Install activeCollab on Windows Server 2008 with IIS7

In this tutorial we will describe how to install activeCollab on Windows Server 2008 with Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 from a fresh operating system installation. We will start with the installation of the PHP server; then configuration of IIS 7; move on to the installation and configuration of the MySQL server; and finish with the installation of activeCollab on a new website.

After you complete the Windows Server 2008 installation, you need to login as an administrator and install the latest version of Microsoft Web Platform Installer. In this tutorial we will use the third version of this.

Once you install MS Web Platform run it and install these components:

• Latest PHP version (in this case, 5.3.5);
• Fast CGI;
• Static content;
• URL Rewrite.

Next you will need to download the latest MySQL 5 version, available from this page.

Once you've downloaded it, you should then complete the following installation and configuration process:

• Install MySQL Server;

• After installation is complete, run the configuration of MySQL. Choose the Detailed Configuration and click Next;

• Now select Server Machine because you will host both the activeCollab site and database server on this computer. If you are installing activeCollab for developing purposes then you should choose Developer Machine. If you only intend to host your database server and nothing else, then please choose the third option;

• You will need Multifunctional Database to run activeCollab;

• Here you can choose the folder where MySQL will physically store the databases. If you enter nothing, it will assume the default folder;

• Here you can choose how many concurrent connections you want to enable. We recommend the second value;

• Here you can choose Windows options for MySQL. Please set them as shown below;

• In this last step you will need to insert a password for the root user. Please make a note of this password as you will need it later.

This concludes the installation and configuration of the MySQL server.

First you need to download and install MySQL Workbench which will give you a GUI interface to work with the MySQL server. After opening it, double click on the My SQL server in the right box. You will need to provide the password for the root user that you set earlier:

Now we will create a new user for activeCollab. Click the Add Account button and insert the required information (we have chosen activeCollab for the login name). Please save these details as you will need them when installing activeCollab (please note that they are case sensitive).

After creating a new user, set Administrative roles as shown in the image below:

Now close the tab and open a connection from the left box. You will again be asked to provide the root user's credentials.

Once you open the connection please execute this query to create the database:

CREATE DATABASE database_for_activecollab DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci

where "database_for_activecollab" is the name of your database for activeCollab:

You have now successfully created a new user and new database for activeCollab. Please proceed to the next step!

In this step we will prepare IIS 7, deploy activeCollab files and set-up folder permissions.

First open IIS Manager and find your websites. If you have previously added some other sites, you can add activeCollab to them. Otherwise add activeCollab to the Default Web Site. Right-click on the website and choose Add Virtual Directory. Choose the virtual directory name (alias) and physical folder which will hold your activeCollab files.

Now go to your profile page on www.activeCollab.com and download the activeCollab installation files and your licence.php file also (which you will need to install activeCollab). Once downloded, open the archive file and extract the content of the for-upload folder to the physical path of the Virtual Directory you created earlier. Now go to the IIS Manager and refresh the Virtual Directory. Click the content view, and you should now see the activeCollab installation files:

Now we need to change the permissions of these folders to make them writable. In order to change the permission of the folder right-click on it and choose the Edit permissions option. Now navigate to your IIS user and change the permission for him to be able to write in the folder.

Now you server is prepared, you can proceed to the final step and install activeCollab!

You now need to navigate to the activeCollab installation page, which you should find here: http://your-domain-name/your-alias/public/installer/

If you have set-up everything correctly, you should see the installation pass error-free. Fill-in the form with the necessary data (also upload the licence.php file you downloaded from activecollab.com) and click Install.

The database parameters you need are:

• hostname - the name of your server;
• username - username of the user created above;
• password - password of the user created above;
• database - name of the database created above.

If the installation was successful you will see a message confirming it. All you need to do now is go to the folder which contains your activeCollab files and delete the public/installer folder.

You can find a more detailed tutorial about your activeCollab installation on this page.