How to set up a Zikula sandbox

This page explains how to set up a Zikula installation on your local system. You can use this for testing packages or other content before deployment.

Package installation

1. Switch user to the root account:

   su -

   Provide the system administrator password at the prompt.
2. If you have not already done so, install the Apache web and MySQL servers:

   yum groupinstall 'Web Server' 'MySQL Database'

3. Install the Zikula package, the PHP mbstring package, and any other modules needed:

   yum install zikula php-mbstring <zikula_module_pkg...>

The php-mbstring package is not strictly required but may be helpful for some content or modules.

System setup

1. If you have not already done so, configure and start the services you just installed:

   chkconfig httpd on
   chkconfig mysqld on
   service httpd start
   service mysqld start

2. Make sure that the firewall allows traffic on port 80 (HTTP). Use system-config-firewall to perform this task if needed.

When you are finished, you should be able to open a Web browser, visit the URL http://localhost, and see the Fedora test page.

Pre-existing Apache server
If you didn't follow the steps above, because you already have a working Web server, you may need to run service httpd reload for the Zikula configuration file to be loaded by Apache.

Set up database

1. If you have not already done so, set up the MySQL database server. First, provide a root password:

   mysqladmin -u root password

   

   Do not use root account password
   Do not provide the system administrator's password for your Linux system here. Use a different strong password, since this is a separate authentication for a MySQL user called "root."
2. Create a database for Zikula:

   mysqladmin -u root -p create zikula

   

   Manual vs. automatic
   By installing the database here, you don't have to give your Zikula application the password for the MySQL "root" user.
3. Grant rights for a zikula user on this database:

   mysql -u root -p
   <Enter password for MySQL "root" account>
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON zikula.* TO zikulaadmin@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   QUIT;

The zikulaadmin account and the new password you used above are the ones you will use in Zikula's installation process shortly.

Zikula installation

1. Make the Zikula configuration file writable by changing its SELinux context:

   chcon -t httpd_sys_content_t /etc/zikula/config.php

2. Open a Web browser and point it at http://localhost/zikula (or the appropriate host name if you're running the Web browser on a different system).
3. Click the link for the install script.
4. Follow the prompts. First select the appropriate language (e.g. English) and select Next.
5. Read and then accept the license by clicking the Accept license button.
6. The checklist should be completed. Click the Next button to proceed.
7. Use the following database information:

   Database type:   MySQL
   Table type:      MyISAM
   Host:            localhost
   Username:        zikulaadmin
   Password:        <password>
   Database name:   zikula
   Table prefix:    zk
   

   Do not check the box for Create database. Click Next to proceed.
8. For installation type, select Complete, and then select Next to proceed.
9. Now you will create a Zikula administrator account. This is the information that a user types into the Zikula Web interface to log in, and is separate and distinct from the database account you created earlier. Fill out the form, using a real email address (which you can change later), and select Next to proceed.
10. The Tour module is an appropriate start page for now. Select Next to proceed.
11. Select a theme and Next to proceed.
12. Read the credits if desired, and then click the Go to your Zikula site link.

Move install and update bits

When you try to manage your Zikula sandbox, Zikula will complain unless you make the following changes, still using the root account:

cd /usr/share/zikula
ls -d install* upgrade* | xargs -i mv '{}' '{}-orig'
chmod 444 /etc/zikula/config.php

Congratulations, you're done!
Now you can log in to Zikula with the administrator account you just created, and start learning.