Drupal:Multisite Installation

Note: to create a new Drupal site using these directions, you will need to have root access to your server and already have a valid domain name to use.

1. Set up the virtual host name routing
   1. Log in
   2. sudo nano /export1-local/project/apache/conf/ascc.conf
   3. Page down to the section containing the Virtual hosts. <VirtualHost *:80>
   4. Add new virtual host name under the correct document root (where ever your Drupal multisite installation is) as a ServerAlias
   5. Save and Exit
   6. sudo /sbin/service httpd restart
2. Create a database
3. Create a site folder
   1. Create a new folder in the Drupal sites/ directory. The folder must match the virtual host name from earlier. Note: if you are working in a domain other than the one the site will eventually have (e.g. a development site), it's important that the domains have the same root. For example, if the production site will be computing.artsci.wustl.edu, make the test domain test.computing.artsci.wustl.edu and name the site folder computing.artsci.wustl.edu so that the file paths will not break. Drupal will still recognize it for routing purposes.
   2. Copy the default.settings.php file from the sites/default folder into the new site directory and rename it settings.php
   3. Create a 'files' directory within the new site directory (to be deleted later)
   4. Create a files directory for this site at /files/<yournamehere>
   5. Initially, all files should be readable and writable by the account owner and the Apache web user. The best trick is to create a user group that contains your account owner and the Apache web user. That way, when you are done, nothing will need to be writable by 'other'. (Dangerous)
   6. Note: would recommend changing the file settings to point to /files/<yournamehere> instead of the default location in the sites directory and then deleting the files folder you created earlier.
4. Initial Installation
   1. Browse to the new site URL (what ever the virtual host name was)
   2. Choose the language you would like to install in
   3. Enter the database name, username, and password from the database you just created
   4. Enter the Site Name and email address
   5. Create the first user account. This will be the superuser, so for simplicity you might want to make it the same as the other sites within the multisite installation
   6. If you are on a private intranet site, you will probably want to uncheck 'check for updates'
   7. Click 'Save and continue'
5. Change file permissions - The entire new site folder should be readable by the account owner and the Apache web user and writable by the account owner. The files folder alone will need to be writable by the Apache web user. 'Other' should not have read access to anything except the files folder.