Michael Eshom
Installing your forum
Thank you for deciding to use, or at least try, SMF. Before you get started, please remember that there is a place for help at www.simplemachines.org if you run into any problems at all.
If you are looking to upgrade an installation of SMF, or convert from YaBB SE, you may have downloaded the wrong package. Please check the downloads page for more information.
You can find the following information in this file:
- » Minimum installation requirements
- » Recommendations for best performance
- » Upload files method 1: manually uploading files
- » Set file permissions
- » Create a database and a database user
- » Run the installer
- » Upload files method 2: using webinstall.php
- » Finishing the installation and cleaning up.
Minimum installation requirements
Your server must meet a few requirements to be able to run SMF. If you are unsure as to whether your webserver meets these, please try to upgrade anyway - it should detect any problems.
- Any webserver that properly supports PHP, such as Apache or Internet Information Services (IIS).
PHP 5.1.0 or higher. The following directives are required to be set correctly in php.ini:
- the engine directive must be On.
- the magic_quotes_sybase directive must be set to Off.
- the session.save_path directive must be set to a valid directory.
- the file_uploads directive must be On.
- the upload_tmp_dir must be set to a valid directory.
- Any of the following database systems
- MySQL 4.1.2 or higher.
- PostgreSQL 8.0 or higher.
- SQLite 1.x - 2.x.
- at least 2 megabytes of storage space in the database, although more is highly recommended.
- The database user must have at least the following privileges: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, and INDEX.
- about 20 megabytes of storage space on the web server, although more is recommended.
Recommendations for best performance
- Windows, Linux or another Unix based operating system.
- the GNU Aspell 0.50 or higher and its dictionaries for spell checking functionality.
- Apache 2.0.0 or higher with AcceptPathInfo set to On (Apache 2 and later only) for queryless URL support.
PHP 5.2.0 or higher, with the following set in php.ini:
- the max_input_time directive is set to a value of at least 30.
- the post_max_size and upload_max_filesize directives set to the size of the largest attachments you wish to be able to upload.
- the session.use_trans_sid directive set to Off.
- the memory_limit directive is set to at least 8M.
- the max_execution_time directive is set to at least 15.
- the register_globals directive is set to Off.
- the safe mode disabled or suEXEC ensabled.
- the BCMath library enabled for using the OpenID registration method.
- Any of the following database systems
- MySQL 5.0 or higher.
- PostgreSQL 8.3.3 or higher.
- SQLite 2.8.
- GD Graphics Library 2.0 or higher.
If your server does not meet these requirements, SMF may not work properly.
Upload files method 1: manually uploading files
The first thing you need to do is upload all of the files in this package, excluding this file itself, to your server. You can upload it to any directory accessible by URL, but if you're not sure where to put it, a directory named "forum" is a good choice. You may wish to make sure that all of the folders were uploaded, such as Themes/default/languages, because some FTP clients have been known to drop files.
If you want or need to install any languages other than English, download the corresponding versions from the download page, and upload them to the same directory you uploaded SMF to. This should put additional files in Themes/default/languages and, in most cases, Themes/default/images.
Language files
If you are using additional languages it will be useful to upload also the updated versions of the language files along with the upgrading packages. Doing so all updated text strings will appear correctly after the upgrade, and will allow the upgrade to run in your selected language.
Set file permissions
After the install archive has been uploaded and extracted, you need to set the files' permissions. This is commonly done by use of the Unix utility CHMOD. The correct CHMOD value for SMF files is either 777, 775 or 755, depending on your hosting service. There are two methods for this step, the method used depends on the hosting service that you use.
Setting File Permissions With the Installer
The SMF installer can set file permissions simply and easily. Navigating to the directory where SMF is located should redirect you to the install.php file and prompt the installer. For example: www.yourdomain.com/forum/install.php. If the installer detects files that need their permissions adjusted it will prompt for FTP details so it can CHMOD the files it requires for the install. This may not work on some servers.
Setting File Permissions With FTP
Using a control panel or FTP client, file permissions can be changed quickly and easily. Usually, FTP programs will allow permissions to be changed by right-clicking files/directories and selecting "Properties", "Attributes" or "Permissions". The desired numerical value can be entered, or if provided, check boxes can be changed.
The following files and directories must be writable. Depending on how your server is set up, this could mean that they must have CHMOD values of 644, 664 or 666 for files, and 755, 775 or 777 for folders:
- /attachments
- /avatars
- /Packages
- /Packages/installed.list
- /Smileys
- /Themes
- /Themes/default/languages/Install.english.php
- agreement.txt
- Settings.php
- Settings_bak.php
- install.php
If the permission on your files or folders does not make them writable, the SMF installer will report the problem. In that case, use your FTP client or host panel to reset the permissions for the files or folders the installer reports.
Create a database and a database user
Before running the installer, a database and a database user will need to be created. A database will store all of the information a forum requires, such as members, posts, and topics. A database user will allow the forum to access the stored information. Remember this information about the database and database user. You will need it when it comes time to run the installer.
Creating a database using PHPMyAdmin
Most shared hosting services disable this option. If the option to create databases through PHPMyAdmin is available through the hosting service you use, the database can be created from the PHPMyAdmin home page.
Creating a database using a control panel
Shared hosting services usually disable the ability to create a database through PHPMyAdmin. If the hosting service provides a control panel interface, then this can be used to create a database. Selecting the "MySQL Databases" or "Database Wizard" options should take you to a page prompting you to creating a MySQL database. With different hosts, these options may have different names.
SMF starting from version 2.0 has the ability to support other database types, including PostgreSQL and SQLite. SMF 1.1 supports only MySQL database types.
Creating a database user
A database user can be created through the control panel provided by your hosting service. Selecting the "MySQL Databases" or "Database Wizard" options should take you to a page, prompting you to create a MySQL database user. With different hosts, these options may have different names.
The database user requires the following permissions: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, and INDEX. Additional permissions may be granted, if desired.
Run the installer
The final step in installing SMF is running the installer. The information from the previous steps will be used in the installation process.
The first page you see may request your FTP information. If you see this screen, it is because the installer found some files or folders with inadequate permissions for SMF to run properly. If you enter your FTP information here, the installer can automatically fix these permissions for you. Please note that the path should be the same path you see in your FTP client. For example, it might be "public_html/forum". And remember, the installer will not save your FTP password anywhere.
The SMF install screen looks different for SMF 2.1 and SMF 1.1, however, both still require the same information. Navigating to the directory where SMF is located, should redirect you to the install.php file, and prompt the installer to run. For example: www.yourdomain.com/forum/install.php
Basic forum settings
- Forum Name
- The name for the forum being installed should go here. By default this is set to "My Community". This can be changed later via the server settings section of the administration center if needed.
- Forum URL
- The URL the forum can be found at, without the trailing slash. The SMF installer will most likely have this correct, so it is safe to leave this field alone.
- Gzip Output
- If Gzip output tests pass, this can be used to save bandwidth and make pages load faster.
- Database Sessions
- Sessions can be stored in the database, or in files. Database sessions are more reliable, secure, and may work better on sites with multiple servers.
- UTF-8 Character Set
- UTF-8 character sets are useful for international forums, or forums that use languages other than English.
- Allow Stat Collection
- This option allows Simple Machines to collect statistics from your forum, anonymously, so the software can grow to meet the needs of its user base.
Database server settings
- Database type
- The database schema can be selected here from a list of database schemas supported by the server being used. Newer schemas (starting from SMF 2.0) such as PostgreSQL and SQLite may be listed here if available. MySQL and PostgreSQL are recommended.
- Server name
- The location of the database is specified here. 99% of the time this will be localhost.
- Username
- The username used for the database user should be placed here. If help is required for this, the hosting service provider should be contacted.
- Password
- The password for the database user is entered here.
- Database name
- The name used for the database should be placed here. If help is required for this, the hosting service provider should be contacted.
- Database prefix
- The prefix for all tables associated with this install is specified here. Prefixing tables with unique prefixes enables more than one application, or SMF install, to use the same database safely.
Creating an administrator account
The SMF installer will ask for information to create the forum's administrator account. This information includes username, password, and e-mail address, just like a regular account. Once created, this account can be used to visit the Administration Center to manage and configure the forum.
Upload files method 2: using webinstall.php
Your server may support webinstall.php. This script will automatically download SMF to your server. This may not work on all servers and also may require providing it with FTP details.
The first thing you need to do is upload webinstall.php to the location of where SMF is to exist on your server.
After you have finished uploading the file, point your browser to http://www.yourdomain.tld/forum/webinstall.php - where www.yourdomain.tld/forum is the URL to where you uploaded it. You should then see the webinstall interface.
The first page you see may request your FTP information. If you see this screen, it is because the webinstaller found some files or folders with inadequate permissions for SMF to run properly. If you enter your FTP information here, the webinstaller can automatically fix these permissions for you. Please note that the path should be the same path you see in your FTP client. For example, it might be "public_html/forum". And remember, the webinstaller will not save your FTP password anywhere.
On the webinstall interface you have an option to login, this is useful for charter members to easily download early releases. You may have an option to select multiple versions of SMF to download. It is up to you to decide which version of SMF you wish to install. Additionally you may have options of additional languages to download.
After specifying these options and agreeing to the agreement, webinstall will attempt to download al SMF files and decompress them in the same folder as webinstall.php. If successful you will be prompted to the SMF upgrade screen. If this fails you will need to follow the process below to upload files.
In most cases, you'll want to have "Put the forum into maintenance mode during upgrade." checked, because it will ensure that nothing is messed with while the upgrader is working. You may also wish to check "Backup tables in your database...", which will make a backup of your old information and tables before making any changes in the database.
Finishing everything up
Once all steps of the installation process have been completed, check the box to remove the install files from the server. If this does not work, they will need to be deleted via FTP. All installer files should be removed from the server once the installation process is complete, as they are a major security risk if left on a server unattended. Once SMF is installed they are no longer needed.
Good luck!
Simple Machines
