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diff --git a/install/INSTALL.txt b/install/INSTALL.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e6adbba7d --- /dev/null +++ b/install/INSTALL.txt @@ -0,0 +1,270 @@ + +Friendica Installation + +We've tried very hard to ensure that Friendica will run on commodity hosting +platforms - such as those used to host Wordpress blogs and Drupal websites. +But be aware that Friendica is more than a simple web application. It is a +complex communications system which more closely resembles an email server +than a web server. For reliability and performance, messages are delivered in +the background and are queued for later delivery when sites are down. This +kind of functionality requires a bit more of the host system than the typical +blog. Not every PHP/MySQL hosting provider will be able to support Friendica. +Many will. But please review the requirements and confirm these with your +hosting provider prior to installation. + +Before you begin: Choose a domain name or subdomain name for your server. +Put some thought into this - because changing it is currently not-supported. +Things will break, and some of your friends may have difficulty communicating +with you. We plan to address this limitation in a future release. Also decide +if you wish to connect with members of the Diaspora network, as this will +impact the installation requirements. + +Decide if you will use SSL and obtain an SSL cert. Communications with the +Diaspora network MAY require both SSL AND an SSL cert signed by a CA which is +recognised by the major browsers. Friendica will work with self-signed certs +but Diaspora communication may not. For best results, install your cert PRIOR +to installing Friendica and when visiting your site for the initial +installation in step 5, please use the https: link. (Use the http: or non-SSL +link if your cert is self-signed). + + +1. Requirements + - Apache with mod-rewrite enabled and "Options All" so you can use a +local .htaccess file + + - PHP 5.3+. The later the better. + + - PHP *command line* access with register_argc_argv set to true in the +php.ini file [or see 'poormancron' in section 8] + + - curl, gd (with at least jpeg support), mysql, mbstring, mcrypt, and openssl extensions + + - some form of email server or email gateway such that PHP mail() works + + - Mysql 5.x + + - ability to schedule jobs with cron (Linux/Mac) or Scheduled Tasks +(Windows) [Note: other options are presented in Section 8 of this document] + + - Installation into a top-level domain or sub-domain (without a +directory/path component in the URL) is preferred. This is REQUIRED if +you wish to communicate with the Diaspora network. + +2. Unpack the Friendica files into the root of your web server document area. + + - If you copy the directory tree to your webserver, make sure + that you also copy .htaccess - as "dot" files are often hidden + and aren't normally copied. + +3. Create an empty database and note the access details (hostname, username, +password, database name). + + +4. If you know in advance that it will be impossible for the web server to +write or create files in your web directory, create an empty file called +.htconfig.php and make it writable by the web server. + +5. Visit your website with a web browser and follow the instructions. Please +note any error messages and correct these before continuing. If you are using +SSL with a known signature authority (recommended), use the https: link to your +website. If you are using a self-signed cert or no cert, use the http: link. + +6. *If* the automated installation fails for any reason, check the following: + + - ".htconfig.php" exists + If not, edit htconfig.php and change system settings. Rename +to .htconfig.php + - Database is populated. + If not, import the contents of "database.sql" with phpmyadmin +or mysql command line + +7. At this point visit your website again, and register your personal account. +Registration errors should all be recoverable automatically. +If you get any *critical* failure at this point, it generally indicates the +database was not installed correctly. You might wish to move/rename +.htconfig.php to another name and empty (called 'dropping') the database +tables, so that you can start fresh. + +**************************************************************************** +**************************************************************************** +******** THIS NEXT STEP IS IMPORTANT!!!! *********** +**************************************************************************** +**************************************************************************** + +8. Set up a cron job or scheduled task to run the poller once every 5-10 +minutes to pick up the recent "public" postings of your friends. Example: + + cd /base/directory; /path/to/php include/poller.php + +Change "/base/directory", and "/path/to/php" as appropriate for your situation. + +If you are using a Linux server, run "crontab -e" and add a line like the +one shown, substituting for your unique paths and settings: + +*/10 * * * * cd /home/myname/mywebsite; /usr/bin/php include/poller.php + +You can generally find the location of PHP by executing "which php". If you +have troubles with this section please contact your hosting provider for +assistance. Friendica will not work correctly if you cannot perform this step. + +You should also be sure that $a->config['php_path'] is set correctly, it should +look like (changing it to the correct PHP location) + +$a->config['php_path'] = '/usr/local/php53/bin/php' + +Alternative: You may be able to use the 'poormancron' plugin to perform this +step if you are using a recent Friendica release. 'poormancron' may result in +perfomance and memory issues and is only suitable for small sites with one or +two users and a handful of contacts. To do this, edit the file +".htconfig.php" and look for a line describing your plugins. On a fresh +installation, it will look like + +$a->config['system']['addon'] = 'js_upload'; + +This indicates the "js_upload" addon module is enabled. You may add additional +addons/plugins using this same line in the configuration file. Change it to +read + +$a->config['system']['addon'] = 'js_upload,poormancron'; + +and save your changes. + + + +##################################################################### + + If things don't work... + +##################################################################### + + +##################################################################### +- If you get the message + "System is currently unavailable. Please try again later" +##################################################################### + + Check your database settings. It usually means your database could not +be opened or accessed. If the database resides on the same machine, check that +the database server name is "localhost". + +##################################################################### +- 500 Internal Error +##################################################################### + + This could be the result of one of our Apache directives not being +supported by your version of Apache. Examine your apache server logs. + You might remove the line "Options -Indexes" from the .htaccess file if +you are using a Windows server as this has been known to cause problems. +Also check your file permissions. Your website and all contents must generally +be world-readable. + + It is likely that your web server reported the source of the problem in +its error log files. Please review these system error logs to determine what +caused the problem. Often this will need to be resolved with your hosting +provider or (if self-hosted) your web server configuration. + +##################################################################### +- 400 and 4xx "File not found" errors +##################################################################### + + First check your file permissions. Your website and all contents must +generally be world-readable. + + Ensure that mod-rewite is installed and working, and that your +.htaccess file is being used. To verify the latter, create a file test.out +containing the word "test" in the top directory of Friendica, make it world +readable and point your web browser to + +http://yoursitenamehere.com/test.out + + This file should be blocked. You should get a permission denied message. + + If you see the word "test" your Apache configuration is not allowing +your .htaccess file to be used (there are rules in this file to block access +to any file with .out at the end, as these are typically used for system logs). + + Make certain the .htaccess file exists and is readable by everybody, then +look for the existence of "AllowOverride None" in the Apache server +configuration for your site. This will need to be changed to +"AllowOverride All". + + If you do not see the word "test", your .htaccess is working, but it is +likely that mod-rewrite is not installed in your web server or is not working. + + On most flavour of Linux, + +% a2enmod rewrite +% /etc/init.d/apache2 restart + + Consult your hosting provider, experts on your particular Linux +distribution or (if Windows) the provider of your Apache server software if +you need to change either of these and can not figure out how. There is +a lot of help available on the web. Google "mod-rewrite" along with the +name of your operating system distribution or Apache package (if using +Windows). + + +##################################################################### +- If you are unable to write the file .htconfig.php during installation +due to permissions issues: +##################################################################### + + create an empty file with that name and give it world-write permission. +For Linux: + +% touch .htconfig.php +% chmod 777 .htconfig.php + +Retry the installation. As soon as the database has been created, + +******* this is important ********* + +% chmod 755 .htconfig.php + +##################################################################### +- Some configurations with "suhosin" security are configured without +an ability to run external processes. Friendica requires this ability. +Following are some notes provided by one of our members. +##################################################################### + +On my server I use the php protection system Suhosin +[http://www.hardened-php.net/suhosin/]. One of the things it does is to block +certain functions like proc_open, as configured in /etc/php5/conf.d/suhosin.ini: + + suhosin.executor.func.blacklist = proc_open, ... + +For those sites like Friendica that really need these functions they can be +enabled, e.g. in /etc/apache2/sites-available/friendica: + + <Directory /var/www/friendica/> + php_admin_value suhosin.executor.func.blacklist none + php_admin_value suhosin.executor.eval.blacklist none + </Directory> + +This enables every function for Friendica if accessed via browser, but not for +the cronjob that is called via php command line. I attempted to enable it for +cron by using something like + + */10 * * * * cd /var/www/friendica/friendica/ && sudo -u www-data /usr/bin/php +-d suhosin.executor.func.blacklist=none -d suhosin.executor.eval.blacklist=none +-f include/poller.php + +This worked well for simple test cases, but the friendica-cron still failed with +a fatal error: +suhosin[22962]: ALERT - function within blacklist called: proc_open() (attacker +'REMOTE_ADDR not set', file '/var/www/friendica/friendica/boot.php', line 1341) + +After a while I noticed, that include/poller.php calls further php script via +proc_open. These scripts themselves also use proc_open and fail, because they +are NOT called with -d suhosin.executor.func.blacklist=none. + +So the simple solution is to put the correct parameters into .htconfig.php: + // Location of PHP command line processor + $a->config['php_path'] = '/usr/bin/php -d suhosin.executor.func.blacklist=none +-d suhosin.executor.eval.blacklist=none'; + + +This is obvious as soon as you notice that the friendica-cron uses proc_open to +execute php-scripts that also use proc_open, but it took me quite some time to +find that out. I hope this saves some time for other people using suhosin with +function blacklists. |