Installation Wizard – CodeIgniter

Introduction to CodeIgniter Installation

CodeIgniter is a popular PHP web framework that provides a simple and elegant solution for building web applications. One of the benefits of using CodeIgniter is that it comes with a built-in installer called the Installation Wizard, which makes it easy to set up a new project. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of using the Installation Wizard to install CodeIgniter.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

1. A web server (e.g., Apache or IIS) installed on your system.
2. PHP 5.6 or higher installed on your system.
3. A compatible database management system (e.g., MySQL or PostgreSQL) installed on your system.

Step 1: Download CodeIgniter

The first step is to download CodeIgniter from the official website. Visit the CodeIgniter website (https://www.codeigniter.com/) and click on the "Downloads" tab. Select the latest stable version of CodeIgniter and choose the "Full" package option. This will download a zip file containing the entire CodeIgniter framework.

Step 2: Extract the CodeIgniter Files

Once the zip file is downloaded, extract it to a directory on your system. For example, you can create a new directory called "codeigniter" and extract the files there. Make sure to extract the files to the directory, not just the zip file itself.

Step 3: Create a new MySQL Database

Create a new database in your MySQL database management system. You will need to create a new database and a username and password to access it. Make note of the database name, username, and password, as you will need them later in the installation process.

Step 4: Configure the Installation Wizard

Open the following file in a text editor: /path/to/codeigniter/application/config/database.php. Update the database configuration variables to match your MySQL database settings. Here's an example:

$db['default'] = array(
    'hostname' => 'localhost',
    'username' => 'your_username',
    'password' => 'your_password',
    'database' => 'your_database_name',
    'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
);

Make sure to replace the placeholders with your actual MySQL database settings.

Step 5: Launch the Installation Wizard

Open a web browser and navigate to the following URL: http://localhost/codeigniter/index.php/install. Replace localhost and codeigniter with your actual host and directory names.

The Installation Wizard will display a welcome screen. Click the "Next" button to proceed.

Step 6: Set the Database Settings

On the next screen, enter your MySQL database settings and click the "Next" button. Enter the following information:

• Database type: mysql
• Database hostname: Your MySQL hostname (e.g., localhost)
• Database username: Your MySQL username (e.g., your_username)
• Database password: Your MySQL password (e.g., your_password)
• Database name: The name of the database you created earlier (e.g., your_database_name)

Step 7: Set the Base URL

On the next screen, enter the base URL for your CodeIgniter application. The base URL is the URL that will be used to access your application. For example, if your application is located at http://localhost/codeigniter, enter the following URL: http://localhost/codeigniter/

Step 8: Finish the Installation

Click the "Install" button to complete the installation process. The installation wizard will create the necessary tables in your MySQL database and configure the CodeIgniter framework.

Step 9: Access Your New Application

Once the installation is complete, you can access your new CodeIgniter application by navigating to the base URL you entered earlier (e.g., http://localhost/codeigniter/). Congratulations, you have successfully installed CodeIgniter using the Installation Wizard!

I hope this tutorial has been helpful in setting up your new CodeIgniter project. With CodeIgniter, you can quickly build robust and scalable web applications. In the next tutorial, we will explore some of the basic features and concepts of the CodeIgniter framework.