PhpBB Installation Instructions

Prerequisites

• Follow the instructions to install the Command Line Interface.
• Make sure both the Java bin directory (Java SDK 5.0 or later) and the Zero directory are on your PATH.
• Download, install and start MySQL Community Edition 5.1. Create an empty database for phpBB. Make a note of the database name and user details, as you will need them later in the installation process.

Installing phpBB

• Create a new project called phpBB by running:

  zero create phpBB

• Get the full installation package of phpBB 3 and unzip it into the public directory of the new phpBB project.
• Move all the files and directories in phpBB3 up one level into public, so that directories like install and includes are in public, and phpBB3 is empty.
• Next, add two dependencies to the project: the MySQL database connector and the PHP runtime.
  • Edit phpBB/config/ivy.xml to add the following two lines in the <dependencies> list:

    <dependency name="mysql-connector-java" org="mysql" rev="5.1+"/>
    <dependency name="zero.php" org="zero" rev="[1.0.0.0, 2.0.0.0["/>

  • To fetch those modules, you'll need to resolve the project's dependencies. From the phpBB application directory, run:

    zero resolve

• Now set up the PHP engine:
  • Configure it to load the PHP extensions required by phpBB. Under the phpBB application directory, edit config/php.ini, locate the Dynamic Extensions section, and ensure the following are listed:

    extension=php_calendar
    extension=php_ctype
    extension=php_zlib
    extension=php_ldap
    extension=php_hash
    extension=php_xml
    extension=php_gd
    extension=php_iconv
    extension=php_imap

  • Disable the mbstring extension by removing or commenting it out from php.ini as shown:

    ; extension = com.ibm.p8.library.standard.MbStringLibrary

• If you are not running an IBM JDK, you might need to increase the maximum Java heap size for the installation's database population step to succeed. For example, you can add the following to config/zero.config to set it to 128M on Sun JDKs:

  /config/zso/jvmargs/java.vendor/Sun += [
  "-Xmx128M"
  ]

• Start your phpBB application. From the phpBB application directory, run:

  zero start

• Open the phpBB installation page in your browser. Assuming your phpBB application is running on localhost on the default port (8080), then this will be http://localhost:8080/install.
• Go to the install Install tab and follow the instructions. You should be able to accept most of the defaults. Remember to enter the database details established during the pre-req step above.
• Finally, phpBB will ask you to remove or rename the install directory, which is located in your application directory under public. Once you do this, phpBB will be ready for use!

If you find something that does not work, we would like to hear about it. Please either open a Bugzilla, or post in the forums. Thanks!

-- robinf - 23 May 2008