A copy of the UBB™ software zip file downloaded from the Member Area.

Unzipping software such as WinZip or Stuffit Expander available free for Macintosh, Windows, Linux and Solaris platforms. Note: Microsoft Windows XP includes the ability to read zip files without needing a third party program.

Access to your server either at the machine directly or via a remote connection method (such as FTP, SFTP, SCP).

A modern web browser such as Internet Explorer 6.0+, Netscape 7.0+, Firefox 1.5+, Knoqueror 3.5+ or Safari 1.0+.

A MySQL 4.0+ database accesible from your web server as well as the database username and password.

A PHP 4.3+ enabled website.

Use your unzipping tool to extract the software zip file to your computer.

Connect to the Server

Create Installation Directory

This is the directory within your web root from which your UBB™ installation files will run. Note that when choosing the placement of this directory on your web server, you are also determining the URL. We recommend using "ubbthreads" or "forums".

Transfer Files to Server

This can be done via FTP, SCP, SFTP, other remote connection method or directly from the machine itself if you have such access. Move all of the directories and files extracted from the software zip to the installation directory you created on your server.

Note: If you are uploading files via FTP, you may wish to upload scripts in ASCII (text) mode and images in Binary mode. While uploading in this fashion is not required, it can be helpful for troubleshooting, should you encounter problems in the future. To do this:

1. Change the transfer mode on your FTP program to upload in text or ASCII.
2. Upload all of the files and directories from the extracted software files into the installation directory except for the images directory and its contents.
3. Change the trafter mode on your FTP client to Binary and upload the images directory and its contents. You may not see a "Binary" mode option in your FTP program; you may just have a menu option to check and uncheck ASCII. To upload in Binary, uncheck ASCII.

Set File & Directory Permissions

Unix & Mac Servers:

You must set the following permissions on the UBB™ files and directories. You can use your FTP software to set these permissions. For exact information on setting permissions in your FTP client, see the documentation included with that program.

includes/ directory: set permissions to 0777

files within the includes/ directory: set permissions to 0666

sessions/ directory: set permissions to 0777

templates/compile directory: set permissions to 0777

templates/ directory: set permissions to 0777

cache/ directory: set permissions to 0777

cache_builders/ directory: set permissions to 0777

cache_builders/custom/ directory: set permissions to 0777

files within the cache_builders/custom/ directory: set permissions to 0666

styles/ directory: set permissions to 0777

files within the styles/ directory: set permissions to 0666

tmp/ directory: set permissions to 0777

gallery/ directory: set permissions to 0777

directories within the gallery/default directory: set permissions to 0777

Windows Servers:

Because permissions must be set on the machine itself, and cannot be set remotely via your FTP client, you will need to have access to the machine to set these permissions. If you do not have access to the machine, ask your host to make these changes. If you encounter permission-related problems during the installation process, use this list as a reference to set permissions for the IUSR_ account.

includes/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

files within the includes/ directory: read and write permissions

sessions/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

templates/compile directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

templates/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

cache/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

cache_builders/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

cache_builders/custom/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

files within the cache_builders/custom/ directory: read and write permissions

styles/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

files within the styles/ directory: read and write permissions

gallery/ directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

directories within the gallery/default directory: read, write, execute and delete permissions

Browse to the install.php script found in your install/ directory. If you've uploaded the files to a directory called forums, the URL to the install.php script in your install/ directory would look like this:

http://www.yourdomain.com/forums/install/install.php

Check Permissions

In this step, the application checks the set permissions. If you've properly set the permissions as outlined above, each of the checks conducted by the installation script will result in a green "PASSED" message. If any of the directories or files do not have the proper permissions or do not exist, the installation will note this with a red "FAILED" message.

If you receive the "FAILED" message, reset the permissions of that item and click the "Try Again" button.

Once each of the checks results in the "PASSED" message, you can click the "Proceed to Next Step" button. You should not proceed to the next step until each of the files/directories listed result in the "PASSED" message.

Enter Database Information

In order for the UBB™ software to properly store your data, it must have access to your MySQL database. Entering your database information into this form allows the UBB&trade installation script to build the necessary database tables and stores the database information in the configuration files so that the application can write new data (posts, registrations, etc) to the database.

Enter your Database Server Name, Database Name, Database User and Database Password into the appropriate fields. If you do not have this information, you will need to contact your host or MySQL documentation.

By default, the Tablename Prefix used is "ubbt_". This prefix will precede the name of every table created by the UBB™ installation script. If you wish to use another prefix, change this value.

Verify that the information you've entered is correct and click "Check Database Settings".

If the installation script tells you that connecting to the database with the information provided has "FAILED", use the "Verify Settings" button to return to the form. Check your settings, contacting your host if necessary, and try again.

If the installation script tells you that connecting to the database with the information provided has "PASSED" you may then click the "Next Step" button to proceed.

Enter Paths and URLs

If PHP has been properly configured to provide this information, UBB™ will automatically detect the correct path & URL settings for this step, but please verify before continuing.

Verify that the field for "The Domain UBB will be run on" is correct. It should look like this:

http://www.yourdomain.com

Note: there should be no slash trailing the domain.

Verify that the field for "Base URL to the UBB Install" is correct. This should be the path to the installation relative to the URL. It should look like this:

/forums

Note: there should be no slash trailing the name of the directory.

Verify that the field for "Path to Your UBB Install" is correct. It might look like this:

/home/yourdomain/public_html/forums

Note: there should be no slash trailing the name of the last directory.

If you are running multiple installations of the UBB™ software on this domain, you can also choose to use a custom cookie prefix to avoid cookie problems. If you wish to do this, enter a prefix into the "Custom Cookie Prefix" field here.

If the installation script tells you that the information provided has "FAILED", use the "Verify Settings" button to return to the form. Check your settings, contacting your host if necessary, and try again.

If the installation script tells you the information provided has "PASSED" you may then click the "Next Step" button to proceed.

Create the Admin User

If you are importing another forum into this installation then you may skip this step. You will use your old Administrator username and password.

The user you create during this step will be the primary administrator of the board. Enter the preferred Username (the name used for logging in), Display Name (the name displayed with your posts on the community), Email Address and Password into the corresponding fields and click "Submit Admin User Info".

Create the Database Tables

Once you have created your admin user, the installation procedure will take you through the automatic building of the database tables.

Delete the Install Files

Delete the install/ directory from the server. Note: you should not continue until you have deleted this directory. Leaving these files on the server could cause problems at a later time.