How to install Joomla with Softaculous

Joomla Installation

The easiest way to install Joomla is to use Softaculous script installer, available in cPanel account. It is possible to create new installation in the following way:

1. Log into your cPanel account

2. Click on Softaculous under Software/Services section

3. Find Joomla script and click on Install button.

4. You will need to indicate the following information in the next window:

• Choose the version you want to install – here you can choose from available versions of Joomla to install on your web-site (It is recommended to use the latest version available).

• Choose Domain – indicate the domain name you wish to install Joomla for.

• In Directory – in this field you will need to specify the directory name you wish to install Joomla to. It is not necessarily to create the folder in advance since it will be created automatically during the installation.

Note: By default Joomla will be installed to yourdomain.com/joomla16. If you wish your website to go directly to yourdomain.com, then leave this field Empty.

• Database Name – choose the name of the database to be created for the installation.

Note: It is important to take a note of the database name, since you may need it to make some manual corrections (e.g. reset the password, export the database etc.) Also please, note that all the settings for your Joomla installation will be kept in this database, so you can always check them in case of any issues.

• Admin Username – the username that will be used to access Joomla Administration Panel

• Admin Password – the password that will be used to access Joomla Administration Panel

• Admin Email – The email address to which the CRON activities and other admin related emails will be sent to.

Note: It is recommended to use permanent email address you check regularly, in order not to miss important notifications.

5. After you have finished filling in, click on Install button to proceed with installation. After the installation is finished, you will get the following window, where the links to your Joomla website and Joomla Administration Panelare indicated:

To access Joomla Administration Panel, simply click on the Administrative link.
Use the login details that you have chosen during the installation process.

Now you can add new posts, pictures and other media content, change your website themes and edit your website directly from Joomla Administration Panel.

How to create backup of Joomla website using Softaculous

Softaculous also allows to easily create a backup of Joomla website and restore it.

To create your Joomla website backup you will need to do the following:

1. Login to your cPanelaccount and open Softaculous script installer

2. Click on the Box icon at the top-right corner of the window, to see all the scripts installed.

3. Choose the Joomla installation to create backup of and click on the corresponding icon.

4. Make sure both Backup Directory and Backup Database check boxes are ticked off and click on Backup Installation button.

5. After the backup creation is completed, proceed to the Backups menu:

6. Once there, click on the corresponding icon to download the Joomla website backup to your local machine. In this case the downloaded file is named: joomla16.18_64259.2013-03-16_17-24-31.tar.gz where 18_64259 is installation ID.

Note: make sure to save the installation ID, since you will need it during the restoration process.

7. You will also have to download the backup information file which is located in your home directory at the following path: /home/USERNAME/.softaculous/backups/.

Download the file name corresponding to your backup. In this case it is joomla16.18_64259.2013-03-16_17-24-31
This file is important for backup restoration, so make sure to keep it with the backup file.

How to restore a backup of Joomla website using Softaculous

In order to restore the Joomla backup on your new server, you will need to do the following:

1. Log in to cPanel and make a dummy installation of Joomla using Softaculous

Note: make sure to indicate the same Directory name and Database name you had for your old Joomla installation.

2. When finished, navigate to All Installations menu, choose the installation and click on the Backup icon.

3. Check the installation Number of new Joomla and make a note of it.

4. Now you will need to replace old installation ID with new one in the backup *tar.gz name and backup information file name that you have downloaded to your local computer.

For example (old file >> new file):

joomla16.18_64259.2013-03-16_17-24-31.tar.gz>> joomla16.18_41926.2013-03-16_17-24-31.tar.gz

joomla16.18_64259.2013-03-16_17-24-31>>joomla16.18_41926.2013-03-16_17-24-31

5. Upload the backup*tar.gz file to your new server to the following path (can be done with File Manager or via FTP): /home/USERNAME/softaculous_backups/

6. Also upload the backup information file to the following path/home/USERNAME/.softaculous/backups/

7. When finished, navigate to Softaculous >> Backups and Restore icon at the right-top of the window.

8. You can see the installation with the new installation ID. Just Restore that installation as shown on the screenshot below and your old installation is restored and is ready to be used.