is using.
Installation Types
- FTP Based Installation
- Direct Server Access Based Installation
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FTP Based Installation
- Download the osCommerce release package
- Extract the package to a temporary directory
- Connect to the web server with an FTP client
- Copy the "catalog" directory to the web server document path
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Direct Server Access Based Installation
- Save the osCommerce release package on the server
- Extract the package to a temporary directory
- Copy the "catalog" directory to the web server document path
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Catalog Directory
The catalog directory exists inside the oscommerce-X directory created by extracting the osCommerce download package (where X is the osCommerce version number).
Web Server Document Path
The web server document path is the directory where the web server has been configured to look for the HTML/PHP files to serve to the public. Example web server document paths are:
- /home/hpdl/public_html/
- /srv/www/htdocs/
- /usr/local/htdocs/
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If the catalog directory is kept and copied to, for example, /home/hpdl/public_html/catalog/, the web server public address would be http://www.my-server.com/catalog/.
If the osCommerce installation is to reside on the root path, for example http://www.my-server.com/, then the files within the catalog directory should be copied over and not the actual catalog directory itself.
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Pre-Installation Configuration
- Username/password and database
If you use a hosting service to set up your webspace, they will likely have provided a username and login for database access, which you will need. They may have also created a database already for you to use with the username and login provided. Otherwise, using phpMyAdmin or another tool, create your database and user, and assign that user to the database. Write down the name of the database, login, and password for this database for later. Also note the hostname of the server (i.e. myserver.com) for later use. |
Changing file permissions
The permission on the catalog/includes/configure.php file needs to be set to 777 by logging into your root server and running "chmod 777 configure.php".
If you do not have access to the root of your server you can use an ftp program such as www.smartftp.com. When using an ftp program to change the permissions navigate to that specific file, right-click on it, and there will be a chmod (or change attributes) listing which is where the permissions would be changed to 777 for the catalog/includes/configure.php files ... 777 = read/write/execute.
If these permissions are not set correctly you will get an error when installing telling you the permission setting on catalog/includes/configure.php is not set correctly.
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When finished with the above setup, open your web browser, and point it to http://yourserver/catalog/install/ and follow the Installation Procedure.
Please consult the Web Based Installation Procedure article below for further information concerning the configuration process. |
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