How to Install Simple Machines Forum on Arch Linux

Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a free and open-source forum software written in PHP. It allows you to easily create and manage online communities. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install Simple Machines Forum on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before you start, you need to have the following:

• a running Arch Linux machine
• a web server installed and running (e.g. Apache or Nginx)
• PHP installed and configured
• a MySQL or MariaDB database server installed and configured
• administrative access to the system

Step 1: Download and Extract SMF

First, you need to download the latest version of SMF from the official website. You can download it using wget command:

wget https://github.com/SimpleMachines/SMF2.1/archive/refs/tags/SMF_2-1-rc5.tar.gz

Once the download is complete, extract the downloaded archive file:

tar xzvf SMF_2-1-rc5.tar.gz

This will extract the SMF files to a directory named SMF_2-1-rc5.

Step 2: Move the SMF Files

Next, you need to move the SMF files to the directory where your web server serves files. For example, if you are using Apache web server, you can move the files to the /var/www/html directory:

sudo mv SMF_2-1-rc5 /var/www/html/smf

Step 3: Set File Permissions

Next, you need to set the correct file permissions for the SMF files. You can do this with the following command:

sudo chown -R http:http /var/www/html/smf/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/smf/

This will set the owner of the files to the http user and group, and set the correct permissions.

Step 4: Create a Database

Before you can install SMF, you need to create a MySQL or MariaDB database and user for it. You can do this with the following commands:

sudo mysql -u root -p

This will open the MySQL command prompt. In the prompt, create a new database and user with the following commands:

CREATE DATABASE smf;
CREATE USER 'smfuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON smf.* TO 'smfuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Replace password with a secure password of your choice.

Step 5: Run the SMF Installer

Now you can run the SMF installer by accessing the install.php script in your web browser. For example, if your server's IP address is 192.168.0.100 and you installed SMF in the /var/www/html/smf directory, you can access the installer by going to http://192.168.0.100/smf/install.php in your web browser.

Follow the installer wizard and enter the database connection details when prompted. Use the following settings:

• Database Server: localhost
• Database Name: smf
• Database User Name: smfuser
• Database Password: password (the password you chose in Step 4)

After you have entered the database details, the installer will create the necessary tables and initialize the configuration files.

Step 6: Remove the Install Directory

After the installer has completed, you should remove the install directory to prevent unauthorized access to your server:

sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/smf/install

Step 7: Test your Installation

Now you can test your SMF installation by accessing the forum's front page in your web browser. For example, if your server's IP address is 192.168.0.100 and you installed SMF in the /var/www/html/smf directory, you can access the forum by going to http://192.168.0.100/smf/ in your web browser.

You should see the SMF welcome page, and you can start configuring your forum and creating user accounts.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Simple Machines Forum on Arch Linux!

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