Contao Community Documentation - User contributions [en]

System Check

2010-11-07T13:42:14Z

Nina:

[[Category:Installation_and_Updates]]
Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely work with Contao and all files got transfered correctly to your webspace.

* Unpack it to your desktop.
* Upload the contao-check.php with your favorite FTP-tool to your webspace. Choose the root webspace-folder where you want to place the CMS.
* Open your web browser and type www.domain.tld/contao-check.php (of course you need to change www.domain.tld to the URL of your own domain!).
* Wait a little bit until it shows you the results of the system check.

{{Hint|It could happen that you get an error message like »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR« or »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{'«. This means that your webspace is most likely using PHP 4. Please ask your webspace-provider how you can update to PHP5.}}

=Perfect system check=

If everything seems to work perfect, all positions will be highlighted with a green background and will be identical with the recommended settings or even surpass them.

=Problems with the system check=

Sadly we don't always have a perfect world while working with different webspaces. Errors are indicated by a red background color and a value that is different or lower than the recommendation.

If you run into one or more errors, contact your webspace-provider and ask them if they can change these things.

==Error message: Safe Mode Hack==

Maybe you get an error message telling you, that you'll need to use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH). Even if this workaround is called Safe Mode Hack it actually means that your webserver works with insufficient file permissions.

»PHP as an Apache module is typically run as wwwrun, www-data or nobody, whereas the files that you uploaded via FTP belong to you (e.g. web4 or ab5678). The server therefore denies the PHP script Contao access to those files.«
contao.org

Tip: Activate the »Safe Mode Hack« so that you'll be able to use Contao nevertheless. After configuring the Safe Mode Hack don't worry if the system check still tells you that there is an error with the creation of directories/files or if it shows that a folder like system/logs has a higher CHMOD than expected! This is normal.

==Error message: Missing or corrupt files==

If you see that some files get the Missing- or Corrupt-status, try to upload these files again to your webspace. Also check if you are uploading them in the correct FTP-mode (binary).

Tip: If you use the system check before installing Contao, don't get irritated that it shows all files as "Missing" at the end of the system check. This is ok – you did not upload any Contao files yet.

System requirements

2010-11-07T13:41:57Z

Nina:

[[Category:Installation_and_Updates]]
These are the basic system requirements for a Contao webspace:

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#f3f3f3"
!feature
!description
|-
| webserver
| Apache or IIS
|-
| PHP
| minimum version 5.2
|-
| PHP extensions
| GDlib, used for image resizing; SOAP (optionally), needs to allow external transfers so that you can use the extension repository within your Contao-backend; mbstring (optionally), needed for multi-byte character handling; mcrypt (optionally), needed for data encryption
|-
| MySQL
| minimum version 4.1, though I definitely recommend version 5.x; MySQLi is also supported
|-
| browser (for Contao backend)
| a modern internet browser … don't even think about Internet Explorer 6 ;-)
|}

=== Recommended PHP configurations ===

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#f3f3f3"
!parameter
!description
|-
| Safe mode
| Off
|-
| Maximum execution time
| 30 or greater
|-
| Memory limit
| 16M or greater
|-
| Register globals
| Off
|-
| File uploads
| On
|-
| Upload maximum filesize
| 8M or greater
|-
| GDlib extension
| On
|-
| SOAP extension
| On
|}

'''Tip:''' I recommend using the system check.

Safe Mode Hack

2010-11-07T13:41:42Z

Nina:

[[Category:Installation_and_Updates]]
Use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH) when the [[System Check]] tells you to do so or when you encounter problems with uploading or manipulating files in Contao. It is a workaround so try talking to your webspace-provider first if they are willing to change the settings.

Activating the Safe Mode Hack is easy. You can activate it directly during the installation process. When you open the /contao/install.php with your browser it should prompt you with the request to fill in your FTP data for the Safe Mode Hack.

If you don't get the request during the installation or want to configurate the Safe Mode Hack manually, just download the file localconfig.php from /system/config/ and open it with a text editor. Make sure that this editor works with UTF-8 character encoding.

{{Hint|I like to use the [http://www.pspad.com/ freeware editor PSPad]. Before opening a file with PSPad you need to click on Format > UTF-8. When you edit Contao files with this editor also check twice if the format of the file is UTF-8 before you save it. You'll encounter weird problems if you save Contao files not with UTF-8 character encoding.}}

Fill in the following information somewhere between ''### INSTALL SCRIPT START ###'' and ''?>'':

<source lang="php">
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['useFTP'] = true;
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpHost'] = 'fill in your domain name here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPath'] = 'fill in your relative ftp path here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpUser'] = 'fill in the username of your FTP data here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPass'] = 'fill in the password of your FTP data here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpSSL'] = '';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPort'] = 21;
</source>

Of course you need to change the informations accordingly to your webspace FTP-data. Change the setting for ftpSSL only if you want to use SSL-connection for the Safe Mode Hack.

{{Hint|People often don't know what to fill in as FTP path. Just use the FTP data in your favorite FTP program and connect to your webspace. Does it connect you directly to the directory where you want to install Contao? Great, your FTP path is: /

Or do you need to change your directory to something like htdocs/, httpdocs/ or html/? That's exactly what you need to fill into the Safe Mode Hack as FTP path. Just make sure that you don't forget the / at the end.}}

Save localconfig.php after the modification and upload it to system/config/ of your Contao installation.

=Write permissions on folders=
If you activated the Safe Mode Hack manually, you'll also need to change the CHMOD permissions to 777 with your FTP program on these folders:

* system/html
* system/logs
* system/tmp

{{Hint|If you want to set the CHMOD with Filezilla, just right-click on the folder and select »File Attributes« from the menu. Type 777 in the »Numeric value« field and confirm with a click on the OK-button.}}

Safe Mode Hack

2010-11-07T13:39:49Z

Nina:

Use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH) when the [[System Check]] tells you to do so or when you encounter problems with uploading or manipulating files in Contao. It is a workaround so try talking to your webspace-provider first if they are willing to change the settings.

Activating the Safe Mode Hack is easy. You can activate it directly during the installation process. When you open the /contao/install.php with your browser it should prompt you with the request to fill in your FTP data for the Safe Mode Hack.

If you don't get the request during the installation or want to configurate the Safe Mode Hack manually, just download the file localconfig.php from /system/config/ and open it with a text editor. Make sure that this editor works with UTF-8 character encoding.

{{Hint|I like to use the [http://www.pspad.com/ freeware editor PSPad]. Before opening a file with PSPad you need to click on Format > UTF-8. When you edit Contao files with this editor also check twice if the format of the file is UTF-8 before you save it. You'll encounter weird problems if you save Contao files not with UTF-8 character encoding.}}

Fill in the following information somewhere between ''### INSTALL SCRIPT START ###'' and ''?>'':

<source lang="php">
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['useFTP'] = true;
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpHost'] = 'fill in your domain name here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPath'] = 'fill in your relative ftp path here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpUser'] = 'fill in the username of your FTP data here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPass'] = 'fill in the password of your FTP data here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpSSL'] = '';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPort'] = 21;
</source>

Of course you need to change the informations accordingly to your webspace FTP-data. Change the setting for ftpSSL only if you want to use SSL-connection for the Safe Mode Hack.

{{Hint|People often don't know what to fill in as FTP path. Just use the FTP data in your favorite FTP program and connect to your webspace. Does it connect you directly to the directory where you want to install Contao? Great, your FTP path is: /

Or do you need to change your directory to something like htdocs/, httpdocs/ or html/? That's exactly what you need to fill into the Safe Mode Hack as FTP path. Just make sure that you don't forget the / at the end.}}

Save localconfig.php after the modification and upload it to system/config/ of your Contao installation.

=Write permissions on folders=
If you activated the Safe Mode Hack manually, you'll also need to change the CHMOD permissions to 777 with your FTP program on these folders:

* system/html
* system/logs
* system/tmp

{{Hint|If you want to set the CHMOD with Filezilla, just right-click on the folder and select »File Attributes« from the menu. Type 777 in the »Numeric value« field and confirm with a click on the OK-button.}}

Safe Mode Hack

2010-11-07T13:38:26Z

Nina: Created page with 'Use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH) when the System check tells you to do so or when you encounter problems with uploading or manipulating files in Contao. It is a workaround so try…'

Use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH) when the [[System check]] tells you to do so or when you encounter problems with uploading or manipulating files in Contao. It is a workaround so try talking to your webspace-provider first if they are willing to change the settings.

Activating the Safe Mode Hack is easy. You can activate it directly during the installation process. When you open the /contao/install.php with your browser it should prompt you with the request to fill in your FTP data for the Safe Mode Hack.

If you don't get the request during the installation or want to configurate the Safe Mode Hack manually, just download the file localconfig.php from /system/config/ and open it with a text editor. Make sure that this editor works with UTF-8 character encoding.

{{Hint|I like to use the [http://www.pspad.com/ freeware editor PSPad]. Before opening a file with PSPad you need to click on Format > UTF-8. When you edit Contao files with this editor also check twice if the format of the file is UTF-8 before you save it. You'll encounter weird problems if you save Contao files not with UTF-8 character encoding.}}

Fill in the following information somewhere between ''### INSTALL SCRIPT START ###'' and ''?>'':

<source lang="php">
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['useFTP'] = true;
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpHost'] = 'fill in your domain name here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPath'] = 'fill in your relative ftp path here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpUser'] = 'fill in the username of your FTP data here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPass'] = 'fill in the password of your FTP data here';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpSSL'] = '';
$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['ftpPort'] = 21;
</source>

Of course you need to change the informations accordingly to your webspace FTP-data. Change the setting for ftpSSL only if you want to use SSL-connection for the Safe Mode Hack.

{{Hint|People often don't know what to fill in as FTP path. Just use the FTP data in your favorite FTP program and connect to your webspace. Does it connect you directly to the directory where you want to install Contao? Great, your FTP path is: /

Or do you need to change your directory to something like htdocs/, httpdocs/ or html/? That's exactly what you need to fill into the Safe Mode Hack as FTP path. Just make sure that you don't forget the / at the end.}}

Save localconfig.php after the modification and upload it to system/config/ of your Contao installation.

=Write permissions on folders=
If you activated the Safe Mode Hack manually, you'll also need to change the CHMOD permissions to 777 with your FTP program on these folders:

* system/html
* system/logs
* system/tmp

{{Hint|If you want to set the CHMOD with Filezilla, just right-click on the folder and select »File Attributes« from the menu. Type 777 in the »Numeric value« field and confirm with a click on the OK-button.}}

System Check

2010-11-07T13:31:55Z

Nina:

Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely work with Contao and all files got transfered correctly to your webspace.

* Unpack it to your desktop.
* Upload the contao-check.php with your favorite FTP-tool to your webspace. Choose the root webspace-folder where you want to place the CMS.
* Open your web browser and type www.domain.tld/contao-check.php (of course you need to change www.domain.tld to the URL of your own domain!).
* Wait a little bit until it shows you the results of the system check.

{{Hint|It could happen that you get an error message like »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR« or »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{'«. This means that your webspace is most likely using PHP 4. Please ask your webspace-provider how you can update to PHP5.}}

=Perfect system check=

If everything seems to work perfect, all positions will be highlighted with a green background and will be identical with the recommended settings or even surpass them.

=Problems with the system check=

Sadly we don't always have a perfect world while working with different webspaces. Errors are indicated by a red background color and a value that is different or lower than the recommendation.

If you run into one or more errors, contact your webspace-provider and ask them if they can change these things.

==Error message: Safe Mode Hack==

Maybe you get an error message telling you, that you'll need to use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH). Even if this workaround is called Safe Mode Hack it actually means that your webserver works with insufficient file permissions.

»PHP as an Apache module is typically run as wwwrun, www-data or nobody, whereas the files that you uploaded via FTP belong to you (e.g. web4 or ab5678). The server therefore denies the PHP script Contao access to those files.«
contao.org

Tip: Activate the »Safe Mode Hack« so that you'll be able to use Contao nevertheless. After configuring the Safe Mode Hack don't worry if the system check still tells you that there is an error with the creation of directories/files or if it shows that a folder like system/logs has a higher CHMOD than expected! This is normal.

==Error message: Missing or corrupt files==

If you see that some files get the Missing- or Corrupt-status, try to upload these files again to your webspace. Also check if you are uploading them in the correct FTP-mode (binary).

Tip: If you use the system check before installing Contao, don't get irritated that it shows all files as "Missing" at the end of the system check. This is ok – you did not upload any Contao files yet.

System Check

2010-11-07T13:31:13Z

Nina:

Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely work with Contao and all files got transfered correctly to your webspace.

* Unpack it to your desktop.
* Upload the contao-check.php with your favorite FTP-tool to your webspace. Choose the root webspace-folder where you want to place the CMS.
* Open your web browser and type www.domain.tld/contao-check.php (of course you need to change www.domain.tld to the URL of your own domain!).
* Wait a little bit until it shows you the results of the system check.

{{Hint|It could happen that you get an error message like »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR« or »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{'«.
This means that your webspace is most likely using PHP 4. Please ask your webspace-provider how you can update to PHP5.}}

=Perfect system check=

If everything seems to work perfect, all positions will be highlighted with a green background and will be identical with the recommended settings or even surpass them.

=Problems with the system check=

Sadly we don't always have a perfect world while working with different webspaces. Errors are indicated by a red background color and a value that is different or lower than the recommendation.

If you run into one or more errors, contact your webspace-provider and ask them if they can change these things.

==Error message: Safe Mode Hack==

Maybe you get an error message telling you, that you'll need to use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH). Even if this workaround is called Safe Mode Hack it actually means that your webserver works with insufficient file permissions.

»PHP as an Apache module is typically run as wwwrun, www-data or nobody, whereas the files that you uploaded via FTP belong to you (e.g. web4 or ab5678). The server therefore denies the PHP script Contao access to those files.«
contao.org

Tip: Activate the »Safe Mode Hack« so that you'll be able to use Contao nevertheless. After configuring the Safe Mode Hack don't worry if the system check still tells you that there is an error with the creation of directories/files or if it shows that a folder like system/logs has a higher CHMOD than expected! This is normal.

==Error message: Missing or corrupt files==

If you see that some files get the Missing- or Corrupt-status, try to upload these files again to your webspace. Also check if you are uploading them in the correct FTP-mode (binary).

Tip: If you use the system check before installing Contao, don't get irritated that it shows all files as "Missing" at the end of the system check. This is ok – you did not upload any Contao files yet.

System Check

2010-11-07T13:30:35Z

Nina:

Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely work with Contao and all files got transfered correctly to your webspace.

* Unpack it to your desktop.
* Upload the contao-check.php with your favorite FTP-tool to your webspace. Choose the root webspace-folder where you want to place the CMS.
* Open your web browser and type www.domain.tld/contao-check.php (of course you need to change www.domain.tld to the URL of your own domain!).
* Wait a little bit until it shows you the results of the system check.

Tip: It could happen that you get an error message like »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR« or »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{'«.
This means that your webspace is most likely using PHP 4. Please ask your webspace-provider how you can update to PHP5.

=Perfect system check=

If everything seems to work perfect, all positions will be highlighted with a green background and will be identical with the recommended settings or even surpass them.

=Problems with the system check=

Sadly we don't always have a perfect world while working with different webspaces. Errors are indicated by a red background color and a value that is different or lower than the recommendation.

If you run into one or more errors, contact your webspace-provider and ask them if they can change these things.

==Error message: Safe Mode Hack==

Maybe you get an error message telling you, that you'll need to use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH). Even if this workaround is called Safe Mode Hack it actually means that your webserver works with insufficient file permissions.

»PHP as an Apache module is typically run as wwwrun, www-data or nobody, whereas the files that you uploaded via FTP belong to you (e.g. web4 or ab5678). The server therefore denies the PHP script Contao access to those files.«
contao.org

Tip: Activate the »Safe Mode Hack« so that you'll be able to use Contao nevertheless. After configuring the Safe Mode Hack don't worry if the system check still tells you that there is an error with the creation of directories/files or if it shows that a folder like system/logs has a higher CHMOD than expected! This is normal.

==Error message: Missing or corrupt files==

If you see that some files get the Missing- or Corrupt-status, try to upload these files again to your webspace. Also check if you are uploading them in the correct FTP-mode (binary).

Tip: If you use the system check before installing Contao, don't get irritated that it shows all files as "Missing" at the end of the system check. This is ok – you did not upload any Contao files yet.

Category:Installation and Updates

2010-11-07T13:29:36Z

Nina:

'''Work in progress!'''

Before you start with installing Contao, make sure that you meet the [[System requirements]] and use the [[System Check]].

There are several things you'll need during the installation process if you want to install Contao on a normal webspace. Offline installation with XAMPP, WAMP, etc. is a little bit different, because you usually don't need to connect with FTP.

* FTP program
* FTP connection data: host, username, password, port number (typical: 21)
* MySQL database
* MySQL or MySQLi connection data: host, database-name, username, password, port number (typical: 3306)

Tip: I describe only the way how to install Contao with FTP but of course you can also use a SSH terminal.

'''Work in progress!'''

Category:Installation and Updates

2010-11-07T13:29:21Z

Nina:

'''Work in progress!'''

Before you start with installing Contao, make sure that you meet the [[system requirements]] and use the [[System Check]].

There are several things you'll need during the installation process if you want to install Contao on a normal webspace. Offline installation with XAMPP, WAMP, etc. is a little bit different, because you usually don't need to connect with FTP.

* FTP program
* FTP connection data: host, username, password, port number (typical: 21)
* MySQL database
* MySQL or MySQLi connection data: host, database-name, username, password, port number (typical: 3306)

Tip: I describe only the way how to install Contao with FTP but of course you can also use a SSH terminal.

'''Work in progress!'''

Category:Installation and Updates

2010-11-07T13:27:15Z

Nina:

'''Work in progress!'''

Before you start with installing Contao, make sure that you meet the [[system requirements]] and use the [[system check]].

There are several things you'll need during the installation process if you want to install Contao on a normal webspace. Offline installation with XAMPP, WAMP, etc. is a little bit different, because you usually don't need to connect with FTP.

* FTP program
* FTP connection data: host, username, password, port number (typical: 21)
* MySQL database
* MySQL or MySQLi connection data: host, database-name, username, password, port number (typical: 3306)

Tip: I describe only the way how to install Contao with FTP but of course you can also use a SSH terminal.

'''Work in progress!'''

System requirements

2010-11-07T13:24:40Z

Nina: /* Recommended PHP configurations */

These are the basic system requirements for a Contao webspace:

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#f3f3f3"
!feature
!description
|-
| webserver
| Apache or IIS
|-
| PHP
| minimum version 5.2
|-
| PHP extensions
| GDlib, used for image resizing; SOAP (optionally), needs to allow external transfers so that you can use the extension repository within your Contao-backend; mbstring (optionally), needed for multi-byte character handling; mcrypt (optionally), needed for data encryption
|-
| MySQL
| minimum version 4.1, though I definitely recommend version 5.x; MySQLi is also supported
|-
| browser (for Contao backend)
| a modern internet browser … don't even think about Internet Explorer 6 ;-)
|}

=== Recommended PHP configurations ===

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#f3f3f3"
!parameter
!description
|-
| Safe mode
| Off
|-
| Maximum execution time
| 30 or greater
|-
| Memory limit
| 16M or greater
|-
| Register globals
| Off
|-
| File uploads
| On
|-
| Upload maximum filesize
| 8M or greater
|-
| GDlib extension
| On
|-
| SOAP extension
| On
|}

'''Tip:''' I recommend using the system check.

System requirements

2010-11-07T13:24:11Z

Nina:

These are the basic system requirements for a Contao webspace:

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#f3f3f3"
!feature
!description
|-
| webserver
| Apache or IIS
|-
| PHP
| minimum version 5.2
|-
| PHP extensions
| GDlib, used for image resizing; SOAP (optionally), needs to allow external transfers so that you can use the extension repository within your Contao-backend; mbstring (optionally), needed for multi-byte character handling; mcrypt (optionally), needed for data encryption
|-
| MySQL
| minimum version 4.1, though I definitely recommend version 5.x; MySQLi is also supported
|-
| browser (for Contao backend)
| a modern internet browser … don't even think about Internet Explorer 6 ;-)
|}

=== Recommended PHP configurations ===

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#f3f3f3"
!feature
!description
|-
| Safe mode
| Off
|-
| Maximum execution time
| 30 or greater
|-
| Memory limit
| 16M or greater
|-
| Register globals
| Off
|-
| File uploads
| On
|-
| Upload maximum filesize
| 8M or greater
|-
| GDlib extension
| On
|-
| SOAP extension
| On
|}

'''Tip:''' I recommend using the system check.

System Check

2010-11-07T13:17:20Z

Nina:

Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely work with Contao and all files got transfered correctly to your webspace.

* Unpack it to your desktop.
* Upload the contao-check.php with your favorite FTP-tool to your webspace. Choose the root webspace-folder where you want to place the CMS.
* Open your web browser and type www.domain.tld/contao-check.php (of course you need to change www.domain.tld to the URL of your own domain!).
* Wait a little bit until it shows you the results of the system check.

Tip: It could happen that you get an error message like »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR« or »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{'«.
This means that your webspace is most likely using PHP 4. Please ask your webspace-provider how you can update to PHP5.

=== Perfect system check ===

If everything seems to work perfect, all positions will be highlighted with a green background and will be identical with the recommended settings or even surpass them.

=== Problems with the system check ===

Sadly we don't always have a perfect world while working with different webspaces. Errors are indicated by a red background color and a value that is different or lower than the recommendation.

If you run into one or more errors, contact your webspace-provider and ask them if they can change these things.

=== Error message: Safe Mode Hack ===

Maybe you get an error message telling you, that you'll need to use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH). Even if this workaround is called Safe Mode Hack it actually means that your webserver works with insufficient file permissions.

»PHP as an Apache module is typically run as wwwrun, www-data or nobody, whereas the files that you uploaded via FTP belong to you (e.g. web4 or ab5678). The server therefore denies the PHP script Contao access to those files.«
contao.org

Tip: Activate the »Safe Mode Hack« so that you'll be able to use Contao nevertheless. After configuring the Safe Mode Hack don't worry if the system check still tells you that there is an error with the creation of directories/files or if it shows that a folder like system/logs has a higher CHMOD than expected! This is normal.

=== Error message: Missing or corrupt files ===

If you see that some files get the Missing- or Corrupt-status, try to upload these files again to your webspace. Also check if you are uploading them in the correct FTP-mode (binary).

Tip: If you use the system check before installing Contao, don't get irritated that it shows all files as "Missing" at the end of the system check. This is ok – you did not upload any Contao files yet.

System Check

2010-11-07T13:11:15Z

Nina: Created page with 'Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely w…'

Use the [http://www.contao-factory.com/contao-system-check.html Contao system check tool] before and after installation. That way you can make sure that your system will likely work with Contao and all files got transfered correctly to your webspace.

* Unpack it to your desktop.
* Upload the contao-check.php with your favorite FTP-tool to your webspace. Choose the root webspace-folder where you want to place the CMS.
* Open your web browser and type www.domain.tld/contao-check.php (of course you need to change www.domain.tld to the URL of your own domain!).
* Wait a little bit until it shows you the results of the system check.

Tip: It could happen that you get an error message like »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR« or »Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{'«.
This means that your webspace is most likely using PHP 4. Please ask your webspace-provider how you can update to PHP5.

Perfect system check

If everything seems to work perfect, all positions will be highlighted with a green background and will be identical with the recommended settings or even surpass them.

Problems with the system check

Sadly we don't always have a perfect world while working with different webspaces. Errors are indicated by a red background color and a value that is different or lower than the recommendation.

If you run into one or more errors, contact your webspace-provider and ask them if they can change these things.

Error message: Safe Mode Hack

Maybe you get an error message telling you, that you'll need to use the Safe Mode Hack (SMH). Even if this workaround is called Safe Mode Hack it actually means that your webserver works with insufficient file permissions.

»PHP as an Apache module is typically run as wwwrun, www-data or nobody, whereas the files that you uploaded via FTP belong to you (e.g. web4 or ab5678). The server therefore denies the PHP script Contao access to those files.«
contao.org

Tip: Activate the »Safe Mode Hack« so that you'll be able to use Contao nevertheless. After configuring the Safe Mode Hack don't worry if the system check still tells you that there is an error with the creation of directories/files or if it shows that a folder like system/logs has a higher CHMOD than expected! This is normal.

Error message: Missing or corrupt files

If you see that some files get the Missing- or Corrupt-status, try to upload these files again to your webspace. Also check if you are uploading them in the correct FTP-mode (binary).

Tip: If you use the system check before installing Contao, don't get irritated that it shows all files as "Missing" at the end of the system check. This is ok – you did not upload any Contao files yet.

System requirements

2010-11-07T13:02:37Z

Nina: Created page with 'These are the basic system requirements for a Contao webspace: webserver: Apache or IIS PHP:minimum version 5.2 PHP extensions: * GDlib, used for image resizing * SOAP (option…'

These are the basic system requirements for a Contao webspace:

webserver: Apache or IIS
PHP:minimum version 5.2
PHP extensions:

* GDlib, used for image resizing
* SOAP (optionally), needs to allow external transfers so that you can use the extension repository within your Contao-backend
* mbstring (optionally), needed for multi-byte character handling
* mcrypt (optionally), needed for data encryption

MySQL: minimum version 4.1, though I definitely recommend version 5.x; MySQLi is also supported
browser (for Contao backend): a modern internet browser … don't even think about Internet Explorer 6 ;-)

==Recommended PHP configurations

Safe mode: Off
Maximum execution time: 30 or greater
Memory limit: 16M or greater
Register globals: Off
File uploads: On
Upload maximum filesize: 8M or greater
GDlib extension: On
SOAP extension: On

Tip: I recommend using the system check.

Category:Installation and Updates

2010-11-07T12:34:43Z

Nina: Created page with ''''Work in progress!''' Before you start with installing Contao, make sure that you meet the system requirements and use the system check. There are several things you'll need …'

'''Work in progress!'''

Before you start with installing Contao, make sure that you meet the system requirements and use the system check.

There are several things you'll need during the installation process if you want to install Contao on a normal webspace. Offline installation with XAMPP, WAMP, etc. is a little bit different, because you usually don't need to connect with FTP.

* FTP program
* FTP connection data: host, username, password, port number (typical: 21)
* MySQL database
* MySQL or MySQLi connection data: host, database-name, username, password, port number (typical: 3306)

Tip: I describe only the way how to install Contao with FTP but of course you can also use a SSH terminal.

'''Work in progress!'''