iono Documentation - Installation

The iono setup procedure is entirely web based and required minimal knowledge of web server configuration. The setup system will guide you through the entire process and this section of the documentation will explain each option.

Obtaining a License

iono has both a free license and a set of different paid licenses available so you can use iono for free for as long as you wish before upgrading to a fully paid version. You can find out about the options on the product pricing page.

Ordering iono

To use iono, you must proceed through the order process to register for a license. This usually takes no more than a minute, after which you will have direct access to iono. The procedure is as follows:

  1. Decide which license you wish to use, then proceed to the first page of the order system. Click the Continue button on the right of the iono box.
  2. Choose which license you wish to order and click the Continue button.
  3. Choose any optional extras you would like. These include assisted installation from Olate and the rights to remove the credit line from the footer templates. Then click Continue.
  4. Review your order and read the Terms and Conditions (tick the box to indicate your agreement).
  5. If you already have Olate Account, login using your username and password. Otherwise, fill out the fields under the Create New Account heading. Click Continue or Register.
  6. If you ordered a paid license, you will now either be asked to proceed to make payment via PayPal or by Credit/Debit card otherwise you will be informed that your license is ready. Continue from the Downloading iono section below. If you created a new account you will be required to confirm your e-mail address before being able to login.

Downloading iono

Once you have ordered a license, you must login the Customer System to access it. When you are logged in, click on the Licenses option on the sub menu to list your licenses. Find your iono license and click View. If this is the first time you have viewed the license, you will be asked to read and agree to the terms and conditions. Once you have done so, you will be able to see the details of your license.

The download packages are listed at the bottom of the page. iono is encoded to prevent piracy so you have the choice of two packages.

When choosing whether to use the ionCube or Zend encoded files, you need to know whether the appropriate extensions are available on your server/hosting. The ionCube Loaders will be required for the ionCube build whilst the Zend Optimizer will be required for the Zend build. Both the loaders and the optimizer are free and easy to install but should you have any questions, you should contact your web hosting company.

We recommend choosing the ionCube Encoded version to ensure maximum performance and compatibility.

Download Options

Uploading iono

Once you have downloaded the iono package, you need to upload the files to your web hosting account. Extract the zip package to your local system and upload the directory using your favourite FTP client. We recommend the free SmartFTP. You can rename the directory name to whatever you wish.

Note: If you chose the Zend Encoded package, you need to upload files in binary mode in your FTP client. It does not matter which mode you upload files with if you downloaded the ionCube package.

Web Based Setup Process

To access the web based setup, use your web browser to navigate to the location where you uploaded iono. For example, if your website address is http://www.example.com and you uploaded iono into the directory called customers/, you would go to http://www.example.com/customers. You will automatically be redirected to the setup system.

If any part of this process fails or you quit, your data will be remembered and next time you access the setup, you will be returned to where you last were.

Step 1: License Agreement

iono is a commercial application and as such, you must agree to the license agreement before using the product. This is the same agreement that you agreed before viewing your license details in the section above. The agreement itself is revised and updated every so often and the latest version can always be found online. Please be sure that you have read it before choosing the I Agree option in the setup process.

Step 2: System Requirements

There are certain minimum requirements for you to use iono. These are checked during the setup procedure and you will be advised if your system does not meet those requirements. They are:

If you are unsure as to whether your system meets these requirements, it will be tested during the installaton process.

To use the full functionality of iono including all the licensing features, package distribution and encoding, you will need the following PHP features/modules enabled:

During development, we test iono on the latest Generally Available (GA) releases from MySQL. At present, this is version 4.1.x and 5.0.x and as such, iono officially supports MySQL 4.1 and 5.0 (MySQL 4.0.x is also supported). Although they may be compatible, iono does not officially support MySQL 3.x or 5.1.x. Future versions of iono may break compatibility with the older MySQL releases so we recommend upgrading to MySQL 5.0.x as soon as possible.

If your system meets all the requirements, click the continue link. Otherwise, you may need to speak to your web host to resolve any incompatibilities.

Step 3: Product Key

Every installation of iono requires a product key so we can verify that you do indeed have a license. This is used primarily to differentiate between free and paid licenses. Enter your license key into the field, and click Continue. Your key can be found on the View page when viewing your license details in the Customer System as explained in the section above.

Step 4: Database Settings

iono uses the MySQL database system to store all the data. Here you must provide access details to your database server and the name of the database that iono will store its data within. iono will not create the user or database so they must already exist. If you are unsure of your access details, you should contact your web host.

The table prefix allows you to differentiate the iono tables from other applications, or multiple instances of iono . The prefix will be prepended to each table name, with the default being iono_. You can usually leave this to its default value.

If you are reinstalling iono you can have the setup remove any existing iono tables (only iono tables are removed) by ticking the appropriate box.

Click Continue when you are ready. If iono cannot connect to the database, you will be informed.

Step 5: Site Configuration

iono has very few configuration options but the most important must be set during the setup process. Each of these options can be changed at any time after the installation.

The Site and System URLs will be auto detected and should be the location that iono is being installed in. The Admin E-Mail Address also acts as the address e-mails are sent from and error reports are sent to.

When you have filled out the fields, click Continue.

Step 6: Pre-installation Summary

Before iono is actually installed, you will be provided with a summary showing all the data you provided so you can double check everything. When you are happy, click the Continue button to perform the installation.

Step 7: Installation Complete

If everything went fine, you will be told that setup was successfull and that you now have to:

as well as being provided with links to access your new iono installation.