Install osCommerce on Plesk

What are osCommerce and Plesk?

osCommerce is free software for running an online shop. You can sell products and take orders with it.

Plesk is a control panel. It is a dashboard where you manage your website, files and databases. A database is a place where your shop keeps product and order data, like a very tidy filing cabinet.

Before you start

• Log in to Plesk. Your welcome email has the link and details.
• Decide on a database name, username and password.
• Ask Hostvento support if Plesk on your plan has an Applications catalog. If it does, you may find osCommerce there and can use the one-click method instead.

  

  

Method: install by hand

1. Download the osCommerce ZIP file from the official osCommerce website to your computer.
2. In Plesk, click Websites & Domains.
3. Click Databases under your domain, then Add Database.
4. Type a database name. Create a database user with a strong password. Click OK. Write down these details.
5. Go back to your domain and open Files.
6. Open the httpdocs folder. This is where your public site files live.
7. Click Upload Files and choose the osCommerce ZIP.
8. Select the ZIP, then click Extract Files.

   

9. Move the shop files into httpdocs if they landed in a sub-folder. Use the Move option.
10. Open your domain in a browser. The osCommerce setup page should appear.

    

11. Follow the setup screens. When it asks for database details, type the ones you saved. For the database server, use localhost.
12. Create your admin account when asked.

Warning: If httpdocs already has a website, installing here may overwrite files. Take a backup first, or install in a sub-folder.

After the setup

1. The installer may tell you to delete the install folder. Do it in Files. This keeps your shop safe.
2. The installer may also ask you to make the configuration file read-only. Do so if it says so.

Need help? Open a support ticket.

Quick recap

• Create a database and user in Plesk.
• Upload and extract osCommerce into httpdocs.

  

• Run the setup page in your browser.
• Delete the install folder afterwards.