Online installation procedure

From FreeWay

Before you begin the online installation it is recommended that you create a database and a user on your server. This is the database Freeway will use to store all required information.

After downloading and copying installation files to your server, you can start the online installation. To start installing Freeway, enter the URL of your server followed by the name of the directory you have placed the installation files (e.g. http://www.yourserver.com/freeway/install)

Note:

• replace yourserver.com with the address of your server
• replace the freeway with the name of the folder you have placed the Freeway installation files into
• in case you have placed the installation files to the root directory, you only need to enter the address of your server www.yourserver.com

The Welcome page will be displayed.

Click Continue button inside this screen and the Freeway Licensing page will be displayed.

Inside this page you need to:

• Scroll down to enable the buttons (and thus indicate that you have read the license conditions)
• Select I agree… checkbox
• Click Install

The Installation Compatibility test page will be displayed.

The purpose of this part of the installation is to determine whether there are any compatibility issues between Freeway and your server configuration. The upper part of the page is the legend giving you the description of all possible error/notification messages which you can receive from Freeway at this stage.

Error! Indicates that something is definitely wrong and that Freeway will most likely not perform as expected if this problem is not solved. This indicates an actual error

Check was successful Indicates that something was checked and returned an expected result

Notice! Indicates that something is important to be aware of. This does not indicate an error

Warning! Indicates that something may very well cause trouble and you should definitely look into it before proceeding. This indicates a potential error.

The rest of the page is divided into sections which will show the information about potential problem area. In case the test was successful you will see the Continue button in the lower right part of the page (note: see TODO:link). Click Continue and the following page will be displayed.

The following options are available inside this page:

• Import Catalog Database - checking this box will import the database structure, required data, and some sample data. (required for first time installations)
• Automatic Configuration - checking this box will save all entered data during the installation procedure to the appropriate configuration files on the server.

After setting the desired values, click Continue. The Database Import page for defining database server information will be displayed.

The following parameters are available inside this page:

• Database Server - the name of the database server Freeway resides on (note: usually “localhost”)
• Username – the username of the Freeway database user as specified by you while creating the Freeway database
• Password - the password of the Freeway database user as specified by you while creating the Freeway database
• Database Name - the name of the Freeway database as specified by you while creating the Freeway database
• Session Storage - session data Freeway uses on a per customer basis can either be stored in the database or on the web server as files.
• Database - It is recommended for shared hosting servers to use database session storage due to security related issues.
• Files - file based session storage improves performance but is only recommended for dedicated servers. Most web hosting sites are NOT dedicated servers. Using file based session storage on shared hosting servers may allow others to access the session data stored in the files making it is possible for customer sessions to be hijacked.

After setting these parameters, click on the Continue button and Freeway will attempt a test connection to the database. The following page will be displayed.

Click Continue and the database import will begin (note: it is important not to interrupt this process, since the database may end up corrupt). The following screen will be displayed when you click Continue.

This page contains information on successful database import. Click on the Continue and the Server Configuration page will be displayed.

The following parameters are available inside this page:

• WWW Address - full address to the Freeway installation, for example: http://www.yourserver.com/Freeway/
• Webserver Root Directory - physical directory where Freeway is installed on the server, for example: /var/www/html/Freeway/
• HTTP cookie Domain - HTTP cookie domain is used when storing cookie related information on the customer’s browser. A valid cookie domain would be www.yourserver.com or yourserver.com
• HTTP Cookie Path – HTTP cookie path is used to secure access to the cookie information stored on the customer’s browser. This is useful for shared servers to make sure only one Freeway installation has access to the cookies it has set, for example: /Freeway/ (note: Dedicated servers may lessen the access control so that all web based applications on the server can share cookie related information)
• Home Page Link – enter the homepage URL
• Enable SSL Connections – option for enabling SSL connections

After setting the desired parameters click Continue. The Database Configuration page will be displayed.

This page is pre-populated with the information you have previously entered. Click Continue button and the page with the confirmation about successful database configuration will be displayed.

Click Continue to move on to the next step of installation which is configuring Freeway. The Configure Freeway page will be displayed.

The following parameters and options are available:

• What do you want to sell…- the purpose of this option is to allow you to customize your store based on what you intend to sell; select the option that matches your primary activity
• Note: you can select more than one option or all of them; it is also possible to change this configuration after the store has been installed
• Alert Messaging – choose the desired methods for receiving alerts
• Advanced – select Yes to install the Freeway Webservice to allow 3rd party transactions. The webservice supports interoperability between Freeway and 3rd party applications like forums, CMS Advertising Serving applications and CRMs over the internet. It has an interface that is described in WSDL (see www.w3.org/TR/wsdl). Other systems interact with the webservice using SOAP. The service uses HTTP, and comprises of XML. In practical terms this allows interoperability between Freeway and Java and Python, or Microsoft Windows. Further features:
  • Provides interoperability between Freeway and other software applications running on disparate platforms
  • Uses open standards and protocols
  • Using HTTP, the webservice can work through many common firewall security measures without requiring changes to the firewall filtering rules
  • Allows software and services from different companies and locations to be combined easily with Freeway to provide an integrated service
  • Allows the reuse of services and components within an infrastructure, reducing costs
  • Web services are loosely coupled thereby facilitating a distributed approach to application integration
  • Caution: while the webservice provides flexibility and powerful integration features it has to be protected. Details of how to do this are outside the scope of the user guide.
• Do you want to use Search Engine Friendly URLs? – select this option to have Freeway automatically create URLs which make sense to the Search Engines and therefore improve your rankings

After setting the desired parameters, click Continue and the Installation Compatibility Test will be displayed containing information on whether the installation has been successful or not.

In case the test is a success the Continue button will appear in the lower right corner (if not, see In case there is a compatibility issue). Click Continue and the page for setting your administrator’s username and password will be displayed.

The following parameters are available:

• Email Address – enter your email address which will serve as a username for logging into the Administration tool
• Password– enter the password for logging into the Administration tool (note that the system will inform you in case you have chosen a password which is not strong enough i.e. easy to hack)
• Confirm Password – enter your password again to avoid mistakes

After setting the login information, click Continue to complete the installation. The Installation Complete page will be displayed.

This completes the procedure of installing Freeway application. The last step is performing post installation steps in order to ensure proper functioning of your Freeway application a swell as maximum security (see Post-installation procedure).

Note:

• Catalog – clicking this option will take you to the front end of the application as seen by the end users
• Admin – click this link to access the login screen for your admin section