A Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Magento 2

Magento 2 is one of the most powerful and flexible open-source e-commerce platforms available today. Installing Magento 2 from scratch can seem intimidating, but with the right guidance, it’s easier than you think. This guide will walk you through each step to help you get your Magento 2 store up and running.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have a fully functional Magento 2 installation that you can start customizing and building your e-commerce store on.

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Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure your system meets the following requirements:

• Operating System: Linux-based OS (Ubuntu is highly recommended)

• Disk Space: 2 GB for the Magento installation (recommended: 4 GB)

• RAM: 2 GB minimum (recommended: 4 GB)

• PHP: 7.4.x or 8.1.x (Magento 2.4.x supports both)

• MySQL: 5.6, 5.7 or MariaDB 10.2 or higher

• Composer: A PHP dependency manager (used to install Magento 2)

• Git: Version control system (optional but useful)

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Step 1: Set Up the Environment

Magento 2 can be installed on a local development environment (such as XAMPP, MAMP, or LAMP) or a live server. For this guide, we’ll assume you’re using Ubuntu.

1. Install Apache Web Server (if not already installed):

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install apache2
   sudo systemctl start apache2
   sudo systemctl enable apache2
   

2. Install PHP and Necessary Extensions:

   sudo apt-get install php php-cli php-fpm php-mysql php-intl php-mbstring php-curl php-xml php-zip php-soap php-bcmath
   

3. Install MySQL:

   sudo apt-get install mysql-server
   sudo systemctl start mysql
   sudo systemctl enable mysql
   

4. Install Composer (Dependency Manager):

   curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
   sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
   

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Step 2: Set Up the Database

1. Create a MySQL Database for Magento:

   Log in to MySQL:

   sudo mysql -u root -p
   

   Create a new database and user for Magento:

   CREATE DATABASE magento2;
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON magento2.* TO 'magento_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   

2. Exit MySQL:

   exit;
   

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Step 3: Download and Install Magento 2

1. Navigate to the Directory Where You Want to Install Magento 2:

   cd /var/www/html
   

2. Install Magento Using Composer:

   Run the following command to install Magento 2 (replace <your_magento_version> with the desired version, such as 2.4.5):

   composer create-project --repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition <your_magento_version>
   

   During this process, you’ll be prompted for Magento repository credentials. If you don’t have these, create an account at Magento Marketplace and retrieve the keys from the "Access Keys" section.

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Step 4: Set File Permissions

After installing Magento, you need to set the correct file permissions to allow proper read and write access.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/magento2
sudo find /var/www/html/magento2 -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/html/magento2 -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo chmod -R 777 /var/www/html/magento2/var /pub /generated

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Step 5: Set Up Apache Virtual Host

Create a new Apache configuration file for your Magento site:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/magento2.conf

Add the following configuration (adjust paths and domain names as needed):

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/magento2/pub
    ServerName magento2.local

    <Directory /var/www/html/magento2>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site and the rewrite module:

sudo a2ensite magento2.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

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Step 6: Run the Magento 2 Installation Command

Now, it’s time to run the Magento 2 installation script using the command line interface.

Navigate to your Magento installation folder:

cd /var/www/html/magento2

Run the Magento setup command to install Magento:

php bin/magento setup:install \
--base-url=http://magento2.local \
--db-host=localhost \
--db-name=magento2 \
--db-user=magento_user \
--db-password=password \
--admin-firstname=Admin \
--admin-lastname=User \
--admin-email=admin@example.com \
--admin-user=admin \
--admin-password=admin123 \
--language=en_US \
--currency=USD \
--timezone=America/Chicago \
--use-rewrites=1

This command will:

• Set up the store’s base URL

• Configure the database

• Create an admin user

• Set default configurations for language, currency, and timezone

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Step 7: Access Your Magento Store

1. Access the Frontend:

   Open your browser and go to http://magento2.local. You should see the Magento 2 welcome page.

2. Access the Admin Panel:

   To access the admin panel, go to:

   http://magento2.local/admin

   Log in using the credentials you set during installation (e.g., admin as the username and admin123 as the password).

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Step 8: Enable Developer Mode (Optional)

During development, it’s helpful to enable Magento’s developer mode to get more detailed error messages and reduce caching.

Run the following command:

php bin/magento deploy:mode:set developer

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Step 9: Set Up Cron Jobs (Important for Background Tasks)

Magento uses cron jobs for various tasks like sending emails, indexing, and cleaning up logs. Set up cron jobs with the following commands:

sudo crontab -u www-data -e

Add the following line to the cron file:

* * * * * php /var/www/html/magento2/bin/magento cron:run >> /dev/null 2>&1
* * * * * php /var/www/html/magento2/update/cron.php >> /dev/null 2>&1
* * * * * php /var/www/html/magento2/bin/magento setup:cron:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

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Step 10: Final Touches

1. Clean the Cache:

   php bin/magento cache:flush
   

2. Reindex the Data:

   php bin/magento indexer:reindex
   

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