**************************
* osCommRes Installation *
**************************

INTRODUCTION
============

As you have downloaded this package you seem to know already about osCommRes.
If you don't, visit http://www.oscommres.com where you can lots of useful
information.

This short guide lists the important steps to install this package.


IMPORTANT NOTE
==============

Before proceeding with an upgrade, ensure you have backed up your database
and application files and verified the data in your backup.

PRE-INSTALL STEPS
=================

The first thing you'll want to do is read through these instructions
completely, and use the osCommRes site to answer any questions you might have.
The site contains documentation for users of all levels, beginner to advanced;
a good place to get started for all new users of osCommRes would be browsing
the FAQ. 

osCommRes can be installed on any compatible web web server installed with PHP. 

osCommRes is not an application that is started by clicking on an executable
file, but an online solution requiring its files to be added to the web web
server. 

Go to www.oscommres.com to check you have the most recent application version.

Either extract the osCommRes download package locally and copy the files and
directories to the server via SFTP or FTP, or copy the downloaded package to
the server and extract it there. 

Please note: osCommRes recommends using a hosting provider that offers secure
methods to communicate with your server such as scp or its windows form WinSCP
and Putty for ssh. 

INSTALLATION TYPES
==================

SFTP or FTP Based Installation

Download the osCommRes release package. The file you'll be downloading is
approximately 4 MB in size. To download the most current version of osCommRes,
go to the Download page and click on the link to the latest build. You will
be redirected to Sourceforge who hosts the download files. Choose the filetype
.tar.gz for UNIX/Linux or .zip for windows; then choose a mirror
(download location) closest to you. You may also want to copy the downloaded
file to a backup medium (CD-ROM, ZIP disk, et al.) 
Extract the package to a temporary directory (See the Extraction Guide below) 
Connect to the web server with an SFTP or FTP client (scp on unix/linux or
WinSCP on windows) 

Copy the "osCommRes_v1_0_x" directory to the web web server document path

IRECT SERVER ACCESS BASED INSTALLATION
======================================

Save the osCommRes package on the server 
Extract the package to a temporary directory 
Copy the "osCommRes_v1_0_x" directory to the web server document path 

osCommRes Directory
The osCommRes directory is created by extracting the
osCommRes package.

Web Server Document Path
The web server document path is
the directory where the web server has been configured to look for the
HTML/PHP files to serve to the public. Example web server document paths are:

/home/peter/public_html/ 
/var/www/html/ 
/usr/local/htdocs/

If the osCommRes directory is kept and copied to, for example,
/home/your_name/public_html/osCommRes/, the web server public address would
 be www.yourserver.com/osCommRes/. 

Continuing with the example above, if the osCommRes installation is to be
created at the root path, for example www.yourserver.com, the files within
the osCommRes directory should be copied to /home/your_name/public_html/ 

PRE-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION
==============================

Username/password and database
If you use a hosting service to set up your webspace, they will likely have
provided a username and login for database access, which you will need. They
may have also created a database already for you to use with the username and
login provided. Otherwise, using phpMyAdmin or another tool, create your
database and user, and assign that user to the database. Keep a record of the
name of the database, login, and password for this database. Also note the
hostname of the server (i.e. www.yourserver.com). You will need these details
later in the installation. 

CHANGING FILE PERMISSIONS
=========================

The permission on the osCommRes/includes/configure.php file needs to be set to
777 by logging into your root server and running "chmod 777 configure.php". If
you do not have access to the root of your server you can use an sftp or ftp
program to navigate to that specific file, right-click on it, change its
attributes to 777 for read/write/execute access. If these permissions are not
set correctly an error will be displayed during a later part of the install. 

When this section has been completed, move on to the Online Install section. 

EXTRACTION GUIDE
================

UNIX/Linux

Download the tarball and extract the tarball (.tar.gz file) to a temporary
directory. "/tmp" is a good place for example. For the purpose of this example,
I will assume you have downloaded the tarball to your /tmp directory. 

Open a terminal, such as xterm, konsole or putty. To extract the tarball,
change to the /tmp directory: cd /tmp and extract the tarball: "tar -zxvf
[tarball name]". 

This should create a directory "osCommRes_v1_0_x". ("x" in this sense is a
suffix to version 1_0_x that will depend on the version you downloaded.) 

Change into this directory: cd osCommRes_v1_0_x. 

Windows

Download the zip file. It is compressed using ZIP compression, and you'll need a
utility like 7-zip in order to unpack the files. 

Note: It is NOT advisable to install over an existing osCommerce installation
unless you have completed and verified your application and database backups! 


When this section has been completed, move on to the Online Install section.


That's it :-)


WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?
=========================================

osCommRes is a powerful and complex professional application. When you start
out there will be many things you donīt understand, or that don't seem to
make sense. There is a mailing list (more information on
www.oscommres.com) where experienced users and developers are happy to help you.

They are willing to help, provided you followed these steps:

BEFORE you ask your question:

1 - Read all available documentation carefully

2 - Read all available documentation again

3 - Search the mailing list archive carefully

4 - If you still can't figure it out - ask the list...:

Go here to subscripe to the user-list:

http://www.oscommres.com/support/mailing-lists/

Please respect the mailing lists rules:

http://www.oscommres.com/support/mailing-lists/mailing-list-rules/

5 - If you have identified a genuine new bug, report it at
    https://www.oscommres.com/bugzilla/ ...do not post to the list about it

Please be aware that if you ask questions that are answered in the
available documentation, you may not get a reply, or any help from the
developers or any experienced users!

We are aware that there is still some work to be done on the
documentation, and the platform for user support... please forgive us for
not having all these gaps filled. If you feel that some information is
missing, hard to find or just plain wrong, or you have a suggestion on
improving osCommRes or the "support services", please let us know so that we
can do what is necessary. 

(c) osCommRes Pty. Ltd. 

-- support@oscommres.com Thursday,  3 Nov 2005  08:51:10 +1000
