Franske ITC-2480 Lab 6

Introduction

In this lab you will try installing typical website software on your server including a forum and blog software and play with basis PHP web scripting. In all of these cases you should download the latest stable .tar.gz version of the software from the website and install it following the official documentation. DO NOT install pre-built Debian packages, this is not allowed and will not prepare you properly for installing this type of software in many web hosting environments.

These same instructions apply if you are completing this lab using the VirtualBox virtual machine software or if you are connected to a machine running remotely on the VMware platform. If you are completing this on campus remember to switch your network connection to the SafeConnect-free ITCnet.

Lab Procedure

Prerequisites

1. Open an SSH console to your Linux system using the PuTTY software, login with your standard user account
2. Use FileZilla to transfer files to your system using SCP/SFTP if needed
3. Make sure the php5-mysql package is installed on your system. If you followed the old version of lab 5 that was omitted. If you have not installed the php5-mysql package yet you will need to do that before proceeding

Install Wordpress

1. Download the latest stable version of the Wordpress blogging software
2. Try following the official installation documentation to install the software. Your goal is to install the software in the /blog/ directory of your webserver so that you can visit your blog by going to http://example.com/blog/ where example.com is your IP address (we don't have DNS setup)
   • HINT: You can use either the mysql command line client or the Webmin interface to do the database setup
3. Once the software is installed make sure that you can successfully log in to the Wordpress web interface and add a few blog posts

Install MyBB

1. Download and install the latest stable version of the MyBB forum software following the instructions in their documentation. Your goal is to install the software in the /forum/ directory of your webserver so that you can visit your forum by going to http://example.com/forum/ where example.com is your IP address (we don't have DNS setup)
2. Make sure that you can create forums, users, and posts once you have installed the software.

Install One Additional PHP Application

1. Select One Additional PHP Application from the list below and install it following the official documentation:
   • OpenCart - Web Store System
   • MediaWiki - Wiki System
   • Joomla! - Content Management System
   • OwnCloud - File Management like Google Drive
   • Piwigo - Image Gallery
   • Status.net - Microblogging like Twitter
   • Other PHP applications may be approved by your instructor
2. After completing the installation make sure the software works as it should

Experiment With PHP

1. Take a look at the simple RSS reader on the w3schools site
2. See if you can get the RSS reader working on your own server
3. Try changing one or both of the RSS feeds from Google and MSNBC to feed(s) of your choice
4. Try modifying the code to include more than two RSS feeds

Update Your Main Page

1. Put links on your main INDEX page to everything you have done (your blog, forums, additional PHP software, and RSS reader experimental page)