Wiki needs updated installation instructions

http://vanillaforums.org/page/InstallationInstructions is a shorter version of http://vanillaforums.org/page/installation, but doesn't link to it.

The longer instructions would be more useful if they listed the commands necessary to setup Vanilla for users who have shell access:

(for Ubuntu)

sudo aptitude install mysql-server php5-curl php5-gd  # core requirements
sudo aptitude install php5-mysql  # install the MySQL PDO
# for some reason, php5-mysql doesn't add the 'extension=pdo_mysql.so' line to any PHP INI files
sudo bash -c 'echo extension=pdo_mysql > /etc/php5/cli/conf.d/pdo_mysql.ini'
mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE vanilla CHARACTER SET utf8;
GRANT ALL ON vanilla.* TO vanilla_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
\q
sudo chmod -R 777 /path/to/vanilla/{cache,conf,uploads}

(It could be argued that those with shell access would already know these commands. Alas, they might use PostgreSQL instead of MySQL and would have to look up the MySQL information; I wasted a good half hour figuring out how to install the MySQL PDO for Ubuntu 11).

Also, the installation instructions should mention which permissions need to be set for which directories.

I'm an experienced wiki editor and I'd be up for adding these to the wiki, but it looks like the wiki is not editable by the community.

dandv

How do I delete my own post?

luc

It's missing the apache install.

And you're adding pdo_mysql to the "cli" part of php5, that's not used by the one for apache nor if running via cgi. Hence, not very useful.
chmod 777 is not a secure way to do it.

dandv

I want to run with nginx.

Not sure I understand the "cli" part. After adding that line, Vanilla no longer complained about the missing MySQL PDO, and I could proceed with the installation. I'm running PHP with nginx via CGI as described on the nginx wiki.

The chmod 777 is exactly what the installation screen has you run:

Some of your folders do not have the correct permissions.

Using your ftp client, or via command line, make sure that the following permissions are set for your vanilla installation:

chmod -R 777 /var/www/qsforum/conf
chmod -R 777 /var/www/qsforum/uploads
chmod -R 777 /var/www/qsforum/cache

luc

So the php path for cgi should be /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/ not "cli".

It's to be sure there's no issue with the permissions. Also, it all depends about which user owns the directory and under which user runs the php process.

For instance, I own all the vanilla directories, and www-data (the usual user and group for web stuff on debian/ubuntu) as a group owns the conf/uploads and cache dir and have write access to it.
Hence, it's 775 (IIRC, maybe just 770) permissions. If all is own (user and group) by www-data, normally just 755 is enough. Even, the 750 should be Ok, as the user running php has the right to write in those directories.

dandv

Thanks luc. The comments you made about permissions are very much worth including in the wiki, I think.

dandv

@Mark, @Tim, @Todd - any updates on this?

luc said:

So the php path for cgi should be /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/ not "cli".

/etc/php5/cgi/conf.d and /etc/php5/cli/conf.d are both symlinks to /etc/php5/conf.d. This is the default setup on Ubuntu 11 after sudo aptitude install php5.

UnderDog

@dandv : The guys are working on an update for vanilla, documentation will have to wait till... probably... vanilla 2.0.18 reaches final stage!
Maybe you can edit the wiki yourself if the guys will let you.

dandv

@Underdog - editing permissions is exactly what I asked for at the end of my first post :)