Install Drupal on Xampp Linux Ubuntu

Use this guide if you already have XAMPP installed in your Linux OSX or follow my previous blog here. Keep reading here for an easy to follow process of getting a Drupal basic installation onto XAMPP and up and running for you to get going with as soon as possible.

Firstly before we get started you should have already downloaded and installed XAMPP for linux and started it by typing:

 sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start

1. Now we need to download the latest version of Drupal from here. At the time of writing this Drupal 6.20 was the current version. Make sure you download it to a directory that you can access easily and once downloaded move it to your desktop.

2. We need to unpack this file to the /opt/lampp/htdocs directory or to the directory that you had linked it to when following my previous blog. For ease I will use the htdocs directory in this example. To unpack it here, in terminal type:

sudo tar xvfz Desktop/drupal-6.20.tar.gz -C /opt/lampp/htdocs

3. We need to rename this folder "drupal-6.20" to "drupal" so again in terminal type:

 sudo mv /opt/lampp/htdocs/drupal-6.16 /opt/lampp/htdocs/drupal

4. Okay so now its installed, for a quick check, open up your web browser and in the address bar type:

http://localhost/drupal

You should be presented with this screen:

5. But to get Drupal installed correctly we need to create a MySQL database. This is easy enough, again in your web browser address bar type:

http:/localhost/phpmyadmin

In the Create database text box enter a name for your database and press create (I just called mine "test")

6. Now lets go back to the Drupal installation to see what happens. Go back to your web browser address bar and type:

http:/localhost/drupal

Click on "Install Drupal in English"

Most likely at this stage you will see the following warnings:

Don't worry this is normal and something we will encounter time and time again when installing Drupal. It is solved by creating a copy of default-settings.php and renaming the copy to settings.php

7. To copy and rename the file in one command go back to terminal and type:

sudo cp /opt/lampp/htdocs/drupal/sites/default
/default-settings.php /optlampp/htdocs/drupal/
sites/default/settings.php

8. Now we need to ensure that we can write on this file so again in terminal type:

cd /opt/lampp/htdocs/drupal/sites press enter

chmod a+w default press enter

chmod a+w default/settings.php press enter

Now when you refresh your browser you should see that warning message has gone.

9. A little bit of houeskeeping is needed now, we need to increase our php limit. To do this in terminal type:

sudo nano /opt/lampp/etc/php.ini

use the down arrow to navigate down the page or press CTRL and W to search and find the bit that says:

post_max_size and change the value to 20M

The area that says upload_max_filesize should be set at 16M already, if not change it.

The area that says memory_limit should be set at 96M already, if not change it.

Press CTRL and X to exit and press y to save.

10. Now that you've made these changes to php.ini you need to restart XAMPP, in terminal type:

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp stop and press enter and then type

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start and press enter

11. Go back to your Drupal installation in your web browser and you should now have the following screen where you can enter your database details:

12. Enter in your database details for mine I did the following In the area that says database username type root for the the password field leave blank (this should be exactly the same for your installation if your using XAMPP) and then press Save and Continue.

13. Fill out the details on the "Configure Site" page and click "Save and Continue"

Well done, you should have successfully installed a Drupal website in XAMPP and can start building and learning with the huge resources available.

I hope this was clear enough, let me know how it goes.