Installing CodeIgniter on Linux: Step-by-Step Guide

First Step When Starting a New Project: Installing CodeIgniter 💻#

Excited about starting a great web project? If the framework you've chosen is CodeIgniter, you're in the right place! CodeIgniter is a wonderful PHP framework loved for its lightness and flexibility, especially for beginners.

So, how will we install this beautiful framework on our Linux system? Don't worry, the process is much simpler than you think. In this guide, I'll guide you step by step to complete CodeIgniter installation on Linux smoothly.

Preparation Before Starting Installation#

Before moving on to the actual installation steps, let's make sure our ingredients are ready in the kitchen. For CodeIgniter to run, you need a web server and PHP installed on your computer. This is generally called the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack.

Step-by-Step CodeIgniter Installation#

If you're ready, let's start coding time! Follow the steps below in order.

Step 1: Downloading CodeIgniter#

Let's start by downloading the latest CodeIgniter version. To do this, open your terminal and use the following wget command. This command directly downloads the file from CodeIgniter's official GitHub repository to your computer.

wget https://github.com/bcit-ci/CodeIgniter/archive/refs/tags/v3.1.13.zip

(Note: At the time of writing this article, the latest stable version is 3.1.13. Don't forget to check the CodeIgniter download page for the latest version!)

Step 2: Extracting the Downloaded Archive and Managing the Folder#

After the download is complete, let's extract the .zip archive file and give it a more manageable name.

# Extract the archive
unzip v3.1.13.zip

# Rename the created folder
mv CodeIgniter-3.1.13 codeigniter

Now we have a clean folder named codeigniter.

Step 3: Moving Files to Web Server Directory#

Now we need to move this folder to the main directory where the web server serves files. This directory is generally /var/www/html/.

# Copy the codeigniter folder to web server directory
sudo cp -R codeigniter /var/www/html/

sudo chown -R your_username:www-data /var/www/html/codeigniter
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/codeigniter

Step 4: Testing the Installation 🎉#

If everything went well, we've reached the testing phase which is the last step! Let's restart the web server to activate all changes.

# For Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Or if you're using Nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now open your favorite web browser and type http://localhost/codeigniter in the address bar. If you did everything correctly, you should see CodeIgniter's welcome screen! Congratulations, you've successfully completed the first step! 🚀

Summary of What We Did#

Let's quickly summarize what we did together in this guide:

• We learned the importance of web server and PHP environment needed for CodeIgniter installation.
• We downloaded CodeIgniter from the official source with wget.
• We extracted the downloaded files and moved them to the web server's main directory.
• We correctly set file permissions which is one of the most critical steps.
• Finally, we tested our installation through the browser and verified its successful completion.

Next Step and Conclusion#

Your CodeIgniter development environment is now ready! So, what will you do now? It's up to you to transform this blank canvas into a great project. Create your controllers, write your models and make your first database query.

Remember, this guide is for CodeIgniter 3. If you want to examine the newer version CodeIgniter 4, you can benefit from its official documentation or resources prepared by the community.

Did you encounter a problem during installation or do you have a question in mind? Share with me in the comments, let's solve together! Good luck

• You can access my tests related to Codeigniter 4 version from here.

• My YouTube Channel You can find more videos and guides here.