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OpenCms documentation
OpenCms documentation

Installing OpenCms

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

You can install OpenCms with Docker or manually.

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. See the OpenCms installation guide for full information about manually installing OpenCms.

Part of the manual installation process is the setup wizard which is described in more detail below.

Chapter server installation 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 offer 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.

Licence Agreement of the Setup Wizard
System Check of the Setup Wizard
Database Settings of the Setup Wizard

Please note the difference between Setup connection and OpenCms connection:

The setup connection, as the name suggests, is only used during setup, or more precicely, 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.

Module Selection of the Setup Wizard

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.

Module Import of the Setup Wizard
Server Settings of the Setup Wizard

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.

Final Notes of the Setup Wizard