Installation quick reference (tutorial)

To set permissions before you install the Magento software:

1. Log in to your Magento server.

2. Use a file manager application provided by your shared hosting provider to verify write permissions are set on the following directories:

   • vendor (Composer or compressed archive installation)
   • app/etc
   • pub/static
   • var
   • generated
   • Any other static resources

3. If you have command-line access, enter the following commands in the order shown:

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   cd <magento_root>
   

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   find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type f -exec chmod u+w {} +
   

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   find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type d -exec chmod u+w {} +
   

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   chmod u+x bin/magento
   

To optionally enter all commands on one line, enter the following assuming Magento is installed in /var/www/html/magento2:

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cd /var/www/html/magento2 && find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type f -exec chmod u+w {} + && find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type d -exec chmod u+w {} + && chmod u+x bin/magento

1. If you haven’t done so already, get the Magento software in one of the following ways:

   • Compressed archive
   • Composer metapackage
   • Clone the repository (contributing developers only)

2. After you have set file system ownership and permissions, continue with any of the following:

   • Command-line installation
   • Setup Wizard installation

To further restrict permissions after installing the Magento software, you configure a Magento umask.

Complete the following tasks in the order shown:

• About the shared group
• Step 1: Create the Magento file system owner and give the user a strong password
• Step 2: Find the web server group
• Step 3: Put the Magento file system owner in the web server’s group
• Step 4: Get the Magento software
• Step 5: Set ownership and permissions for the shared group

About the shared group

To enable the web server to write files and directories in the Magento file system but to also maintain ownership by the Magento file system owner, both users must be in the same group. This is necessary so both users can share access to Magento files (including files created using the Magento Admin or other web-based utilities).

This section discusses how to create a new Magento file system owner and put that user in the web server’s group. You can use an existing user account if you wish; we recommend the user have a strong password for security reasons.

Skip to step 2 if you plan on using an existing user account.

Step 1: Create the Magento file system owner and give the user a strong password

This section discusses how to create the Magento file system owner. (Magento file system owner is another term for the command-line user.)

To create a user on CentOS or Ubuntu, enter the following command as a user with root privileges:

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adduser <username>

To give the user a password, enter the following command as a user with root privileges:

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passwd <username>

Follow the prompts on your screen to create a password for the user.

If you don’t have root privileges on your Magento server, you can use another local user account. Make sure the user has a strong password and continue with Put the Magento file system owner in the web server group.

For example, to create a user named magento_user and give the user a password, enter:

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sudo adduser magento_user

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sudo passwd magento_user

Because the point of creating this user is to provide added security, make sure you create a strong password.

Step 2: Find the web server user’s group

To find the web server user’s group:

• CentOS:

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grep -E -i '^user|^group' /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

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or

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grep -Ei '^user|^group' /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Typically, the user and group name are both apache.

• Ubuntu: ps aux | grep apache to find the apache user, then groups <apache user> to find the group.

Typically, the username and the group name are both www-data.

Step 3: Put the Magento file system owner in the web server’s group

To put the Magento file system owner in the web server’s primary group (assuming the typical Apache group name for CentOS and Ubuntu), enter the following command as a user with root privileges:

• CentOS: usermod -a -G apache <username>
• Ubuntu: usermod -a -G www-data <username>

The -a -G options are important because they add apache or www-data as a secondary group to the user account, which preserves the user’s primary group. Adding a secondary group to a user account helps restrict file ownership and permissions to ensure members of a shared group only have access to certain files.

For example, to add the user magento_user to the apache primary group on CentOS:

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sudo usermod -a -G apache magento_user

To confirm your Magento user is a member of the web server group, enter the following command:

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groups magento_user

The following sample result shows the user’s primary (magento) and secondary (apache) groups.

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magento_user : magento_user apache

Typically, the username and primary group name are the same.

To complete the task, restart the web server:

• Ubuntu: service apache2 restart
• CentOS: service httpd restart

Step 4: Get the Magento software

If you haven’t done so already, get the Magento software in one of the following ways:

• Compressed archive
• Composer metapackage
• Clone the repository (contributing developers only)

Step 5: Set ownership and permissions for the shared group

To set ownership and permissions before you install the Magento software:

1. Log in to your Magento server as, or switch to, the Magento file system owner.
2. Enter the following commands in the order shown:

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cd <magento_root>

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find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type f -exec chmod g+w {} +

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find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type d -exec chmod g+ws {} +

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chown -R :<web server group> .

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chmod u+x bin/magento

To optionally enter all commands on one line, enter the following assuming Magento is installed in /var/www/html/magento2 and the web server group name is apache:

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cd /var/www/html/magento2 && find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type f -exec chmod g+w {} + && find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type d -exec chmod g+ws {} + && chown -R :apache . && chmod u+x bin/magento

In the event file system permissions are set improperly and can’t be changed by the Magento file system owner, you can enter the command as a user with root privileges:

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cd /var/www/html/magento2 && sudo find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type f -exec chmod g+w {} + && sudo find var generated vendor pub/static pub/media app/etc -type d -exec chmod g+ws {} + && sudo chown -R :apache . && sudo chmod u+x bin/magento

Next step

After you have set file system ownership and permissions, continue with any of the following:

• Command-line installation
• Setup Wizard installation

The following example shows how to install using the command line with the following options:

• The Magento software is installed in the /var/www/html/magento2 directory, which means your storefront URL is http://192.0.2.5/magento2/

• The database server is on the same host as the web server.

  The database name is magento, and the username and password are both magento

• Uses server rewrites

• The Magento administrator has the following properties:

  • First and last name are Magento User
  • Username is admin and the password is admin123
  • E-mail address is user@example.com
• Default language is en_US (U.S. English)
• Default currency is U.S. dollars

• Default time zone is U.S. Central (America/Chicago)

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   bin/magento setup:install --base-url=http://192.0.2.5/magento2/ \
   --db-host=localhost --db-name=magento --db-user=magento --db-password=magento \
   --admin-firstname=Magento --admin-lastname=User --admin-email=user@example.com \
   --admin-user=admin --admin-password=admin123 --language=en_US \
   --currency=USD --timezone=America/Chicago --use-rewrites=1
  

Optionally switch to developer mode.

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cd <magento_root>/bin

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php magento deploy:mode:set developer

The following example shows how to install using the Web Setup Wizard with the following options:

• The Magento software is installed in the magento2 directory relative to the web server docroot, which means your storefront URL is http://192.0.2.5/magento2/

• The database server is on the same host as the web server.

  The database name is magento, and the username and password are both magento

• The Magento administrator has the following properties:

  • Username is admin and the password is admin123
  • E-mail address is user@example.com
• Default language is en_US (U.S. English)
• Default currency is U.S. dollars
• Default time zone is U.S. Central (America/Chicago)

To run the Web Setup Wizard:

1. Enter the following URL in your browser’s address or location field:

   http://192.0.2.5/magento2/setup

2. At the welcome page, click Agree and Setup Magento.

   You must accept the license agreement to install the Magento software

3. Readiness Check verifies your system is ready to install the Magento software.

   Click Start Readiness Check

   

   • If the readiness check passes, click Next and continue with the next step.
   • If the readiness check fails, see [Readiness check issues][]
   • If the readiness check passes, click Next and continue with the next step.
   • If the readiness check fails, see Readiness check issues

4. Step 2: Add a Database enables you to set up your Magento database.

   

5. Web Configuration enables you to enter the storefront and Magento Admin URLs.

   

6. Customize Your Store enables you to enter a default store currency, time zone, and language.

   

7. Create Admin Account enables you to set up a Magento administrator. This user can perform all actions in the Magento Admin.

   

8. Install starts the installation when you click Install Now.

   You can optionally expand Console Log to see installation messages while the installation is in progress.