Running the Installer

Use the Tiki Installer to finalize the installation on your server.

You can use the Tiki Server Check to confirm that your webserver meets the minimum requirements. Open your web browser to: http://www.yourdomain.com/tiki-check.php.

The Tiki installer allows you to:

• Test your system for the minimum requirements.
• Create and configure the database connection.
• Configure general site settings.

To install Tiki:

1. Open your web browser to: http://www.yourdomain.com/tiki-install.php.
   

    Note

   If you copied the Tiki files to a subdirectory, include it, too. For example: http://www.yourdomain.com/subdirectory/tiki-install.php.
   
   The Tiki Installer screen appears.
   
   

    Tip

   The first page of the installer contains a link to the Release Notes for this version. Take a moment to review the Release Notes — they contain lots of useful information.
2. Select your installation language and click Continue. The License page appears.
   
3. Tiki is available under the LGPL license Read the license and click Continue. The System Requirements page appears.
   
4. Tiki can test your web server for some basic requirements. Confirm that you system meets the minimum requirements.
   • To confirm that Tiki can send mail (such as the registration notification), enter your address and click Send Test Message.
   
   You can also send a test message to Tiki. You will receive an automated response if the test was successful.
   

    Tip

   To completely test your installation environment, click see a detailed report about your server. Tiki will run the Tiki Server Check.
5. Click Continue. The Database Connection page appears.
   
   

    Note

   If you are upgrading an existing site, Tiki will detect the exiting connection information.
   
   Tiki says that it "cannot find a database connection." Let's fix that right now.
6. Here is where you add your database information. Enter the following information in each field:
   • Database type: Select your specific database (if you're following along with this guide select MySQLi).
   • Host name: If your database is in the same location as your web server (as it is for most web hosts), simply keep this as localhost.
   • Database name: The name of your database. If you did not previously create the database, Tiki can attempt to create one now.
     

      Tip

     If the database does not exist, Tiki will create it.
   • User name: The database user that has admin access to the database.
   • Password: The password for the database user.
     

      Note

     Many shared web hosts require that you preface your user and database name with your web host's account name.
   • Select the Always force connection to use UTF-8 option if your database was created with a UTF-8 collation.
7. Enter the information and click Connect. The Tiki Installer screen appears.
   
8. Select your database engine and click Install.
   • MyISAM: Default storage engine prior to MySQL 5.5
   • InnoDB: Default storage engine for MySQL 5.5 and later
   
   This should take only a few moments, as Tiki busily creates the necessary database tables.
   
   Upon completion, the final installer screen appears.
   
9. Click Continue. The Configure General Settings page appears.
   
   Complete the following fields on the screen:
   • Browser title: Enter the name of your website here. This will display in the web browser's title bar.
   • Sender email: Enter the email address to be used by your Tiki. Any emails from your site (such as registration confirmations), will be sent from this address.
     If you leave this blank, emails from your Tiki may use your web host provider's name instead of yours. This could confuse your visitors.
     

      Note

     Some web hosts may require that this be an actual email address. Check with your web host provider.
   • Secure login: If your host provides secure logins (HTTPS), you can enable it for your website.
   • Logging and Reporting: Specify if Tiki should report any PHP or Smarty errors. You can select to have these warnings appear only for the Administrator.
   • Administrator email: Enter your email address. This can be used to recover your admin password and account information.
     

      Tip

     If you do not enter an Admin email here, Tiki will ask again, during your initial login.
10. Click Continue. The Notes page appears.
    
11. Take a moment and subscribe to the Tiki newsletter. You'll receive important information from the Tiki Community including notification regarding releases, security updates, and new features.
12. Click Continue The Enter Your Tiki page appears.
    
13. Click Enter Tiki and Lock the Installer. The Tiki Home Page appears.
    

     Warning

    If you do not lock the install script, anyone could re-run the installation program... wiping out your database. You can always re-enable the install script, if necessary.

For a brand-new Tik installation, you will prompted to create a password for your admin (administrator) account:

After setting the password, you are greeted by the Tiki Setup wizard. See Using the Wizards for more information.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version, your site's home page will appear.

What if it doesn't work?

First (and most importantly), don't panic.

If you get an error message, take a good hard look at it — it's trying to tell you what's wrong. Here are some common messages you could encounter:

Can't connect to server on 'localhost' or
Access denied for user username to database database

Tiki could not connect to your database.

• Did you enter the correct information (database name, database username, and password) on the Tiki Installer screen?
• Are you using exact same names and passwords that you selected if you you created the database manually?
• Is the database up and running?

Tiki Installer cannot proceed: The directory '/somedirectory' is not writable

Tiki is unable to write information to a specific directory. Remember, Tiki needs read and write access to directories on your web server. Review the list of directories that require permission changes and try again.

Nothing Happens — Blank Screen

Make sure that your database and web server meet the minimum requirements. The most common problem is insufficient memory allocated for PHP scripts. The Tiki documentation site lists the recommended settings for your php.ini file.

The Installer "Loops" and Starts Again

Confirm that your server session data is accessible to Tiki. You may need to switch the session storage location (file or database). Consult your host for details.

See the Fixing Installation Problems pages for additional help.