PostNuke

Follow these steps and I'm pretty sure you will not have any problems, but if you do, post the comments here - it is, afterall, Windows ;-] . You will have to reboot a couple of times, but it's better to reboot and have it work than to dig around for a few hours trying to solve a problem that was just waiting for a reboot. Take my word for it, especially with the MySQL install.




The Config:

• Hardware: PIII slot 1, 384 Megs RAM, 1 FAT32 drive(2 partitions), 1 NTFS drive (single partition)
  
  
  
• Windows 2000 Server Sp3
  
  
  
• IIS 5.0 included with windows 2000
  
  
  
• PHP 4.2.3 (via installer)
  
  
  
• MyODBC 2.50.39
  
  
  
• mySQL 3.23.52
  
  
  

The Details

• Windows Server
  
  
  This is a multi role machine running DNS, Active Directory(AD) and other network services, and IIS. It's basically my intranet, Domain Controller(AD), File Server and development web server. It's locked down behind a router with its own security protocols, so if you hack the router, you still have to hack AD, which grants access through IP first, Domain second and user third. It's pretty tightly locked up, and its a good way to have a fairly secure development platform.
  
  
  
  
  
• IIS
  
  
  IIS is configured to run a default site, which is locked down using AD. If the machine dns name is theMachine, I can easily access the default web site using my browser and going to http://theMachine. The default site is basically a default installation with nothing on it and I use virtual directories to point to development file structures - this is documented in IIS documentation. Basically I took a default PostNuke installation file structure and copied it to a directory on one of my development partitions (I used a FAT32 partition -- no reason for it, just thought this may be a useful fact), and made that a virtual directory of the main site. If I name the virtual directory PNdev, I can now access that directory via http://theMachine/PNdev.
  
  
  
  
  
• PHP
  • Download the installer version of PHP for Windows (link in heading title)
  • stop the IIS server
  • execute the php installer and follow the instructions (pay attention to the checkboxes for what kind of webserver you wish to install it on, there should be one for IIS 4.0 and up)
  • reboot.
  After reboot run a search for php.ini(because I'm too lazy to look for it in the C:/Winnt folder), and change the register_globals to 'On'. NOTE: DOING THIS POSES A SECURITY ISSUE FOR THE WEBSERVER. Read about it in the PHP documentation. Now you're ready install mySQL.
  
  
  
  
  
• MyODBC
  
  
  I downloaded and installed this driver for MySQL because I'm developing some desktop packages that may be using MySQL in the future -- but it's part of the environment and thought I should mention it. Just do it if you're not sure.
  
  
  
  
  
• mySQL
  • download (link in title)and and unzip this file to it's own directory
  • Go to IIS and stop the server!
  • Install using the setup program and use all the default values,( if you install it other than to the default directories, don't come crying to me)
  • reboot
  
  
  
  After Rebooting, run a search for the my.ini file and delete it, if you don't find one - good - it means you need to create one.
  
  
  
  
  
• Creating a my.ini file with winmysqladmin.exe
  
  
  You will find a folder in c:\mysql\bin\ called winmysqladmin.exe, if you don't find it here, you screwed up somewhere or installed mysql in another directory - run a search to find it. Once you have located winmysqladmin.exe, I would advise putting a shortcut to it on your desktop.
  
  
  Open winmysqladmin.exe, a window should pop up asking for a user name and password. Enter a username and password that you wish to use, this will be the MASTER USERNAME AND PASSWORD for your mysql installation. You will need this password very shortly, so write it down! Once you submit the info, look in the sys tray for an icon that looks like a trafficlight. If the 'light' is red, mySQL needs to be started. Do this by right clicking the icon, choose 'win NT' and then click 'start this service'. (If you wish to set more u/n & p/w for other users on their own dbs -read about in the mySQL documentation.)
  
  
  
  
  
• Creating a Database with winmysqladmin.exe
  
  
  If the traffic light icon is in the tray, open the gui by right clicking the icon, choose 'show me'. If not in the tray, open winmysqladmin.exe by opening from the shortcut you placed on your desktop earlier, or find it again and open it. When it opens, you will see the window appear and then disappear, look in the tray and you will see the traffic light. Right click the icon, choose 'show me'.
  
  
  The GUI will appear, click on the 'Databases' Tab. Right click on the server name in the upper left frame and click 'create database'. Input a database name and click ok. This will create a new blank database. Now you are ready to install Postnuke.
  
  
  
  
  
• PostNuke Install Notes
  
  
  At this point, I am assuming that you have the files in place on the server and will refer to the directory that holds those files as 'POSTNUKEweb'. Some preliminary steps:
  • make sure that config.php and config-old.php both are world-writable.Note that once the install/upgrade has been completed these files can be re-set to read-only.
    
    
    
  • your config file should be modified to reflect the username and password that you set up during the installation of mySQL. Remember? I told you to write them down!!! It should also reflect of the name of the database that you created with winmysqladmin.exe.
    
    
    
  • additionally your config.php file should be set to Windows. Do this by changing $pnconfig['system'] = '0'; to $pnconfig['system'] = '1'; on line 48.

KICK IT

• go to your post nuke installation (i.e. http://POSTNUKEweb/install.php).
  
  
  
• choose the language and click 'Set Language'. If this page just refreshes and you can't get beyond it, you need to change your php.ini file described above in the PHP heading.
  
  
  
• when you get to the DB info page DO NOT check box for use with intranets, I check this on my first run through and could not log in after installation, by not checking it, I could log in fine. I have a feeling that its because of the server setup, but it works for me.
  • You can play with this setting after install:
    • make a backup copy of the pnSession.php file (located in the includes directory). Then, open the file in your favorite editor, and find the line (somewhere around line #88) that looks like this:
      
      
      
      
      Code:
      
      
      if (pnConfigGetVar('intranet') == false) {
      
      
      
      
      You can toggle the intranet functionality by changing the boolean false to true and vice-versa on this line to see how you system/server/nuke responds.
      
      
      

By following these guidelines you can implement PostNuke pretty seemlessly on your Windows 2000 server. I haven't experimented with XP, win2k (non server), or 98, but I'll be sure to post my findings if I do.




Also, thanks to the entire dev team on PostNuke for creating a kickass solution platform --- you guys ROCK (and so does the community that you built)!