If you want to install a forum that everybody can
add to try PHPBB3. It is built into most distributions. To get it
you also have to have php5, mysql (client and Server), httpd/Apache2
installed. Here is how to do it using Ubuntu. Type as root
in a terminal window:
apt-get install apache2 php5 mysql-client mysql-server php-mysql
Restart Apache2 to be safe with the command:
/etc/init.d/apache2 reload
Fetch the tarred file by going
here
Note, your version may be newer, at the time of this writing 3.07 was the most recent version.
At the terminal prompt type:
bzip2 -d phpBB-3.0.7-PL1.tar.bz2
tar -xvf phpBB-3.0.7-PL1.tar
You will now have a directory called phpBB3. Now move it under /var/www where I like
to keep all the web stuff. i.e:
mv phpBB3/ /var/www/
Now go to that directory with
cd /var/www/phpBB3/
You are now ready to create the database that PHPBB3 will use. Go to the terminal window and type:
mysql -u root -p
You will now be at a mysql> prompt.
mysql> DROP DATABASE test; [removes the test database]
mysql> DELETE FROM mysql.user WHERE user = ''; [Removes anonymous access]
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Create a database and database user for your data. You will use this database and user name in your database connection string.
The GRANT statement actually creates a new MySQL user account.
mysql> CREATE DATABASE phpbb_mysql;
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON phpbb_mysql.* TO 'pphpbb3_admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'thepassword';
Now leave mysql by typing exit; Change the permissions on the zero byte config.php file to be editable, i.e. :
chmod 777 config.php
You are now ready to run the install, type:
http://localhost/phpBB3 in your web browser. There should be a button now in your browser that says install.
Be sure to either stick with the autogenerated password or use a strong password of your own.
After the PHPBB3 install make sure this file's permission is set back to read only, i.e.:
chmod 444 /var/www/phpBB3/config.php
Also, most importantly, do this:
rm -R /var/www/phpBB3/install/
to remove the directory!
You can then login as the PHPBB3 Administrator and configure the rest of the website.
Note, some hosting services like to really tie your hands so you may not be able to do what you could on a normal UNIX/Linux or Microsoft IIS Servers. This often happens with the one click method. If you encounter problems, send me an email.
You will eventually want to configure the cron job to delete your log files as they will grow big very
fast with PHPBB3. For more details please see
here .
To get started, go to here. Enjoy!