I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal
1. Enable MySQL.
2. Create a database in MySQL called joomladb.
3. Create a new user called jadmin that has full priviledges to this database (the user does not need to be called jadmin, but that is the username we will be using for this walkthrough).
4. Download the latest stable release of Joomla.
5. Extract the tar files into a new folder (for this example we are going to call it joomla to keep things easy).
6. Make the following folders writeable for Joomla
administrator/backups/
administrator/components/
administrator/modules/
administrator/templates/
cache/
components/
images/
images/banners/
images/stories/
language/
mambots/
mambots/content/
mambots/editors/
mambots/editors-xtd/
mambots/search/
media/
modules/
templates/
7. Move the joomla folder onto a web server.
8. From your web server, visit the site 127.0.0.1/joomla or the subfolder that you placed the joomla files into.
9. Make sure PHP is enabled for the domain and globally.
10. At the Joomla Pre-Installation check page, you will either see a notice that you can install Joomla or a notice that your system does not meet the minimum requirements for installion. If your system does not meet the requirements, install the modules that are listed in Red, or make Joomla work and click on the Check Again button. Once the dependencies are all installed click Next.
11. Read the license agreement and click on Next.
12. Fill in the appropriate fields for your MySQL environment and click Next >>. The fields that are used:
a. Host Name: If the server you are currently using is a MySQL server then enter localhost. Otherwise enter the name or IP of your MySQL server.
b. MySQL User Name: Either enter the root User Name for your MySQL server or another username if desired.
c. MySQL User Name: Either enter the root password for your MySQL server or the password for another user if desired.
d. MySQL Database Name: The name of the database on the MySQL server you would like the Joomla files saved to. In our example, we will use joomladb.
13. Enter the name you would like to use for your Joomla site. This will be the name users will see when logging into your Joomla site and click on the Next button.
14. At the next screen you will be asked to enter some site specific information and then click Next.
a. URL: Enter the URL that users will use to access your site.
b. Path: Enter the full path to the Joomla directory on your server.
c. Email: This will be used for administrative logins.
d. Admin password: This will be the administrative password used to access your Joomla site.
15. cd into the Joomla directory and remove the directory called installation.
16. Click on the View Site button. If you see the Default Joomla site then you are almost done.
17. Go back to the previous screen and click on the Administration button.
18. Enter admin as your username and the administrative password you gave Joomla in field 14.d.
19. You now have Joomla configured and are now ready to customize it.
