Otherwise, here are some key steps to watch out for:
Hey, it’s his software, so why not? For the official Akeeba documentation for this part, check out this page. I say “similar” because Nicholas decided at some point to only use his version of the Joomla installer.
Follow the instructionsįrom here on out, the installation is pretty straightforward, and is similar to the first time you installed Joomla, assuming you did install Joomla the “real” way and didn’t use a one-step installation like Fantastico. If you get an error message right away, you may find this documentation to be helpful. Click on kickstart.php and the installation begins.
Either way you should then see a directory listing that will include your archive file and kickstart.php. On the web, type in the URL of the website-to-be. On your local machine, that should be localhost/. Using a web browser, navigate to wherever the archive file and kickstart.php are waiting.
If you’re on a web host, go to your cPanel (or otherwise) and create a MySQL database, a database user, add the user to the database with full privileges, and make a note of the database name, user name, and user password. If you’re using XAMPP on a local machine, creating the database happens during the install process, at least in my experience. Either finish the process now, or don’t put the files there in the first place. NOTE: Don’t leave these two files in this directory on a live web server. After downloading, extract the file and move or FTP kickstart.php into the same directory that your archive file is in.
You can download the latest version of kickstart from Akeeba on this page. Kickstart.php is a small file that, well, kickstarts the Joomla installer into motion, more or less. If the website’s new home is an Internet server, it will more than likely be the “root” directory (public_html, Don’t forget to bring kickstart.php (If that warning message about downloading through your browser bothers you, fire up Filezilla and FTP the archive file to your computer instead.) Move the file to its new home So install Akeeba, click “Backup Now,” then click on “Administer Backup Files.” Find the file you just made, which should be at the top of the list, click on the file name in the “Manage & Download” column on the far right, and click “OK” when it asks if you want to continue. With this file in hand, you can re-create your website wherever you need to, within reason.
The main point of Akeeba, really, is to create an archive (compressed) file that contains your entire website, its database, and the Joomla software. If you’re not, or your situation is unique for some other reason, you can post your question here, but I may end up referring you to the Akeeba documentation or to their support forums. These are the fundamental steps involved, and they should apply to the majority of situations, especially if you’re using a good hosting provider such as Rochen, the undisputed kings of hosting, IMO. And that’s the goal for this blog post: keep it short, sweet, and simple as possible. One of the more confusing parts of the process is restoring a site from the archive file that Akeeba creates for you, though once you grasp the basic concept the pieces tend to fall into place and it almost becomes second nature. And that’s the problem in today’s world – we often don’t want to read through that much documentation, even if it is good for us. The documentation available on their website is incredibly thorough, and if you run into a problem using Akeeba the answer you’re looking for is in there. Many people, myself included, start building a Joomla website on their local machine and then towards the end of development move the website to a website hosting provider.Īkeeba Backup works, and works very well, but using it can be confusing at times. Not only is it a vital part of your website security strategy in the event that you need to quickly restore a hacked or otherwise broken website, it’s useful for more utilitarian purposes such as moving a Joomla website from one server to another. Akeeba Backup is one of, if not THE, absolute must-have components for a Joomla website.