How to install Contao

First of all, download the latest Contao archive and extract it on your local computer. Move the files into the htdocs folder of your local XAMPP installation or upload them to your server with an FTP program (we recommend using WinSCP). Depending on your server configuration, the public folder is most likely called htdocs, httpdocs, html or public_html.

If you have SSH access, you can download and extract the archive with the following commands:

wget https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/contao/2.10/contao-2.10.4.tar.gz?download
tar -xzf contao-2.10.4.tar.gz

Now your Contao root directory should look like this:

The Contao install tool ¶

To open the Contao install tool, simply add /contao/install.php to the URL of your Contao installation. The default password is contao. Note that the install tool is protected against brute force attacks and will be locked if a wrong password has been entered three times in a row. To remove the lock, open file system/config/localconfig.php in a text editor, find the following line and set it to 0.

$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['installCount'] = 0; // This will remove the automatic lock

Note: In versions prior to 2.9, the path to the install tool is /typolight/install.php and the default password is typolight.

Creating an encryption key

The encryption key is required to store encrypted data. Once encrypted, the data can only be restored with this key, so make sure to remember it if you are using the feature (encryption is currently not used by the Contao core modules).

Connecting to the database

Log into your server administration panel (e.g. Plesk or Cpanel) and create a new database for Contao. Then enter the login credentials in the Contao install tool. Note that the Contao default character set UTF-8 is written as UTF8 in MySQL!

Updating database tables

Once you are connected to the database, Contao automatically checks its tables and displays a list of recommended changes in case they are not up to date. Make sure to read those recommendations carefully, because Contao only knows its own tables and will try to remove those of other applications eventually sharing the database. Confirm the changes and click the Update database button.

Importing a template

A template is a preconfigured website that includes an example site structure and several style sheets to format the Contao core modules and content elements. The default template is called "Music Academy". To import it, choose example_website.sql from the drop-down menu an click the Import template button. If you have bought a commercial front end template, choose the respective file name here. Note that any existing data will be overriden during the template import!

Creating an admin user

If you did not import a template, you have to create an admin user to log into the Contao back end. After you have created the account, the installation process is completed. The link in the lower right corner takes you to the administration area. If you did import the example website, you can login as user k.jones with password kevinjones.

Using search engine friendly URLs ¶

If you are running an Apache server and are allowed to use mod_rewrite, you can make Contao generate search engine friendly URLs that look like static HTML documents. A set of default rewrite rules is stored in the .htaccess.default file in the Contao directory. Rename this file to .htacess so the Apache server can handle it and then log into the back end and edit the system settings. Select "Rewrite URLs" in the "Front end configuration" section and save your changes. Now Contao generates static URLs like home.html instead of index.php?id=12.

Using mod_rewrite and the default rewrite rules in the .htaccess.default file does not only enable static URLs, it also blocks some annoying malicious requests and dispatches a GZip-compressed version of the big JavaScript files like MooTools. Therefore use the .htaccess file if you can!