Hello and thanks for reading! I am undertaking the task of modifying a company's XOOPS website. I am new to XOOPS and so what I've done is setup a WAMP server at home, I would like to install the XOOPS files from the company's server onto my own to give me a neutral place to modify and familiarize myself with XOOPS without interrupting the actual site (ruining anything!!!). I am having trouble doing so. The files I have been given from the company server are the basically the contents of the htdocs folder, minus the install folder naturally, and minus the maninfile.php file. So what I've done is copied the install folder and mainfile.php file from a downloaded XOOPS install into the www folder of my server along with the company's server files. I opened localhost and executed the install and all is well up until screen 6...I get an error - Cannot write to mainfile.php. However, I have made certain that mainfile.php IS writable and screen 5 confirms this.

Am I doing this all wrong? What is the best way to install an up and running XOOPS site's files onto a neutral server? Should I do a fresh XOOPS install instead and then drop the site contents into it, and if so, what is the best way of doing so? Many thanks in advance!

Hey simsjaj,
probably too late to be meaningful, and I am no expert, but it seems you have omitted the database files in your migration.
While I'm not certain this has anything to do with the mainfile.php issue you described, that omission will certainly leave your web unuseable.
I am also looking for a comprehensive doc which describes the entire process of migrating XOOPS webs to a new server and I have not found one yet.
If you read this, and have found a solution, please let me know.

Here are the steps I took:

Backed up website and saved to my home computer.

Exported entire database and saved to my home computer.

Installed XAMPP Lite or WAMP in your case.

Copied backed up website to XAMPP Lite appropriate folder (htdocs)

Edited mainfile.php to reflect current location on hard drive and new database login and password which is usually root for login and nothing for the password when using XAMPP Lite.

Created a database with same name as website's database through PHPMyAdmin.

Imported backed up database into newly created database.

Removed an .htaccess file from the root which caused a white screen when I tried to access the site through localhost.

**You don't have to INSTALL XOOPS on the local machine; you just copy everything over to your local machine, import your exported database and edit mainfile.php accordingly.**

HERE is a link that will probably explain it a little better than I did.

Thank you hackbrill,
apparently my 'find it' skills have eroded.
Also found a useful guide in the faq (go figure), athttps://xoops.org/modules/smartfaq/faq.php?faqid=193

thanks again