b. Installing Drupal

Pre-installation software checklist

Drupal requires the following to be set-up and running prior to beginning your installation:

• Apache web server.
• MySQL 5.0.15 or higher with PDO, PostgreSQL 8.3 or higher with PDO, SQLite 3.3.7 or higher
• PHP 5.2.5 or higher (5.3 recommended for use with Islandora) (http://www.php.net/).

Installation Steps

These are the quick “get-up-and-running” installation steps for Drupal, targeted at an audience comfortable using a command line interface. A more comprehensive installation guide is available from Drupal.org.

Download and place drupal files

1. Change directory ("cd") to the location where you wish to install Drupal. For example, a very common Apache web directory is "/var/www/"

   $ cd /var/www/

2. Obtain the latest Drupal release and extract the contents of the compressed file.

   $ wget http://ftp.drupal.org/files/projects/drupal-x.x.tar.gz
   $ tar -xzvf drupal-x.x.tar.gz

   Remember: the "x.x" is in reference to whatever Drupal version you would download. This version of Islandora is currently only compatible with Drupal 7.x.

   If you're intending to use a version of Islandora other than 7.x, please reference previously documentation that can be found here.

3. Move the contents of  the drupal-x.x directory into a directory within your web server's document root or public HTML directory (ensure that the .htaccess file, a hidden file, is successfully moved into the destination directory as well).

   $ mv -v drupal-x.x public_html/your_drupal_directory

   Please note:

   • Your Apache config will need to so reflect the path to your Islandora install. Apache site/virtual host configuration files are ideal.

Configuring the Drupal install

1. Make a copy of the default.settings.php file in the sites/default directory and name the copy settings.php.

   $ cp sites/default/default.settings.php sites/default/settings.php

2. Give the web server write privileges to sites/default/settings.php and the sites/default/directory:

   $ chmod a+w sites/default/settings.php
   $ chmod a+w sites/default

3. Create a database for Drupal. Make note of your username and password as you will need it when the Drupal install script runs.

   $ mysql -u [your-mysql-user]
   mysql> create database [drupaldatabase];
   mysql> GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX, ALTER, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES ON [drupaldatabase].* TO '[drupaldatabaseuser]'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '[password]'; 
    
   mysql> flush privileges;
   mysql> exit

4. Run the install script by pointing your browser to the base URL of your website (e.g. http://www.example.com/).
5. Work through the on-screen steps to complete the Drupal site installation.
6. When the install script succeeds, you will be directed to the "Welcome" page, and you will be logged in as the administrator.

7. Proceed with the initial configuration steps suggested on the "Welcome" page.

   Extra Apache configuration options

   If you plan on uploading large files via Islandora you may want to increase the maximum file size settings in Drupal.
   You can do this by creating a custom INI file in "/etc/php5.d/conf.d" with the following settings:

   upload_max_filesize = 2048M
   post_max_size = 2048M
   memory_limit = 256M

   You must then restart Apache using one of the following commands:

   /etc/init.d/apache reload

   OR

   /etc/init.d/httpd restart

For a good introduction to Drupal and to learn how to harness its power and potential to create a site that meets your needs, access Drupal’s extensive online documentation. Drupal’s active open source community is another valuable source of information.