This guide will walk you through the process of installing Aikeedo on your local machine. This is ideal for development, testing, or personal use.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:
  1. Downloaded the Aikeedo package
  2. Familiarity with command-line operations
  3. A local development environment (we’ll cover different options)

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Option 1: Using PHP’s Built-in Server

This option is suitable if you already have PHP and MySQL installed and accessible via the command line.
1

Prepare Your Environment

Ensure you have:
  • PHP 8.2 or higher installed and accessible via command line
  • MySQL 8.0 or higher installed and running
2

Extract Aikeedo Files

  1. Locate the aikeedo-server-files.zip in your Aikeedo package.
  2. Extract the contents to a directory of your choice, e.g., C:\aikeedo or /home/user/aikeedo.
3

Set Up the Database

  1. Open your MySQL client or command-line tool:
    • For command-line users, open your terminal and type mysql -u root -p to access MySQL.
    • For GUI users, open tools like phpMyAdmin, MySQL Workbench, or HeidiSQL.
  2. Create a new database for Aikeedo:
    • In the MySQL command line or GUI query window, execute the following SQL command:
    CREATE DATABASE aikeedo;
    • This creates a new, empty database named ‘aikeedo’ that will store all your Aikeedo data.
  3. Create a new user (recommended for security): 
    CREATE USER 'aikeedo_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON aikeedo.* TO 'aikeedo_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
    Replace ‘your_secure_password’ with a strong, unique password.
  4. Note down the following information for the installation wizard:
    • Database name: aikeedo
    • Username: aikeedo_user (or ‘root’ if you skipped step 3)
    • Password: The password you set (or your root password if using root)
    • Host: localhost (in most cases)
If you’re not comfortable with database management, consider using a database administration tool like phpMyAdmin, which often comes pre-installed with local development environments like XAMPP or MAMP.
4

Start the PHP Server

To start the PHP development server:
  1. Open your terminal or command prompt.
  2. Navigate to the root directory of your Aikeedo installation. This is the directory where you extracted the Aikeedo files, e.g., C:\aikeedo or /home/user/aikeedo.
  3. Once in the root directory, run the following command:
php -S localhost:8000 -t public
This command does the following:
  • php -S starts PHP’s built-in development server
  • localhost:8000 sets the server to listen on localhost at port 8000
  • -t public sets the document root to the public directory within your Aikeedo installation
After running this command, you should see output indicating that the server is running. Keep this terminal window open to keep the server active.
5

Access Aikeedo

Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8000. You should see the Aikeedo installation wizard.
6

Follow On-Screen Installation Wizard

  1. Provide the database credentials you noted earlier.
  2. Enter your Aikeedo Purchase Code.
  3. Set up your admin account details.
  4. Follow any additional steps as prompted by the wizard.

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Option 2: Using Local Development Environments

This option is suitable if you prefer using pre-configured local development environments like XAMPP, MAMP, or Laragon.
1

Install XAMPP

Download and install XAMPP from the official website.
2

Configure Virtual Host

  1. Open C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf (Windows) or /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf (macOS).
  2. Add a new virtual host:
<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/aikeedo/public"
    ServerName aikeedo.test
    <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/aikeedo/public">
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
3

Update Hosts File

  1. Open your hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts on Windows or /etc/hosts on macOS).
  2. Add the following line:
127.0.0.1 aikeedo.test
4

Extract Aikeedo Files

Extract the contents of aikeedo-server-files.zip to C:\xampp\htdocs\aikeedo (Windows) or /Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/aikeedo (macOS).
5

Set Up Database

  1. Open phpMyAdmin (usually at http://localhost/phpmyadmin).
  2. Create a new database named aikeedo.
6

Access Aikeedo

Restart Apache in XAMPP, then navigate to http://aikeedo.test in your browser. You should see the installation wizard.
7

Complete Installation

Follow the on-screen installation wizard to complete the setup.
Remember, Aikeedo must be installed in the domain root. Subpaths like http://localhost/subdirectory are not supported.

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Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues during local installation:
  1. Ensure your local environment meets all server requirements.
  2. Check that all file permissions are set correctly.
  3. Verify that your virtual host and hosts file configurations are correct.
  4. For more detailed troubleshooting steps, refer to our Troubleshooting Guide.
If you’re still having trouble, don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team.

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Next Steps

After successfully installing Aikeedo locally:
  1. Explore the Initial Setup Guide to configure your local instance.
  2. Check out our Local Development Guide for tips on developing with Aikeedo.
Congratulations on setting up Aikeedo locally! You’re now ready to start developing or testing with your local instance.