How to install osCommerce

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2007

osCommerce is an open-source (free) fully featured e-commerce website. It's one of the most popular online stores due to its features, price, additional modules, and the massive community of helpful developers and users. This tutorial goes through the basics of installing the store from scratch onto your website.

Before we start you will need to make sure that your website supports PHP 4.1+ and you have a MySQL database. If you're not sure, contact your web hosting company or ISP. osCommerce supports multiple platforms including Linux, Mas OS X, and Microsoft Windows. This tutorial covers the installation of osCommerce 2.2 Milestone 2 (Update 060817).

You will need the following to hand:

A copy of osCommerce
Website FTP details
MySQL database details (hostname, username, password)

1. Download osCommerce

Download a copy of the shopping cart software from www.oscommerce.com. Unzip the downloaded file, taking a few minutes to read the documentation provided (documentation.pdf).

2. Upload to Your Web Space

The next step is to upload the files to your web space. You will need to have FTP access in order to do this. If you do not have any FTP details or if you experience problems connecting, consult your web hosting company or ISP. Upload the entire "catalog" folder to the root of your web space. You do not need to upload the "extras" folder.

3. Start the Install Process

Once you have successfully uploaded the "catalog" folder, open your web browser and visit the "install" folder within the "catalog" folder, for example:

http://www.mydomain.com/catalog/install

Follow the instructions in the wizard, entering your database connection details when prompted. When the wizard has finished you have successfully installed the software.

4. Tidy up the Installation

Once you have successfully installed osCommerce you must make sure you delete the "install" folder to prevent anyone overwriting your online store. You must also change the permissions for the "configure.php" file within the "includes" folder.

You will see an error message appear at the top of the page if the permissions are incorrect or the "install" folder still exists.

Finished!

That's it! You have successfully installed osCommerce onto your web space. Now you can start to configure the store by entering the administration area. You can access this by visiting the following URL in your web browser:

http://www.mydomain.com/catalog/admin

If you can, we recommend that you password protect this folder or rename it to a less obvious name to prevent unauthorised access.

Work your way through the admin sections amending the settings as you wish. If you're not sure what a setting is, refer to the documentation. Further help and support is available on the osCommerce website or in the documentation provided.

Further Information

Posted Aug 18, 2007 12:41 PM by Andy Crathorne | Permalink | Send to a Friend

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Comments (2)

Hazlami Nashuha wrote:
I've got a question.currently i'm using joomla as to develop my e-commerce website.how in any way can i change to do it using the oscommerce template?pls...
Posted on 20-Nov-07 at 4:42 am | Permalink

Mietshop wrote:
Very helpful, thank you.
The shopsystem runs perfectly.
Posted on 20-Feb-08 at 6:49 pm | Permalink

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