Guidance on installing PHP for a newbie :)

[XFile]

Hi all,

Just registered on here today having previously been using a free forum hosting service which was littered with ads and had massive downtimes...

Have now decided to take the plunge and signup with Catalyst to get myself something more reliable and ad-free

Basically I'm just after some guidance as to how I install PHPBB onto my Cat2 area... My domain name is registered with 123reg 'fictional-reality.co.uk' and I've updated my config on there to point to the ns1 and ns2 servers.

I'm presuming PHPBB needs to be installed into the /wwwroot directory and can FTP onto this directory without problems.

What exactly do I need to do to install PHPBB into this area (presuming its the right area) ?

Thanks... Marcus

[Jacob]

Hi,

That is right, you need to upload the files to wwwroot folder and the database to the db folder.

You can find a knowledgebase article that may help:
http://support.catalyst2.com/?_a=kno...ndetails&_i=58

If you have any more queries, feel free to post back.

Regards,

Jacob

[XFile]

Thanks for the quick reply Jacob - blimey I'd have had to wait for hours or days with the other host

I can't see a file called - ms_access_primer.mdb

Any ideas where this is found?

Sorry for asking what are probably simple questions but with the other host PSP was already installed. Once PHP is installed I pretty much know my way around

Cheers... Marcus

[Jacob]

You can find it in:

\phpBB2\db\schemas\ms_access_primer.zip

Regards,

Jacob

[XFile]

Thanks Jacob - for some reason now I don't appear to be able to connect via FTP.

I have tried ftp.fictional-reality.co.uk.com

I have also tried 213.230.202.15 which I read about in another thread on here...

Can you advise what the ftp ip address is for my domain?

Thanks again... Marcus

[Jacob]

Hi Marcus,

It should be ftp.fictional-reality.co.uk however this will only work around 24 hours after you updated the nameservers on your domain to ns1 and ns2.

In the meanwhile you can use 84.18.207.4

Regards,

Jacob

[XFile]

Hi Jacob - I still don't seem to be able to connect through...

I've tried using Cute FTP and WS_FTP - both fail when trying to connect...

I'm using the ip address you gave above with:

username: fictional-reality.co.uk
password: xxxxxxxx

It times-out after a minute - the ftp log shows:

Connecting to 84.18.207.4:21
Connect failure

[XFile]

Hi Jacob - I've been onto Helm and under my FTP details it states 84.18.207.6

Gave this a try and seems to connect through fine

[XFile]

Hi Jacob - I've now managed to upload the file and using the instructions you pointed me toward have created a forum2.mdb and added an odbc dsn called forum2. For some reason it said a forum3 already exisited?

Anyway - the next step apparantly is to type into a web browser the path where your install.php file is - I'm presuming for me this will be:

h**p://www.fictional-reality.co.uk/wwwroot/phpBB2/install/install.php

At the moment this errors with not found - is this because I'll need to wait for the nameservers to be updated on 123reg for the ns1 and ns2 servers?

Note: the asterixs above are only so the forum doesn't turn my web address into a shortened url for this post - I have actually type the full http address into my broswer...

Cheers...Marcus

[XFile]

Now sorted - removed the wwwroot folder from the URL and now have the install screen... getting there slowly

[XFile]

Ok Jacob - next problem

Am onto the install and using the following settings:

Default board language: English
Database Type: MS Access [ODBC]
Choose your installation method: Install

Database Server Hostname / DSN: Forum2
Your Database Name: forum2.mdb
Database Username:
Database Password:
Prefix for tables in database: phpbb_

Admin Email Address: Admin_FictionalReality@hotmail.co.uk
Domain Name: fictional-reality.co.uk
Server Port: 80
Script path: /phpBB2/db/
Administrator Username: XFile
Administrator Password:
Administrator Password [ Confirm ]:

My forum2.mdb file is ftp'd to the /db directory.

The script seemed to be looking for msaccess.php which in the script path was set to /phpbb
On my ftp it was uploaded to phpBB2/db/ so I have updated the Script Path as you can see above...

It currently fails with:

Warning: odbc_connect(): SQL error: [Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver] Could not find file '(unknown)'., SQL state S1000 in SQLConnect in d:\domains\fictional-reality.co.uk\wwwroot\phpbb2\db\msaccess.php on line 55
phpBB : Critical Error

Could not connect to the database

DEBUG MODE

SQL Error : Error



Any ideas?

[XFile]

forum2.mdb is now in the /db directory as indicated in another thread - am using the script path: /db/forum2.mdb but am still failing with the same error...

[XFile]

Ok - have deleted and recreated the DSN and have now got a stage further

It advises of a problem with config.php and that I need to download and re-ftp it back to the phpbb2 folder. I have done this successfully and what it did say was I'd need to login as admin once completed.

However, when I type in www.fictional-reality.co.uk it brings me up with the Catalyst2 splash screen advising 'This website is parked with catalyst2..'

How do I now get to my forum - do I need to wait for the ns1 and ns2 redirection to happen?

[Jacob]

You need to place a file called something like index.html or default.html in the wwwroot folder and then the parked domain page will not be displayed.

Regards,

Jacob

[XFile]

Even though I'm hosting a phpbb forum as opposed to a website?

What does the html file need to contain for users to be forwarded onto the phpbb forum?