You can install OpenCms with Docker (recommended) or manually.
On this page we provide information about how to install:
- the OpenCms core system
- the Mercury template (optional), a feature-rich and modular template shipped with OpenCms
- the Mercury demo (optional), a demo website showcasing what is possible with OpenCms and Mercury
The easiest way to install OpenCms is to use the official docker image. See alkacon/opencms-docker on Docker Hub for full information about running the OpenCms docker image.
The docker setup already includes a pre-configured MariaDB database and a Tomcat server, which you need to run OpenCms.
You can install OpenCms "from scratch" manually on your local PC or on your server. The following software components are needed in order to install OpenCms (please check here for more information about the required versions):
- Java JDK (Java Development Kit), not a JRE (Java Runtime Environment).
- Database, e.g. MariaDB/MySQL. Before running OpenCms, you must adjust the blob size settings. Information about database settings is available here.
- Web container like Jetty or Tomcat. Enable image processing and deploy OpenCms as described here.
Part of the manual installation process is the setup wizard which is described in more detail below.
The chapter server administration in this documentation offers additional hints about installing OpenCms on a production server.
If you want to try OpenCms locally, be it with a Docker installation or a manual installation, make sure to install the Mercury template.
The Mercury template offers a tutorial about basic content editing features such as modifing pages, edit contents, work with the sitemap editor and the explorer, and publish changes.
If you just want to try OpenCms without doing a full local installation, the easiest option is to use the OpenCms Live Demo server. The live demo provides a personal OpenCms installation exclusively for you.
The setup wizard is part of the manual installation of OpenCms if you did not choose the Docker setup. Start the setup wizard by pointing your browser to http://localhost:8080/opencms/setup/.
Please note the difference between Setup connection and OpenCms connection:
The setup connection, as the name suggests, is only used during setup, or more precisely, to initially create the database tables and the database schema for OpenCms. The setup connection needs full permissions for the database. The credentials are not persisted anywhere but discarded after setup completion.
The OpenCms connection is used for all database operations during livetime of your OpenCms installation, e.g. to read and write content data or to import modules. This connection does not need full permissions for the configured database but only read and write permissions.
The OpenCms connection is persisted in the opencms.properties file to be found in the Tomcat directory {CATALINA_HOME}/webapps/<OPENCMS>/config/.
If you later want to change your database connection settings, you can do this in the opencms.properties file.
The database setting options in the dialog slightly differ depending on which database product is selected.
The OpenCms workplace is required for a full OpenCms installation. The only situation where you might want to de-select the workplace modules is for a cluster installation with replication. In a cluster replication setup, only the redactory server needs the workplace modules installed but not the replicated publication servers.
If you want to try OpenCms, make sure to select the demo template modules.
The server settings are again only relevant for a cluster installation. In a cluster setup, the redactory server and each publication server configures an individual Server ID, a Server URL, and an ethernet address.
For a standard OpenCms installation with one server for content edition and content publication, you can leave the values as is.
