Checking the installation 

Once you have completed the necessary installation of your server software it is worth running a quick test to ensure that all the necessary, minimum requirements are met.

Remove the phpinfo.php script suggested in the following section from your Web root directory as soon as you have the necessary information. Leaving it in situ is a security risk. Your Joomla! installation has a built in version of the same script in the Help Menus for future reference.

You can do this very simply by creating a basic PHP script:

<?php

// Show all information

phpinfo();

?>

Save this, as phpinfo.php for example, in the file to the root of your Web site, then simply enter the address of your Web site into your browser as follows: http://www.yourdomain.com/phpinfo.php or http://localhost/phpinfo.php and you should receive a detailed summary and state of all the PHP compilation options and extensions (such as the Zlib, XML, and MySQL modules), the PHP version in use, server information and environment (if t is compiled as a module), the PHP environment, Operating System version information, paths, master and local values of configuration options, HTTP headers, and the PHP License. See the next page for a (very) compressed view of the information that this script outputs. The actual output is a single column and extends over a number of pages!

For a full description of all the elements that are output, visit the explanatory page at http://uk3.php.net/phpinfo.

Compressed view of the output of “phpinfo”

Once you are satisfied that your server is ready for the installation to proceed, the next step is to obtain a copy of the latest release of Joomla!

Remove the phpinfo.php file from your web root as soon as you have the necessary information. Leaving it in situ is a security risk. Your Joomla! installation has a built in version of the same script in the Help Menus for future reference.

Check out the online Glossary to assist with definitions of individual words that are new to you. If we have missed any let us know please.