************************** * Freeway Installation * ************************** INTRODUCTION ============ As you have downloaded this package you seem to know already about Freeway. If you don't, visit http://www.openfreeway.org where you can lots of useful information. This short guide lists the important steps to install this package. IMPORTANT NOTE ============== Before proceeding with an upgrade, ensure you have backed up your database and application files and verified the data in your backup. PRE-INSTALL STEPS ================= The first thing you'll want to do is read through these instructions completely, and use the openfreeway site to answer any questions you might have. The site contains documentation for users of all levels, beginner to advanced; a good place to get started for all new users of openfreeway would be browsing the FAQ. openfreeway can be installed on any compatible web web server installed with PHP. openfreeway is not an application that is started by clicking on an executable file, but an online solution requiring its files to be added to the web web server. Go to www.openfreeway.com to check you have the most recent application version. Either extract the openfreeway download package locally and copy the files and directories to the server via SFTP or FTP, or copy the downloaded package to the server and extract it there. Please note: openfreeway recommends using a hosting provider that offers secure methods to communicate with your server such as scp or its windows form WinSCP and Putty for ssh. INSTALLATION TYPES ================== SFTP or FTP Based Installation Download the openfreeway release package. The file you'll be downloading is approximately 4 MB in size. To download the most current version of openfreeway, go to the Download page and click on the link to the latest build. You will be redirected to Sourceforge who hosts the download files. Choose the filetype .tar.gz for UNIX/Linux or .zip for windows; then choose a mirror (download location) closest to you. You may also want to copy the downloaded file to a backup medium (CD-ROM, ZIP disk, et al.) Extract the package to a temporary directory (See the Extraction Guide below) Connect to the web server with an SFTP or FTP client (scp on unix/linux or WinSCP on windows) Copy the "openfreeway_v1_0_x" directory to the web web server document path IRECT SERVER ACCESS BASED INSTALLATION ====================================== Save the openfreeway package on the server Extract the package to a temporary directory Copy the "openfreeway_v1_0_x" directory to the web server document path openfreeway Directory The openfreeway directory is created by extracting the openfreeway package. Web Server Document Path The web server document path is the directory where the web server has been configured to look for the HTML/PHP files to serve to the public. Example web server document paths are: /home/peter/public_html/ /var/www/html/ /usr/local/htdocs/ If the openfreeway directory is kept and copied to, for example, /home/your_name/public_html/openfreeway/, the web server public address would be www.yourserver.com/openfreeway/. Continuing with the example above, if the openfreeway installation is to be created at the root path, for example www.yourserver.com, the files within the openfreeway directory should be copied to /home/your_name/public_html/ PRE-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION ============================== Username/password and database If you use a hosting service to set up your webspace, they will likely have provided a username and login for database access, which you will need. They may have also created a database already for you to use with the username and login provided. Otherwise, using phpMyAdmin or another tool, create your database and user, and assign that user to the database. Keep a record of the name of the database, login, and password for this database. Also note the hostname of the server (i.e. www.yourserver.com). You will need these details later in the installation. CHANGING FILE PERMISSIONS ========================= The permission on the openfreeway/includes/configure.php file needs to be set to 777 by logging into your root server and running "chmod 777 configure.php". If you do not have access to the root of your server you can use an sftp or ftp program to navigate to that specific file, right-click on it, change its attributes to 777 for read/write/execute access. If these permissions are not set correctly an error will be displayed during a later part of the install. When this section has been completed, move on to the Online Install section. EXTRACTION GUIDE ================ UNIX/Linux Download the tarball and extract the tarball (.tar.gz file) to a temporary directory. "/tmp" is a good place for example. For the purpose of this example, I will assume you have downloaded the tarball to your /tmp directory. Open a terminal, such as xterm, konsole or putty. To extract the tarball, change to the /tmp directory: cd /tmp and extract the tarball: "tar -zxvf [tarball name]". This should create a directory "openfreeway_v1_0_x". ("x" in this sense is a suffix to version 1_0_x that will depend on the version you downloaded.) Change into this directory: cd openfreeway_v1_0_x. Windows Download the zip file. It is compressed using ZIP compression, and you'll need a utility like 7-zip in order to unpack the files. Note: It is NOT advisable to install over an existing osCommerce installation unless you have completed and verified your application and database backups! When this section has been completed, move on to the Online Install section. That's it :-) WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM? ========================================= openfreeway is a powerful and complex professional application. When you start out there will be many things you donīt understand, or that don't seem to make sense. There is a mailing list (more information on www.openfreeway.org) where experienced users and developers are happy to help you. They are willing to help, provided you followed these steps: BEFORE you ask your question: 1 - Read all available documentation carefully 2 - Read all available documentation again 3 - Search the mailing list archive carefully 4 - If you still can't figure it out - ask the list...: Go here to subscripe to the user-list: http://www.openfreeway.org/support/mailing-lists/ Please respect the mailing lists rules: http://www.openfreeway.org/support/mailing-lists/mailing-list-rules/ 5 - If you have identified a genuine new bug, report it at https://www.openfreeway.org/bugzilla/ ...do not post to the list about it Please be aware that if you ask questions that are answered in the available documentation, you may not get a reply, or any help from the developers or any experienced users! We are aware that there is still some work to be done on the documentation, and the platform for user support... please forgive us for not having all these gaps filled. If you feel that some information is missing, hard to find or just plain wrong, or you have a suggestion on improving openfreeway or the "support services", please let us know so that we can do what is necessary. (c) openfreeway Pty. Ltd. -- info@zac-ware.com Thursday, 8 Jan 2009 10:10:10 +1000