# Drupal

"Drupal is a free and open source content management system (CMS) and Content Management framework (CMF) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License." - Wikipedia

This article describes how to setup Drupal and configure Apache, MySQL or PostgreSQL, PHP, and Postfix to work with it. It is assumed that you have some sort of LAMP (Apache, MySQL, PHP) or LAPP (Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP) server already setup.

## Installation

### Arch repositories

Install the drupal package from the official repositories.

Edit `/etc/php/php.ini`:

- If PHP version is less than 5.2.0, Find the line with `;extension=json.so` and uncomment it by removing the ";" from the beginning of the line if necessary. If no such line is found, add it to the `[PHP]` section of the file.
- For Drupal 7, enable a PDO extension for your database. For MySQL, the line `extension=pdo_mysql.so` should be uncommented.
- Find the line beginning with `open_basedir =`. Add the Drupal install directories, `/usr/share/webapps/drupal/` and `/var/lib/drupal/`. `/srv/http/` can be removed if you do not intend to use it.

Edit `/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf`:

- If your webserver is dedicated to Drupal, find the line `DocumentRoot "/srv/http"` and change it to the Drupal install directory, i.e. `DocumentRoot "/usr/share/webapps/drupal"`, then find the section that starts with "`<Directory "/srv/http">`" and change `/srv/http` to the Drupal install directory, `/usr/share/webapps/drupal`. In the same section, make sure it includes a line "`AllowOverride All`" to enable the clean URL's.
- If you are using Apache Virtual Hosts, see Apache#Virtual_Hosts.

Finally comment out the `deny from all` line of the `/usr/share/webapps/drupal/.htaccess` file to enable httpd access and restart Apache (httpd).

### Manual install

Download the latest package from http://drupal.org and extract it. Move the folders to Apache's htdocs folder. Open a web browser, and navigate to [localhost localhost]. Follow the on-screen instructions.

### Installing GD

You may need the GD library for your Drupal installation. First install the php-gd package. Edit `/etc/php/php.ini`. Find the line with `;extension=gd.so` and uncomment it by removing the ";". If no such line is found, add it to the `[PHP]` section of the file. Restart Apache (httpd).

### Installing Postfix

In order to send e-mails with Drupal, you will need to install Postfix. Drupal uses e-mails for account verification, password recovery, etc. First install postfix.

1. Edit Postfix configuration file `/etc/postfix/main.cf` as needed. All that you should have to do is change the hostnames under "Internet Host and Domain Names" `myhostname = hostname1`
2. Start the Postfix service: `# systemctl start postfix`.
3. Send a test e-mail to yourself: `mail myusername@localhost`. Enter a subject, some words in the body, then press `Ctrl+d` to exit and send the letter. Wait 10 seconds, and then type `mail` to check your mail. If you've gotten it, excellent.
4. Make sure port 25 is fowarded if you have a router so that mails can be sent to the Internet at large
5. Edit the file `/etc/php/php.ini`. Find the line that starts with, `;sendmail_path=""` and change it to `sendmail_path="/usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i"`
6. Restart the Apache web server.

## Tips and tricks

### Scheduling with Cron

Drupal recommends running cron jobs hourly. Cron can be executed from the browser by visiting [localhost/cron localhost/cron]. It is also possible to run cron via script by copying the appropriate file from the "scripts" folder into `/etc/cron.hourly` and making it executable.

### Xampp Compatibility

The 5.x and 6.x series of Drupal do not support PHP 5.3, and as a result are incompatible with the latest release of Xampp. Currently, the last Drupal-compatible version of Xampp is 1.7.1.

Note: Xampp's PHP memory limit currently defaults to 8MB. Also, Xampp ignores php.ini files in the Drupal directory. To fix this:

1. Edit Xampp's configuration file `/opt/lampp/etc/php.ini` using your favorite editor.
2. Search for the "memory_limit" line, and replace it with an appropriate value. Most Drupal installations just need 32MB, but sites with a lot of modules may need 100MB or more.
3. Restart Xampp: `/opt/lampp/lampp restart`

### Upload progress not enabled

Upon successful installation you may see the following message in the Status Report:

    Your server is capable of displaying file upload progress, but does not have the required libraries. It is recommended to install the PECL uploadprogress library (preferred) or to install APC.

First, install the php-pear package. Next, use the pecl command to automatically download, compile and install the library:

    # pecl install uploadprogress

Finally, add to `/etc/php/php.ini`

    extension=uploadprogress.so

Restart Apache.

## Troubleshooting

### Browser shows the actual PHP code when visiting localhost

You do not have php-apache installed.

Then, enable the PHP module in `/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf` by adding the following lines in the appropriate sections:

    LoadModule php5_module modules/libphp5.so
    Include conf/extra/php5_module.conf

If, when starting httpd, you get the following error:

    httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.0.1 for ServerName

You should edit `/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf`. In that file find the line that looks similar to

    #ServerName www.example.com:80

Uncomment it (remove # from the front) and adjust the address as needed. Restart httpd:

    # systemctl restart httpd

### Setup page is not the initial page when accessing localhost

In this situation, you should navigate in your `/srv` directory and look for the `drupal` folder (most probably it will be in the `http` directory). Then edit `/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf`. and look for a line starting with `DocumentRoot` and change the path with that folder's path (for example `DocumentRoot "/srv/http/drupal"`) and also find another line starting with `<Directory` and set the same path there as well. Restart httpd.

### Setup page does not start and shows HTTP ERROR 500

This may be because Drupal needs the `json.so` extension to be activated in your `/etc/php/php.ini`. Just uncomment in `/etc/php/php.ini` the line:

    ;extension=json.so

Restart httpd service.

See this link for info.

## See also

- Official Drupal documentation
- Simple guide to install Drupal on Xampp
- LAMP (How to setup an Apache server)

Category:

- Web Server