Symfony Part 1: Configuration

How to install Apache, PHP5 and Symfony on Ubuntu 10

16/02/2011 11 Comments

To install Symfony framework, first of all you’ll need to install and configure Apache + PHP5. Here’s how you can do it on Ubuntu. I’m using Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.

Installing Apache and PHP5 on Ubuntu

Just open your terminal and enter the following commands:

sudo apt-get install apache2
sudo apt-get install php5
sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5

Testing the environment

Now let’s see if our environment fits all Symfony’s requirements. Download http://sf-to.org/1.4/check.php and run it in your terminal:

php check_configuration.php

You’ll probably find some errors. Let’s fix them!

Fixing the problems

ERROR:
[[WARNING]] PDO has some drivers installed: : FAILED *** Install PDO drivers (mandatory for Propel and Doctrine) ***
SOLUTION:
You need to enable the MySQL driver of PDO. Just enter the following command on Ubuntu’s terminal:

sudo apt-get install php5-mysql

ERROR:
[[WARNING]] XSL module is installed: FAILED*** Install the XSL module (recommended for Propel) ***
SOLUTION:
You need to install the XSL module for Apache and PHP5. Enter the following command on the terminal:

sudo apt-get install libapache2-modxslt php5-xsl

Then, let’s restart Apache. Enter the following command on the terminal:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

ERROR:
[[WARNING]] php.ini has short_open_tag set to off: FAILED            *** Set it to off in php.ini ***
SOLUTION:
You need to tell PHP to accept open tags like <? instead of <?php. You have to edit the php.ini file. I’d rather use nano than vi to edit text files on Ubuntu, so enter the following command on the terminal:

sudo nano /etc/php5/cli/php.ini

Then change the following line:

short_open_tag = On

to

short_open_tag = Off

Press ctrl+X to exit and press Y to save your file.
Run another time the configuration checking file (php check_configuration.php). The only error you should find is: A PHP accelerator is installed: FAILED. All the other options must be OK. Let’s now install Symfony.

Installing Symfony on Ubuntu

Let’s install Symfony using PEAR - PHP Extension and Application Repository. First of all, let’s install PEAR:

sudo apt-get install php-pear

And then let’s install Symfony:

sudo pear channel-discover pear.symfony-project.com

sudo pear install symfony/symfony

If everything goes fine, you’ll receive this message:

install ok: channel://pear.symfony-project.com/symfony-1.2.9

Victory !