How to install TYPO3 step by step

TYPO3 is a powerful and free open-source content man­age­ment system that can be used across platforms. With countless ex­ten­sions and templates, TYPO3 offers flexible design options for both small websites and large, mul­ti­lin­gual projects. However, in­stalling and tailoring TYPO3 to specific needs usually requires a certified TYPO3 service provider. Do you want to install TYPO3 yourself and need a detailed guide? Simply follow this step-by-step tutorial.

Pre­req­ui­sites for in­stalling TYPO3

In­stalling TYPO3 doesn’t require ad­di­tion­al software. However, you might need an FTP program for file transfer. Most TYPO3 hosting providers include this pre-installed on their servers. A basic re­quire­ment is a web browser with JavaScript and a web server like Apache, NGINX, or IIS.

The TYPO3 de­vel­op­ment team currently supports two versions, which are TYPO3 13 and TYPO3 12 LTS. Below are the minimum re­quire­ments for the current secure versions:

• A web server with PHP version 8.1, 8.2, or 8.3 (TYPO3 12) or PHP 8.2 and higher (TYPO3 13).
• A SQL-based database com­pat­i­ble with Doctrine DBAL, such as MySQL version 8.0.17 or later, MariaDB 10.3+, Post­greSQL 10.0+, or SQLite 3.8.3+.
• At least 256 MB RAM (more is rec­om­mend­ed, depending on the size of the website).
• PHP con­fig­u­ra­tion with a minimum of 128 MB memory limit (Apache, IIS, NGINX).
• For image pro­cess­ing, the team rec­om­mends the Graph­ic­s­Mag­ick and Im­ageMag­ick libraries.

How to install TYPO3 step by step

TYPO3 is platform-in­de­pen­dent and available as open-source software. Providers often offer TYPO3 pre-installed as part of their hosting plans. If you want to configure TYPO3 to your exact spec­i­fi­ca­tions, the Source Package gives you the freedom to do so. Ex­pe­ri­enced TYPO3 de­vel­op­ers can directly modify the source code, and over a thousand ex­ten­sions support cus­tomiza­tion.

In this example, we are using a Windows operating system and the FTP program FileZilla. We will download TYPO3 version 12 LTS from typo3.org.

Step 1: Visit the TYPO3 download page, where you’ll find the latest releases of supported TYPO3 versions. De­vel­op­ers highlight the main dif­fer­ences between the versions. Choose the version that suits you best. For instance, to install TYPO3 12, click Get Version 12, which will take you to the download page.

Step 2: To demon­strate the classic method, we download TYPO3 as a com­pressed .tar file. This solid tar com­pres­sion is suitable for Unix/Linux systems. Windows users should download the .zip file. The GPG-signed packages (at the bottom of the page) ensure the au­then­tic­i­ty of the down­loaded program. This version is rec­om­mend­ed for pro­fes­sion­al users.

Step 3: Click on the cor­re­spond­ing link to start the download. Once it’s completed, click the download arrow in your browser window.

Step 4: Select the file, and it will open as a com­pressed archive for in­stalling TYPO3 in your ex­trac­tion program.

Step 5: Extract the entire folder and save it to a directory you can easily locate later.

Step 6: Open the FTP program, in this case, FileZilla. To quickly establish a con­nec­tion to your server, enter your server name under “Host.” Provide your username and password. The system usually auto-completes the port. Then click Quick­con­nect. The program will attempt to connect to your server. At the bottom of the ap­pli­ca­tion, you’ll see your local files in the left-hand pane, while the server directory will appear on the right after a suc­cess­ful con­nec­tion.

Al­ter­na­tive: Select the “Files” option from the main menu and click on “Site Manager” in the drop-down menu that appears. A new window will pop up. In the Site Manager, enter your server name again under “Host,” as well as your username and password. In this tool, adjust the upload settings for TYPO3 and connect to the server. In the “Transfer Settings” tab, select the transfer mode. Click on “Default” and set a maximum number of si­mul­ta­ne­ous con­nec­tions – in this case, six. If you have a firewall pro­tect­ing your server, select “Passive” and then click “Connect.”

Step 7: In the main menu, select Edit > Settings > Con­nec­tion. Set a timeout duration of 600 seconds to avoid in­ter­rup­tions. Set the maximum retries to 2. In the left directory pane, select Transfers > File Types and set the default transfer type to Binary.

Step 8: Once settings are con­fig­ured, drag the TYPO3 folder from your local storage (visible in the left-hand pane) to the remote server window on the right. Place the folder in your root directory (denoted as “/” on Unix-like systems).

Step 9: Check if you can find the uploaded files on your server. Log in to your hosting provider to verify. If the files were trans­ferred correctly, you will find them in the hosting section of your webspace. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, access your TYPO3 in­stal­la­tion via the URL localhost/site/.

Step 10: To make your TYPO3-based website publicly ac­ces­si­ble, you’ll need a domain. Many hosting plans include at least one domain. If you haven’t chosen a domain yet, register one through your hosting provider.

Step 11: If you already have a domain, link it to your server. Ensure the path correctly points to your TYPO3 directory.

Step 12: Since the server and domain are now connected, you can proceed with the TYPO3 in­stal­la­tion in your browser. Visit the homepage of your new site. A thank-you message from TYPO3 will appear. From here, use the TYPO3 in­stal­la­tion tool. To begin, create an empty file named “FIRST_INSTALL” (without an extension) in the root directory of your webspace. Reload your website in the browser.

Step 13: The in­stal­la­tion wizard is ac­ces­si­ble at the address https://www.[DOMAIN-NAME].com/typo3/install.php. This tool will guide you through the TYPO3 in­stal­la­tion process, which consists of five phases. In the first phase, it checks your system en­vi­ron­ment. If any issues arise due to a con­fig­u­ra­tion setting, you can use the trou­bleshoot­ing feature. Otherwise, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 14: In the next step, specify the database TYPO3 will use. If you haven’t set up a database yet, visit your hosting provider’s page. Creating a database is usually done in just a few steps. TYPO3 requires the following database details:

• Database name
• Username for the database
• Password
• Host (often “localhost”)
• Port (commonly 3306)

Step 15: You can now either select an existing database or create a new one. The latter is only possible if you have the necessary per­mis­sions.

Step 16: In the next input screen, set a username and password for logging into both the backend and the in­stal­la­tion tool. Under “Site name”, enter the name of your new TYPO3 website.

Step 17: In the final step, the assistant completes the in­stal­la­tion by au­to­mat­i­cal­ly adjusting some con­fig­u­ra­tions to your system en­vi­ron­ment. You can decide whether TYPO3 should create an empty website or remain idle for now. By clicking “Open the TYPO3 Backend”, you will be directed to the admin area, where you can log in using the account you just created. Con­grat­u­la­tions, you have suc­cess­ful­ly installed TYPO3!

The TYPO3 team rec­om­mends locking the in­stal­la­tion assistant once you’re done to prevent unau­tho­rized access. However, you can first review basic data or syn­chro­nize your database. Through the left column, you can access con­fig­u­ra­tions, perform upgrades, and examine the system en­vi­ron­ment in case of errors. The Folder Structure allows you to view your directory tree. With Test Setup, you can check whether your settings produce errors. If so, the trou­bleshoot­ing feature Clean Up can assist you.

From here, proceed to the backend, where you log in with the ad­min­is­tra­tor cre­den­tials you pre­vi­ous­ly set up. In the backend, you can customize TYPO3 to your needs, add ex­ten­sions, or create accounts for editors who will later access the website frontend. The active community provides free templates that you can use for your website. These templates include commands in TYPO3’s internal con­fig­u­ra­tion language, Ty­po­Script. After com­plet­ing the in­stal­la­tion with this guide, you can leverage ex­ten­sions and templates to customize your website and optimize your backend.