How to install ExpressionEngine

This article describes how to manually install ExpressionEngine on your A2 Hosting account. ExpressionEngine is a full-featured web publishing platform and content management system.

Installing ExpressionEngine

ExpressionEngine is compatible with all A2 Hosting accounts. However, you must install it manually.

To install ExpressionEngine, follow these steps:

1. Sign up for an account at http://ellislab.com. After you create an account, you can download a free version of ExpressionEngine, or you can pay for the full version to access all of the features.
2. Download the .zip file to your local computer, and then extract its contents.
3. Use FTP to upload the contents of the extracted .zip file to the public_html directory of your A2 Hosting account.
   Alternatively, you can upload the contents of the extracted .zip file to a subdirectory on your account.
4. Use cPanel to create a MySQL database and database user for ExpressionEngine. You will need this information during the web configuration process.
   For information about how to create a MySQL database and user, please see this article.
5. Log in to your account using SSH.
   For information about how to access your account using SSH, please see this article.
6. To set the correct file permissions for the ExpressionEngine files, type the following commands at the command prompt:

   cd ~/public_html
   find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
   find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

   If you uploaded the ExpressionEngine files to a subdirectory, change to that directory instead before you change the permissions.
7. Use your web browser to go to the ExpressionEngine installation URL, which is your domain name followed by admin.php (for example, http://www.example.com/admin.php). The ExpressionEngine Installation and Update Wizard page appears.
8. Click Click here to begin! The pre-installation tests should complete successfully.
9. Click Click here to install a brand new copy of ExpressionEngine.
10. Review the license agreement, click I agree to abide by the license Terms and Conditions, and then click Submit.
11. Under Server Settings, review the default index page and URL settings. You can change these settings if you want.
12. In the Email address of webmaster text box, type the e-mail address of your site's webmaster.
13. Under Database Settings, confirm that the SQL Server Address value is set to localhost.

14. In the SQL Username text box, type the name of the database user you created in step 4.
    

    Remember that the database username begins with your username. For example, if you create a database user named eeuser, the full database username is username_eeuser, where username represents your account username.
15. In the SQL Password text box, type the password for the database user you created in step 4.

16. In the SQL Database Name text box, type the name of the database you created in step 4.
    

    Remember that the database name begins with your username. For example, if you create a database named ee, the full database name is username_ee, where username represents your account username.
17. Confirm that the SQL Database Prefix value is set to exp, and that the database connection is set to Non-persistent.
18. Under Create Your Admin Account, in the Username text box, type a username for the administrator.
19. In the Password and Password confirmation text boxes, type a password for the administrator.
20. In the Email text box, type the administrator's e-mail address.
21. In the Screen Name text box, type the name you want to appear on channel entries and posts.

22. In the Name of your site text box, type a name for your web site.
    

    By default, the site name appears in the title bar of users' web browsers when they visit your site.

23. Under Choose your Site Theme, select one of the following:
    

    • If you want to build your site from scratch without any sample templates or data installed, select None - Empty Installation.
    • If you want to install sample templates and data, select Agile Records.
24. Under Optional Modules, select the modules that you want to install.
25. Under Localization Settings, select the time zone for your location.

26. Click Install ExpressionEngine Core! When the installation finishes, you receive a ExpressionEngine has been successfully installed! message.
    

    For easy access later, bookmark the links to your ExpressionEngine control panel and web site that are displayed on this page.

27. To log in, you must delete the installation directory first. To do this, in your SSH connection window, type the following commands at the command prompt:
    

    cd ~/public_html/system
    rm -rf installer
    

28. Use your web browser to go to the control panel bookmark you saved in step 26.
29. To log in, use the username and password you specified in steps 18 to 19. You can now start configuring your ExpressionEngine site.

More Information

• For general information about ExpressionEngine, please visit https://expressionengine.com/
• To view the ExpressionEngine online documentation, please visit https://docs.expressionengine.com/latest/