How to manually install X-Cart

This article describes how to manually install the X-Cart e-commerce application on your A2 Hosting account.

You can install X-Cart on your account for evaluation purposes and to develop an e-commerce application. To use X-Cart for actual sales, however, you must purchase a license.

Installing XCart

X-Cart is compatible with all A2 Hosting accounts. However, you must install it manually.

Although A2 Hosting servers are compatible with a wide variety of software applications, we cannot provide troubleshooting assistance for application-specific issues.

To install X-Cart, follow these steps:

  1. Download the X-Cart application at http://www.x-cart.com/download.html to your computer.
  2. Extract the .zip file on your computer. You should now have a folder named xcart.
  3. Use FTP to upload the contents of the xcart folder (but not the xcart folder itself) to the public_html directory of your A2 Hosting account. For information about how to access your account using FTP, please see this article.
    Alternatively, you can upload the X-Cart files to a subdirectory located beneath the public_html directory. The following steps assume, however, that you are uploading the files to the document root (public_html) directory.
  4. Use cPanel to create a MySQL database and database user for X-Cart. You will need this information during the web configuration process.
    For information about how to create a MySQL database and user, please see this article.
  5. Use your web browser to go to the installation URL. The installation URL is one of the following:
    • If you are installing X-Cart in the domain's document root (public_html) directory, use http://www.example.com/install.php, where example.com represents your domain name.
    • If you are installing X-Cart in a subdirectory, use http://www.example.com/DIRECTORY/install.php, where example.com represents your domain name, and DIRECTORY represents the path to the X-Cart application files.
  6. Select the I accept the License Agreement check box, and then click Next.
  7. The Checking PHP configuration page appears. It should indicate Passed.

    You may receive a “non-critical” dependency error regarding the fopen function. To allow X-Cart to open remote files, enable the allow_url_fopen directive in a php.ini file. For more information about how to do this, please see this article.
  8. Click Next. The Preparing to install X-Cart page appears.
  9. Confirm that the Server host name and Secure server host name text boxes contain the correct values.
  10. Confirm that the X-Cart web directory text box contains the correct directory for where you want to install X-Cart.
  11. Confirm that the MySQL host name text box contains the value localhost:/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock.
  12. In the MySQL database name text box, type the name of the database you created in step 4. The database name is in the format username_dbname, where username represents your account username, and dbname represents the name of the database you created.
  13. In the MySQL user name text box, type the database username that you created in step 4. The database username is in the format username_dbusername, where username represents your account username, and dbusername represents the database user you created.
  14. In the MySQL password text box, type the password for the database user.
  15. In the Your e-mail address text box, type a valid e-mail address.
  16. Click Next.
  17. Select the security profile you want for the installation.

    For more information about X-Cart security profiles, please visit http://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=X-Cart:Security_Profiles.
  18. In the Languages list box, select the language or languages that you want to install.
  19. In the States table list box, select the country or countries that you will use in the application.
  20. To use pre-configured settings for a country, select the country in the Configuration settings list box.
  21. To install sample data, select Yes in the Example data list box.
  22. Click Next. X-Cart installs the database.
  23. Click Next. The Layout Settings page appears.
  24. Select a skin, and then click Next.
  25. Review the layout, and then click Next. The PayPal payment processing page appears.
  26. To enable PayPal processing, select Yes. Otherwise, click No, and then click Next.
  27. On the Generating a system fingerprint page, select No, and then click Next.
  28. The Installation complete page appears, which includes administration login credentials and other configuration details:

    • To view the X-Cart front page for your site, click Customer area.
    • To view the X-Cart administrator page, click Administrator area and use the login information provided.

More Information

For more information about X-Cart, please visit http://www.x-cart.com.

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