Preface

NOTE: BitNami Joomla! stack no longer exists as a standalone installer. Instead, it delivers as: 1) A cloud based instance, 2) In a container, either Kubernetes or Docker or 3) A virtual machine. The virtual machine will run on your operating system in a hypervisor such as Virtual Box or VMware Player. It still comes with all the required dependences as in the standalone installer.

Option 1 below no longer applies. Also, in Option 2, BitNami Lamp Stack further down, delivers in the cloud or virtual machine. In any case, Bitnami makes having a performing local installation of Joomla! easy and complete.

You can download the latest version of the Bitnami package for Joomla! for Windows, Linux and Mac at http://bitnami.org/stack/joomla.

Revision Needed!

BitNami Joomla! Stack is an all-in-one installer that makes it easy to install Joomla on your computer. It is free, easy to use and self-contained. That means that it bundles and automatically configures every piece of software (dependency) necessary to run Joomla for development or production purposes, including Apache HTTP Server, MySQL and PHP.

Option 1: Joomla! stack (Recommended)

This method assumes you already have a (Windows/Linux/Mac)...AMP(Apache HTTP Server, MySQL, & PHP) environment installed.

Installing Joomla! Stack

Regardless of which operating system you are running (Windows / Linux / Mac), the install process is the same.

Download the latest version of Joomla! Stack from the BitNami website.

Find the installer you just downloaded (the filename will be similar to bitnami-joomla-VERSION-linux-installer.run. Double click on the icon to launch the installer.

If you are using Linux you will have to give executable permissions to the file first, using this command:

chmod +x /path/to/bitnami-joomla-VERSION-linux-installer.run

Click "Next".

Select the components you want to install. If you are not sure, leave the default components checked. Click "Next" when you are done.

Now it will ask where do you want to install the program. Provide the location where you want to install the BitNami Joomla! stack and click "Next" when you are done.

The user and password you provide here will be used to create the admin account in Joomla! Click "Next" when you are done.

Type in the name you want to use for your Joomla site, and click "Next".

The installer allows you to configure an email account so Joomla! can send notifications via email . Click "Next".

Wait a minute while the installer copies the files and configures your Joomla! installation.

Joomla! is now set up and ready to be used. Click "Finish" to launch the application.

Using the manager tool is easy to start/stop the Apache and MySQL servers.

You can manage the Joomla! database with phpMyAdmin easily.

Option 2: BitNami LAMPStack and Joomla!

What is BitNami LAMPStack?

BitNami LAMPStack is a free, easy to install package that bundles every piece of software (dependency) necessary to setup a LAMP (Apache, MySQL and PHP for Linux) environment up and running for development or production purposes. It is self-contained, it makes no modifications to your system and can be uninstalled easily. You can download the latest version of BitNami LAMPStack for Linux at http://bitnami.org/stack/lampstack. A Windows version and a OS X version are also available.

Regardless of which operating system you are running (Windows / Linux / Mac), the install process is the same.

Installing BitNami LAMPStack

Find the installer you just downloaded from the BitNami website (the filename will be similar to bitnami-lampstack-VERSION-linux-installer.run). Double click the icon to launch the installer.

Click "Forward".

Now it will ask where you want to install the program. Select the location on your machine and click "Forward" when you are done.

Type your MySQL root password. This will be the password for the "root" user for the database.

The installer is now ready to begin the installation process. Click "Forward".

Wait a minute while the installer copies the files and configures your LAMPStack installation.

BitNami LAMPStack is now set up and ready to be used. Click "Finish" to launch the application.

Installing Joomla! manually

Follow the instructions outlined in the article Installing Joomla.

Introduction

cPanel Hosting

When you login to your cPanel hosting service, this is what you should expect to see:

Database Setup

The Databases panel is used to create a database and database user for Joomla.

Select the MySQL Databases item and enter a database name in the form. The first part of the form is predefined. The rest is up to to you. It should be short and perhaps not obvious - jblog for example.

In the same form, go down to the Add New User section. Enter a user name. This can be anything you like. It will be used in your Joomla configuration file so it is not something you need to remember. Use the password generator to create an unmemorable password and copy it to a text editor - you will need it during Joomla installation.

In the same form, go down to Add User to Database. Select the user you created and the database you created from the drop-down lists and then click the Add button. A form to Manage Privileges opens. Select the All Privileges check box and then click the Make Changes button.

That is it - you now have a database ready for a Joomla installation.

Upload Joomla Source

At some stage you will have downloaded the Joomla source code zip file to your own laptop or desktop computer. You now have to decide how to structure your site. The document root for your site is the public_html folder. You could put Joomla there. However, that prevents you from using another application on the same site. For example, you could have two entirely separate Joomla installations, one for production (public viewing) and one for testing (private viewing). So you could create a folder within public_html, named j4 for example, and upload Joomla there. You could have another folder named j4test and put another copy of Joomla there. The illustration below shows such a set-up with two Joomla websites.

When you have decided on your structure, select you chosen Joomla folder in File Manager and click the Upload button. In the upload form, select the Joomla source zip file on your local computer to upload it to the selected folder. After upload, go back to File Manager, select the zip file and click the Extract button. After extraction, you can select and delete the zip file.

That is it! You are ready to install Joomla.

What is joomla.com?

joomla.com is a domain name used to allow individuals to create personal instances of the Joomla CMS in subdomains of the form alice.joomla.com, bob.joomla.com and so on. The subdomains are managed by the CloudAccess.net hosting service. With your own subdomain you can build and maintain a completely free Joomla website for an unlimited time. The free site features all of the Joomla CMS core functionalities that make building a website easy and flexible.

Launching your first Joomla.com site

If you are new to Joomla and would like to see it in action without downloading and setting it up yourself the process to launch your new Joomla website has never been easier! To get started, navigate to the main launch.joomla.org page and enter the information requested in the sequence of forms, mostly appearing in pop-up dialog boxes.

Step 1: Enter a suitable subdomain name

Alice and Bob are probably taken but you can choose any name that is easy to type and to remember.

Step 2: Select Your Joomla Version

As this is a new installation it is best to select the latest stable version.

Step 3: Create an account

Fill in your personal details and select the Register button.

Notes

• Email Address: Your email address is used to login to your Cloud Control Panel (CCP) and to send you messages to complete the set up of your account. It must be a valid account. It is also used for a Super User account in your free joomla.com site.
• Country: This data is used to track where the signups come from.
• Terms of Service: You are required to agree to the Terms of Service available from the link adjacent to the check box. If you agree to sign up for the Joomla marketing campaign you will be sent occasional Joomla marketing emails. This is not a requirement.
• Problems: If the form does not accept your personal data please send an e-mail with your registration details, whether you want Joomla 4 or 5 and what .joomla.com subdomain you want to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - the account will then be created manually.

Step 4: Unlock Premium Features

If you do not wish to Unlock Premium Features for $5 per month you can select NOT NOW to proceed with your free site.

You will shortly receive a 6 digit token on the phone number that you entered.

Step 5: Verify Account

Use the token to complete the process - you will be logged in to the CloudAccess.net control panel (CCP).

Step 6: CloudAccess.net Control Panel

You will also receive an email with your free site login credentials. It may take a few minutes for your free Joomla site to become available. If you have any problems, open a New Ticket in the CPP and the support team will fix whatever needs fixing.

Important: Remember to login at least once a month and select the Renew button in time to keep your free site alive!

Step 7: Access your site

To access your site you can select the Login button in your CPP Your Products panel. It will take you directly to the Administrator Dashboard of your site. Or you can go directly to the subdomain you created (for example myalias.joomla.org/administrator/) and login with the credentials sent to the email address you registered with.

It is a simple as that and once your site is up and running, you can start creating content (articles, menu items, modules) right away. You do not need any extensions to build a stunning fully functional website!

CPP Tools

Joomla is managed almost entirely from its Administrator pages. However, from time to time it is useful to have access to system tools for problem solving purposes. Select the Manage button in the CPP Your Products page for access to these tools.

phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is a utility used to work directly with databases. It really requires experience but experience can be built up as and when problems occur. For access, navigate via Application / Database and then Login to phpMyAdmin.

Backup

It is important to keep regular site backups of the files and database. Many users install a free Akeeba backup extension to do site backups from within Joomla. You can also create backups via Applications / Manage Backups and select the Create Backup button.

File Explorer

Access to files is sometimes useful, for example to examine Joomla log files that are not directly available from within the Joomla Administrator pages. Access is available via Server / File Explorer and the httpsdocs drop-down list.

How to get help when using joomla.com?

Since most of the platform’s functionality overlaps with that of the Joomla! CMS, users are also encouraged to seek help in the Joomla! Forum and in this Wiki Documentation.

Test upcoming releases with joomla.com

Tests are important in an open source project like Joomla as they provide quality assurance for upcoming releases. You can help with testing of new features and bug fixes by installing the Joomla Patchtester](https://github.com/joomla-extensions/patchtester/releases) extension in your free Joomla site. No special skills are required to become a tester! If you have never tested pull requests, the Joomla Documentation provides all the [tutorials you need. So be part of it, start testing Joomla today.

Caveats: You will need a GitHub account and a GitHub token. You will not be able to test pull requests involving CSS and JavaScript changes requiring NPM Resource Changes.

Many times you install Joomla in a sub-directory and then want to move it to a higher level directory, here's a short tutorial on how to do it.

Say you have installed Joomla in the following folder: public_html/tryjoomla. Now that you are satisfied with the site, you'll want to move to public_html.

1. Move all the files from the sub-directory (i.e., public_html/tryjoomla) to the upper level directory (i.e., public_html). You can use your favourite FTP client or the control panel that your hosting service provides.
2. Download and open the configuration.php file in a text editor.
3. Simply remove the tryjoomla folder name from the path. Look for the following lines

   var $live_site = '';
   var $log_path = '/home/username/public_html/tryjoomla/administrator/logs';
   var $tmp_path = '/home/username/public_html/tryjoomla/tmp';
   var $ftp_root = 'public_html/tryjoomla';
   

   Change to:

   var $live_site = '';
   var $log_path = '/home/username/public_html/administrator/logs';
   var $tmp_path = '/home/username/public_html/tmp';
   var $ftp_root = 'public_html';
   

   N.B. The $live_site variable rarely needs to be given a value. But if it was given a value during installation then edit that path as well.

   var $live_site = 'http://www.example.com/tryjoomla';
   

   Change to:

   var $live_site = 'http://www.example.com';
   

4. Check your site's .htaccess file. The subfolder should be removed there as well. The RewriteBase directive should be commented out. Check for a RewriteRule that contains the old subdirectory.
5. Verify that no redirect orders to the old subdirectory are in place in your hosting control panel.
6. If you have cache enabled, login to the administrator backend (which will now be at http://www.example.com/administrator and not http://www.example.com/tryjoomla/administrator). Go to System / Cache and delete all cache files.