Now, when SilverStripe v3.1 Stable is released we can go through the installation steps for this free CMS published under MIT licence, which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications.

This installation tutorial is based on SilverStripe v3.1 Stable but the steps are general and valid for the entire SilverStripe 3 series. However, if something is drastically changed in near future we’ll update the tutorial accordingly.

SilverStripe requirements

PHP

- PHP 5.3.2+

- We recommend using a PHP accelerator or opcode cache, such as xcache or WinCache.

- Allocate at least 48MB of memory to each PHP process. (SilverStripe can be resource hungry for some intensive operations.)

- Required modules: dom, gd2, hash, iconv, mbstring, mysql (or other database driver), session, simplexml, tokenizer, xml.

- Recommended configuration:

safe_mode = Off

magic_quotes_gpc = Off

memory_limit = 48M

Databases

- MySQL 5.0+

- PostgreSQL 8.3+ (requires “postgresql” module)

- SQL Server 2008. (requires “mssql” module)

- Support for Oracle and SQLite is not commercially supported, but is under development by the open source community.

Web server

- Apache 1.3+ with mod_rewrite and “AllowOverride All” set

- IIS 5.x+ (Version 7.5+ and URL Rewrite Module recommended)

- Support for Lighttpd and other webservers may work if you are familiar with configuring those products.

- We recommend enabling content compression (for example with mod_deflate) to speed up the delivery of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Things to know and to do before installing SilverStripe

There are some thing you need to have prepared before you begin the install:

- access to your web server (via shell or FTP)

- an FTP Client (e.g. Filezilla)

- a web browser

Begin your installation by:

- ensure that the minimum requirements are satisfied

- download SilverStripe from http://www.silverstripe.org/stable-download/

- unzip the downloaded file to a folder on your hard drive.

Installing SilverStripe

1) Download and extract

After checking that your environment satisfies the requirements, the next step is to download SilverStripe from http://www.silverstripe.org/stable-download/

Extract the compressed files, and you’ll get a folder called SilverStripe-cms-v3.1.0.

2) Create the database and user

SilverStripe CMS requires a database and properly assigned user with valid permissions for installation so you need to create them.

Note: Take note of your database name, username, and password. You will need these information later during the installation process.

3) Upload the files

The next step is to upload the extracted files and folders to your web server using a FTP client. After the folders and files are uploaded we’re ready for the installation.

4) Run the installation wizard

Point a web browser to start the installation script at the address where you’ve transferred installation files. The installation wizard will appear.

5) Configuration

On the configuration window you need to:

- enter database servername, database credentials and a database name itself.

- enter email and password for CMS admin’s account

- select default theme or empty template

- press the “Install SilverStripe CMS’ button

Note: If your environment doesn’t pass warning or/and errors will be marked in red as it’s displayed below.

6) Finishing the installation

The next screen will appear informing you about the progress.

If everything has passed without any issues, the final screen will inform you that SilverStripe has been successfully installed and you’re free to login to admin panel or to visit the front-page.

Note: You should remove the install files for security reasons. Click the link on the final window to delete the install files.

Your SilverStripe website is up and running. Congratulations!