From now on, everything is going to go lightning fast because the Joomla! web installer will be
taking over command. Go to the http://localhost/Joomla100/ page where the web installer
announces itself with a pre-installation check. This check determines whether your environment is
suitable for installing Joomla!. If there are many green test results, then it is already a good sign.
Depending on your configuration there can be differences here.

The web installer takes the configuration settings of Apache, PHP, and the operating system into
consideration. On Linux-based systems, attention should be given to writing rights. If you are
working with the XAMPP Lite solution under Windows, the web installer should look as shown in
the following pic:

Click on Next to get the announcement of the GNU/GPL license, which you must accept by
selecting the I Accept the GPL License option. The installation with the web installer takes place in
the following four steps:

Step 1
Database parameters are queried in a questionnaire. You can set up as many databases as required
in the XAMPP Lite server environment. As there is a MySQL user set up with the name root
without a password, enter the name of a database that doesn’t exist yet in the installer. Users
usually have the rights to access databases in a working environment.

Enter the following parameters in a local XAMPP Lite installation:

Host Name: localhost
MySQL User Name: root
MySQL Password: (leave this empty—but be aware of the security risk!)
MySQL Database Name: joomla100
MySQL Table Prefix: The web installer writes the text that is entered in the field
before producing each table. By default, the web installer suggests jos _, because
sometimes you get only one MySQL database from an Internet provider.
If you needed to operate two Joomla! pages, there would be a problem, since you cannot
differentiate one table from the other. By means of Table Name Prefix, it is possible to
keep apart the tables of different Joomla! installations (jos_smith_ or jos_jones_). At
this time you should accept the default jos_.

Drop Existing Tables: If you are dealing with a ‘new’ installation into an empty
database, do not check this checkbox. If there is an old version of Joomla! in your
database, you can overwrite the old files by checking this checkbox.
Backup Old Tables : With Joomla!, data security (b ackups) can be set up. The backups
are stored in special backup tables. To replace old backup tables, check this checkbox.
Install Sample Data : By default, this checkbox is checked. This fills your homepage
with sample data so that you get a con ception of its appearance down the road. Fill
your installation with these sample data; we will work with them later on the site.

Click on the Next button. After a security question, asking whether the installation should indeed
go ahead, the web installer creates the database and the appropriate tables.

Step 2.

In step 2, you set the name of your website. This name shows up in the header of the browser
window when someone accesses your website. This name is also used in other places, for
example, with confirmation e-mails to registered users. Select a meaningful name. For you
example page, we have chosen the name Joomla100. Click on Next to set the name.

Step 3

In step 3 you must confirm a few basic settings. These settings are important as they permit the
Joomla! system navigation on your server.

URL: This is the URL of your homepage.

Path: This is the file path on your server that leads to your homepage. In our case it
is in the Windows environment.
Your E-Mail: Enter your e-mail address. As a Super Administrator you will receive
e-mail from your homepage.
Admin password : Joomla! suggests a password. You can accept it or create a similarly
complicated password. A simple one would be sufficient for a local installation.

Accept the default options in the File Permissions and Directory Permissions dialog. During
installation, Joomla! automatically sets access rights to those parts of the system where files are
uploaded or programs are installed.

Step 4 
The fourth and final step congratulates you on a successful installation.

In addition, your Administration Login Details are indicated. Note down the username
and password.

Joomla! assigns a new password when you go backwards from step 4, for instance, if you
want to change your settings or if the installation wasn’t quite successful. If you have
forgotten or mislaid the administrator password, there is a solution in the Appendix.

Installation is now complete. You have a choice between View Site (to start your homepage)
and Administration (administration interface). To take a look at your newly created homepage,
click on View Site. If you haven’t deleted the installation directory as of yet, you will get a
friendly reminder to delete it and to check out your page after you’ve done that.

With Linux everything is usually simple. Differ ent distributions with different standard
configurations are available. Usually our dream team is pre-installed and just needs to be started. An
XAMPP version can also be installed for Linux. My opinion, however, is that it makes more sense to
grab the original programs. The installation is done by a package manager and is very simple.

SUSE (10.x) OpenSUSE
You can check whether Apache, MySQL, and PHP are already installed with the help of the YaST
configuration program. If that is not the case, select the appropriate packages for installation and
let YaST install them. These are the packages in detail:

apache2
apache2-level
apache2-mod_php4
mysql
php4-mysql

You can find these packages via the YaST interface on your SUSE distribution media or on
the Internet:

Start the Apache web server with the /etc/init.d/apache2ctl start command and the MySQL
database server with the /etc/init.d/mysql start command.

You can stop both the servers with the  stop command. By typing  help, you get an overview of
all parameters.

Debian/Ubuntu

With Debian and with Ubuntu, apt is the agent of choice. You can install Apache, MySQL, and
PHP with the apt program.

apt-get install [packetname]
The following are the packages in detail:

apache-common: Support files for all Apache web servers
php4: Server-side HTML-embedded scripting language
mysql-common: MySQL database common files (for example, /etc/mysql/my.cnf)
mysql-server: MySQL database server binaries

You can find these packages automatically over  the Internet or on the Debian CD/DVD by
using apt.

Now start Apache with the /etc/init.d/apachectl start command and MySQL with the
/etc/init.d/mysql start command.

The installation of Joomla! is a matter of two minutes. To install Joomla!, it would be best to
have the dream team mentioned in Apache, MySQL, and PHP—installed as the development environment. Of course, Joomla! does not make any special demands on Apache
or MySQL. So you can also use any other web server that works with PHP.