Joomla!

By Joe Gardiner Monday, 1st March 2010

What you will need:

All the information from you vCluster Details page and Database Settings page. This includes: access server, public IP, database server, username, database name (the same as your username), and your database password. For quick reference during the Joomla! install, you may find it useful to copy these details into a text file.

The newest version of Joomla!, available to download from joomla.org

A file extractor that is compatible with the .zip format. OSX and Windows handle this format natively.

An FTP program. You can use a program like FileZilla, or if you use Firefox web browser, there is an FTP add on available called Fire FTP. If your not sure which client to use have a look at this article.

A text editor. Notepad or Text Edit will both be fine.

A web browser. We like Firefox.

The official Joomla! install guide can be found here

Getting Started

Unzip your downloaded Joomla! install to a folder on your desktop. Navigate to the vCluster settings page on the CatN Control Panel, and make sure you enter a password for Access (FTP, SFTP, SSH).

Uploading Joomla!

To upload Joomla! files to the root directory of your vCluster follow the FTP upload guide.

To upload Joomla! files to a sub-domain on your vCluster follow the vHosting guide.

Installing Joomla!

Now we're now going to install Joomla! using your web browser. Fire it up and navigate to the name of the Joomla! directory you created. e.g. joomla.username.vc.catn.com

Joomla! will take you through the installation procedure starting here:

Select your language and click "next".

In the next screen you can see that vCluster satisfies all the install requirements. Click "next" to continue.

Review the GNU license and if you agree, click "next".

Now we are going to enter the database details details you copied into a text file at the start of this guide.

In the "Host Name" field enter the name of the database host. e.g. xserve1.dc.fubra.net

In the "Username" field enter your username. (This will be exactly the same as your vCluster name).

In the "Password" field enter your database password.

In the "Database Name" field enter the name of your database. This will also be the same as your vCluster name, and username.

Click on the "Advanced Settings" drop down tab. In the "Table Prefix" field enter: "joomla_"

Once all these details are entered, click "next" to continue.

In the next screen leave the default setting of "No" for Enable FTP File system Layer.

Click "Next" to continue.

Fill in the main configuration fields; Site Names, Email address, Password. If you are a new Joomla user, it if strongly recommended that you install the Default Sample Data. This will include default themes and posts, to popular a sample site, helping you understand the structure of a Joomla! web site.

Once you have completed this screen you will be directed to the final installation screen with this text:

PLEASE REMEMBER TO COMPLETELY REMOVE THE INSTALLATION DIRECTORY. You will not be able to proceed beyond this point until the installation directory has been removed. This is a security feature of Joomla!.

Open up File Zilla again, (If you closed it down, look back through the guide to reconnect and navigate to the Joomla! directory), and navigate to /sites/username/vhosts/joomla.username.vc.catn.com/http. In this directory you will be able to see the files you copied onto the vCluster at the start of the guide. Find the directory named "installation", right click on it, and select delete.