Installation Instructions for MDPro

Part 3 - Uploading and Establishing the Database Connection

Uploading

With the database and database user name created, rights and access privileges assigned, and the config.php file information decided upon, we are ready to upload files to the server.

Location of MDP files on server

All the files and directories in the MDP html directory should be in your web root directory on the server (unless you decided to install MDP in a subdirectory). This is known by various names, including document root directory. The directory structure varies a bit too. On Red Hat Linux systems (up to 6.x), it would be /home/your loginname/www/. On other systems it is htdocs or public_html. Still others have different directory names and structures.

If you have an index.htm (or index.html) page that says something like "future home of yourdomain" when people go to yourdomain.com, or you have an existing site with a home page (the one visitors see first) , the web root directory is where this page would be located. Whatever it is called (let's say it's www), is where you want to put all the files and directories in and under the html directory when you unzip MDPro. You can FTP the whole lot at once by selecting them all for the transfer. See Appendix A for details.

Note: Servers have a file that determines priority in loading for files named index. according to their extension. On the two thirds or so of the servers running Apache, that is the httpd.conf file. For instance, on many servers, the loading priority order is index.html, index.htm, index.php, index,.cgi. This means that you can install MDP in your document root directory and configure it without other people seeing it unless you want them to by adding a link to index.php from your index.htm or index.html page. Should you decide to make your MDP home page your site's home page, you only need to delete the index.htm and index.html (and any other index pages other than index.php) from your document root directory.

Check with your host if you need to determine the loading order of index files on your server. Some even use default.htm instead of index.htm so you may want to ask unless you are certain or can determine it on your own.

Upload the files to your account.

2. As per the instructions, chmod (change permissions) the config.php and config-old.php to 666 (rw-rw-rw) See Appendix B for details.

WARNING - You could install MDP running under the root user, but it is not advisable to do so for security reasons.

3. Now you are ready to begin the installation process. MDPro has a fully graphical installation process. Go to http://www.yourdomain.com/install.php and it will begin automatically. If you installed MDP in a directory other than your document root directory, you will need to include that directory name in the URL.

Example, if you installed MDP in a directory named mdp, you would enter http://www.yourdomain.com/mdp/install.php in your browser to begin installation.

4. 0% The first selection is choosing the default language. A large number of languages is provided for the installation process. See the downloads section first and support forums second if you need another language. Additional language packs can be added at any time. Select your preferred language and click on Set Language

5. 20% This step consists of reading and acknowledging the license terms. Click on Next.

6. Chmod check (30%) is a check of permissions for the config.php and config-old php files. If you set them correctly, the program will know and you can proceed. If you did not set them properly, you'll need to do so before you can continue. When you get the green check marks, click on Continue.

7. 40% The next step is where you review the information shown in the config.php file. Click on Submit

Now we go back to the open config.php file. Depending upon your server configuration, you may need to enter only the database user user name (typically your login in name) and database password.

Database Host	localhost	do not change (unless your system calls for it)
Database Username	root	change to the database user name you selected or were assigned
Database Password		enter the password you decided on or were assigned and have written down
Database Name	mdpro	do not change unless you are doing multiple installations of MDPro
Table Prefix (for Table Sharing)	md	do not change
Database Type	MySQL ISAM	do not change

 

8. Database Information 50% This step reviews the information, gives you a chance to change it, and asks you to choose between New Install and Upgrade. Click on New Install.

9. New Install 60% The following step shows that same information and gives you the opportunity to have MDP create the database. It is not necessary as you have already created it (or had your host create it for you). Do not check the Create the Database box. Click on Start.

10. 70% This is the step where you either have to determine what needs to be changed or you start dancing with joy. If you were successful, you'll see the database name was created such as {MD Pro was created) and a long list of installed parts underneath it. If successful, click on Continue.

11.Setting Your DB Preferences 80% The next screen asks you to input the Adm. name, Adm. login, Admin password, e-mail address and URL. Do so and click on Set Login. Write them down so you have a record of them should you forget. Note that the administrator name and password are for MDP and can and should be different than the database user name and password.

12. 90% The next screen shows the parts updated by the login. Click on Finish.

13. 100% The next screen shows the credits for those developers who have contributed to MDP. After you read them, click on Go to your MDPro site below.

14. You will now see your site with one of the themes included with MDP

15. Do as the reminder says and remove the install.php file and install directory.

16. Login as the admin. Once logged in, you may click on Administration and begin configuring your new MDPro site. See Beginning Site Setup for help with initial configuration.

17. Enjoy. Now the work really begins, but at least it will be fun!

Alternate installation method

Instead of downloading MDP and unzipping on your local PC, put the compressed file (.tar.gz) or .zip) on your server and unpack (uncompress) it there. If you have an existing robots.txt file, download it before uncompressing MDPro. Download the config.php file and the .sql file. You can connect to your server via an SSH session using a free program like PuTTY or shareware like SecureCRT.

Common Installation Errors

config.php and config-old.php not world-writable - these files need to be writable by the webserver process during the install/upgrade to ensure that certain configuration parameters are stored. The install procedure should check for this and inform you if the files are not writable. Note that once the install/upgrade has been completed these files can be reset to read-only.

Problems creating or populating the database - this is often due to incorrect MySQL privileges on the database. If you are unsure if this might be the case then try to access your MySQL database manually with the username and password that you have and attempt to create a database and table to ensure that the user exists, has a correct password, and is able to carry out the operations that MDPro needs for installation.

Problems logging in - this is normally due to access the MDP site with an unqualified host name e.g. http://localhost/index.php or a domain name e.g. http://foo.com/index.php MDPro requires that the site name is fully-qualified e.g. http://www.foo.com/index.php Instructions on setting up a fully-qualified hostname for your local server can be found on the MDPro documentation site at http://maxdev.com Alternatively you can set the 'intranet' option when installing or upgrading MD Pro, which will allow you to run MDPro without a fully-qualified domain name but without the ability to filter cookies from similar domains. In most cases where MDPro is run like this it should not be an issue, however setting your site to run as an intranet site when it is directly connected to the internet is not recommended.

Appendix A

Location of MDP files

Appendix B

chmod

Many FTP programs include Unix commands like chmod. In WS_FTP LE. Select (highlight) config.php and config-old.php. Right click. A menu will pop up. Select chmod (UNIX). A remote file permissions menu will come up. Select (check) read write, read write, read write as below.