Installing vBulletin

Let's now look at how to install vBulletin. The process is pretty straightforward and installation should only take you about an hour the first time you do it. (Once you get used to it, it's an easy job, one that you can accomplish in a few minutes.)

Tip

Make sure you have your customer number handy!

You will need this number to carry out the installation of vBulletin, so make sure you have it handy. (You should have been sent this when you purchased vBulletin.) You won't be able to proceed with the installation without it.

Let's begin by looking at the tools you will need to install vBulletin.

Tools

There are a few tools that you need to have, but these you should be able to pick up for free.

• Unzip tools: You will need one of these to expand the vBulletin installation files. You can choose to download a .zip zipped version or a .tar.gz tarball version of the vBulletin installation files. If you choose the zipped archive, you can download the Free Zip Wizard from http://www.coffeecup.com.
• Text editor: You will need one of these to make changes to some key vBulletin files. Windows WordPad, among others, is ideal for this. Be careful not to use a word processor (such as Word or Open Office), because these applications might try to reformat the code files and damage them. For power editing of text files (something that you will undoubtedly be doing if you plan on making modifications to your vBulletin board), we recommend the commercial editor UltraEdit, available from http://www.ultraedit.com.
• FTP program: To upload the vBulletin files, we will be using WS-FTP, but there are many other good (and free) FTP programs available. A good one is CoffeeCup Free FTP available from http://www.coffeecup.com.

Tip

Notepad problems

Oddly enough, Windows Notepad is not recommended for editing vBulletin files because it has difficulties handling line breaks in some files and can cause significant text corruption.

Notepad problems

This is all you need to get started.

Downloading the Installation Files

When you purchased vBulletin, you will have received an email giving you details of how to log into the member area on the vBulletin website. In this password protected area on the vBulletin site you will find your license details along with the latest vBulletin download files.

Follow the instructions on the site to download the latest version of vBulletin to your computer.

File Extraction

Using a suitable unzip tool, extract these files into a working folder on your system—your desktop is convenient for uploading later. For simplicity, we've called the folder vb 3.0.6 because we will be installing version 3.5.2 (which, at the time of writing, isn't the latest version, but we will show you how to upgrade later).

Inside this working folder you'll find another folder. The name of this folder follows the following convention:

xxxxxxxx.yyy

Where xxxxxxxx is your license number for vBulletin and yyy indicates the version number, in this case 352.

Inside this folder are two more folders and a few files (a readme file and license agreements). It might sound like we're hammering home the folders here, but you don't want to upload the wrong files to the Web!

More folders!

There's a folder called upload and one called do_not_upload. The files you want to upload are in the folder called upload. The other folder contains tools that we don't need to worry about right now.

Upload Preparation

If you have chosen what to call the folder that you want to upload vBulletin to, you can rename the folder to that name now.

Renaming the upload folder

Tip

Root installation

If you are planning on installing vBulletin in the root of your website, then you don't need to do this—you will only need to upload the contents of the upload folder to the root directory of your website.

The next thing you need to do is to find a file called config.php.new that resides inside the includes folder inside the upload folder (the folder we just renamed vb). Rename this file config.php.

Renaming config.php.new as config.php

Before you upload the vBulletin files to the web server, you will need to make some changes to the vBulletin configuration file includes/config.php.

Tip

File paths

From now on we will define the names and locations of vBulletin files relative to the vBulletin root folder, so includes/config.php means config.php in the includes folder.

Open this file up in a text editor. (We are using UltraEdit.)

If you plan on keeping your installation of vBulletin as close to 'out of the box' as possible and don't plan on making many customizations, then editing the config.php file is one of the few times where you will need to edit raw PHP code. Don't worry if you are unfamiliar with PHP as this file is heavily commented in order to help you fill in the necessary information.

Of the many settings in this file, only the first few need concern you, and very little of the file needs to be edited in order to create a working vBulletin configuration file.

Creating the Database

Before you move to this stage, you need either to have a database already created on your web server or to create a new one. vBulletin can safely share a database with other software you might be running on your server, so if your host only allows you to have one database and you're already using that, you're still in luck!

Two of the easiest ways of creating a database are either via cPanel or using the command-line via SSH (Alternatively, you may be able to use Telnet access to your server—but not all hosts allow this.)

Command-Line Database Creation

If your web host allows you to have root access to your web server, you can set up a new database for vBulletin to use via the MySQL command line.

1. Begin by logging in to your server via SSH or Telnet as the root user (or some other user with permission to control MySQL at the root level). Not all web hosts allow this, so check before trying.
2. Next, you need to start the MySQL command-line utility. This is done by typing the following (although the path you use might differ; again, if your host allows you to have access like this, then they will be able to provide you with the necessary details):

   usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -uroot p

   You will now be asked for the MySQL root password (usually your web server logon password).

3. Once logged in you should see the following prompt:

   mysql>

4. To see the list of databases that already exist, type the following command:

   SHOW DATABASES;

5. If you want to add a new database then the name you give that one must be different from all existing databases.

   To create a database called vb_database type the following:

   CREATE DATABASE vb_database

6. Once you have created the database, you need to create a MySQL user account with permission to access the new database. Doing this is a security precaution as you should never have PHP scripts communicating to MySQL with root privileges. In this example, we will name our new user vb_user and give the account a password of password. Replace those values as appropriate when you type the following:

   GRANT ALL ON vb_database.* TO vb_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

7. Job done!

cPanel Database Creation

The interface you are presented with in cPanel will vary a lot from host to host, so the following should only be used as a guide.

1. First, click on the MySQL Databases icon.
2. From here you can create a new MySQL database. Here we are creating one called vb_database.
   

   Creating a new MySQL database

3. Next, you need to create a new user for the database and assign a password for them.
   

   Creating a new user

   Tip

   Prefixes

   Some hosts have configured cPanel and phpMyAdmin to add a prefix to the database name and username.

4. Now you have to add the user to the database so they can have access and control. Give the user ALL permission privileges. (Not doing this is a common source of errors when installing vBulletin.)
   

   User permissions

5. Job done!

Tip

Using phpMyAdmin

For information on using phpMyAdmin consult your web host or visit the phpMyAdmin site at http://www.phpmyadmin.net. Different hosts use different methods, but if the above methods don't seem to be available, then you can also create new databases through phpMyAdmin by accessing the main screen and clicking Create new database, and then filling in the name of the database, username, and password text boxes.

File Editing

You can now make the necessary changes to the config.php file.

The settings that need editing are (add the values into the '' after the equals sumbol on the appropriate lines):

• $config['MasterServer']['servername']—This sets the address of your database server. On most installations of vBulletin the database server is located on the same computer as the web server, in which case the address should be set to localhost. If this isn't the case, then you will need to use the address of the database server as supplied by your web host.
• $config['MasterServer']['username']—This is the username that was assigned to connect to the database on your web server. If you created a database yourself using phpMyAdmin, then use the username that you assigned there. Otherwise contact your web host. In our example this is vb_user.
• $config['MasterServer']['password']—This is the password that was assigned to connect to the database on your web server. In our example this is password.
• $config['Database']['dbname']—This is the name of the database that you want vBulletin to use. In our example this is vb_user.
• $config['Database']['technicalemail']—Here you need to enter an email address. All database error messages that are generated will be forwarded to this address.
• $config['Database']['tableprefix']—Here you need to enter a prefix for the tables that vBulletin will use. In our example this is vb.

Uploading the vBulletin Files

You are now ready to upload the files to the web server. Connect to your web server with your FTP program and upload the files and folders.

Tip

Images

Some of the screenshots that follow show an earlier version of vBulletin (for example, it might show 3.0.6 as a version number)—this is purely a cosmetic difference and can be ignored.

Uploading the vBulletin files

Most FTP client applications will handle the file transfers automatically, but if for some reason your application does not, you should make a note of the following:

• Transfer all text files in ASCII mode.

  All files containing plain text from the vBulletin installation package should be transferred in ASCII mode.

  Text file types you will find in vBulletin are: .html, .php, .js, .xml, and .css.

• Transfer all non-text files in Binary mode

  The remaining files, which are mostly images, should be transferred to your web server in Binary mode.

  Binary file types used in vBulletin include: .gif, .png, .jpg, and .ico.

Upload of the files will take several minutes, even with a fast connection.

Once all the files are uploaded, you are ready for the next stage of the installation.

Running the vBulletin Installation Script

Once all the vBulletin files have been successfully uploaded to your web server, you will need to run the vBulletin Installation Script in order to prepare your database to work with vBulletin.

The Installer runs as a PHP script using your web browser. To start the installation process, open your browser and type the http address of your forum's directory, followed by /install/install.php, then hit the Enter key to begin the running of the script. For example, http://www.example.com/vb/install/install.php.

Before you can continue with the installation, you need to enter your customer number. (You will have been provided with this when you purchased vBulletin.)

Running the Installation Script

After successfully entering your customer number, you are ready to proceed with the installation.

Installation continues

Step 1 of the installation only verifies that the configuration file is present and readable.

Configuration files OK

Step 2 connects the script to the database, which ensures that the username and password you enter is correct. At this stage you are also given the option to empty the database of any data. Here we are installing vBulletin into a database that contains the data for other applications running on the server, in which case we want to retain the information. Otherwise we could empty the database (but remember that this is one way and unrecoverable unless you have a backup).

Connecting to the database

In step 3 vBulletin creates the tables that it requires to function.

Creating database tables

If you want these tables to be distinguishable from other tables in your database, you can assign them a table prefix in the includes/config.php file. In this case we have chosen not to do this to keep things 'standard', but this doesn't conflict with either the Wordpress blog software or phpBB discussion board software that we have installed into the same database that vBulletin will be using. In fact, vBulletin is quite happy to share a database with other applications and doesn't, as some people think, require a database to itself. (However, as the bulletin board gets bigger and busier, a dedicated database may become desirable, and you will be able to see to this when the need arises.)

To ensure that you don't have conflicts if you are sharing a database, it isn't a bad idea to assign a table prefix.

Assigning a database table prefix

Step 4 makes some necessary table configurations.

Step 5 inserts default data into the tables. This data is used as the default settings for the vBulletin installation. At this stage you don't need to do anything—only click the buttons to proceed from one installation screen to the next!

Step 6 configures the language settings for the discussion forum.

Step 7 imports the necessary style information into the vBulletin installation.

Importing style information

Step 8 installs the admin help files for the discussion board.

Step 9 asks you for some basic information about the discussion board you are setting up—title, name, contact details, and so on. If you are only running the one discussion board on your web site, then you can also leave the Cookie Path as /. The Cookie Domain settings box allows you to change the scope of the cookies on your site—as a rule you can leave this blank. Installation of other cookie?dependent software might mean that you have to revisit these settings and make changes later.

Entering basic forum information

Step 10 confirms that the settings have been successfully stored.

Confirmations that the settings have been successfully saved

Step 11 asks you to enter the login details of the administrator of the forum. Make a careful note of these settings—you don't want to forget them!

Make sure that the password is a good one too. A poor password will mean that others might be able to guess it and gain access to the site. Make sure that the password is at least eight characters long and contains both upper and lower case characters and a few numbers thrown in for good measure.

Administrator login details

Step 12 confirms that the administrator details have been successfully saved.

Confirmation that the administrator details have been saved

Step 13 tells you to do something important—and that is to delete the install/install.php file from the web server. This is required because others could use it to alter your site or delete the data from the database.

Important security advice

Use your FTP application to delete the file. Once you have done this you can enter the control panel by clicking the link on the screen.

Deleting the install/install.php file