Joomla Localhost to Server: Configuration

In the first part of this two-part article, you learned how to finalize your local host Joomla website so it will be ready for the live server; important items to check,  such as ensuring that you display the correct content, were discussed. We also covered the domain/sub-domain setup for your Joomla website on the web hosting server, as well as how to prepare and import the MySQL database from the local host to the hosting server.

In this part, we'll cover the uploading procedures and configuring your Joomla website to work with the live hosting server. Also, we'll check to make sure that your Joomla website after deployment will work exactly the same as it did on your local host development server.

Editing the Joomla configuration.php file

The Joomla configuration.php file is found in the root directory of your Joomla files at the XAMPP local host server.

To preserve the original working Joomla installation file at the local host, you need to copy the Joomla folder at the local host and create a copy on your Desktop. In this case, the one in the XAMPP htdocs will be left unchanged, and you will be uploading/editing the one saved on the Desktop.

Using your favorite PHP editor, open configuration.php for the Joomla files on your Desktop. This is what the configuration file content will look like:

There are a lot of editable parameters in the configuration file; however, below you'll see a list of the important variables that need to be changed to reflect the value at the live site.

Important: You need to determine the absolute path of your Joomla root directory before you can proceed with the changes. An example of an absolute path is: /home/www/codexjoomla.php-developer.org/

Change the following variables:

var $live_site = '';
var $host = 'localhost';
var $user = 'root';
var $db = 'codexjoomla';
var $password = 'localhost database password';
var $log_path = '/opt/lampp/htdocs/joomla/logs';
var $tmp_path = '/opt/lampp/htdocs/joomla/tmp';

To the following values at the live site:

var $live_site = 'http://codexjoomla.php-developer.org';
var $host = 'Joomla database host';
var $user = 'Joomla database username ';
var $db = 'Joomla database name';
var $password = 'Joomla database password';
var $log_path = '/home/www/codexjoomla.php-developer.org/logs';
var $tmp_path = '/home/www/codexjoomla.php-developer.org/tmp';

Finally after you finish editing, you can save the configuration.php.

Uploading Files to the Website's Root Directory Using SSH

For security purposes, it is best to upload the Joomla files to your website's root directory using SSH (Secure Shell). This will encrypt data as it travels to the hosting server.

Most paid Linux/Apache/PHP-MySQL web hosting includes SSH as a feature, so you need to enable it. Consult with your web hosting support for details.

The most recommended SSH GUI Client is Filezilla: http://filezilla-project.org/. Once you have completely installed Filezilla, launch it and then go to File -> Site Manager. You need to add your Joomla site and the SSH connection details, for example:

The SSH port is 22 by default; some web hosting companies may use different SSH ports. Under Server Type, select "SFTP-SSH File Transfer Protocol." To connect to the server, click "Connect" and go the root directory of your server.

Select all files on your left (which are the Joomla files on your local desktop); to your right is the root directory space in your remote hosting web server (e.g. codexjoomla.php-developer.org)

Screen shot:

 
Right click on the selected files and then hit "upload." It may take some time before all of the files are uploaded to the remote web hosting server. As of Joomla 1.5.20, there are around 3960 files that need to be uploaded to your web hosting server, so the file uploading process will take a while. Do not close until all files are completely uploaded.