root/django/branches/unicode/docs/install.txt

=====================
How to install Django
=====================

This document will get you up and running with Django.

Install Python
==============

Being a Python Web framework, Django requires Python.

It works with any Python version 2.3 and higher.

Get Python at http://www.python.org. If you're running Linux or Mac OS X, you
probably already have it installed.

Install Apache and mod_python
=============================

If you just want to experiment with Django, skip ahead to the next
section; Django includes a lightweight web server you can use for
testing, so you won't need to set up Apache until you're ready to
deploy Django in production.

If you want to use Django on a production site, use Apache with `mod_python`_.
mod_python is similar to mod_perl -- it embeds Python within Apache and loads
Python code into memory when the server starts. Code stays in memory throughout
the life of an Apache process, which leads to significant performance gains
over other server arrangements. Make sure you have Apache installed, with the
mod_python module activated. Django requires Apache 2.x and mod_python 3.x.

See `How to use Django with mod_python`_ for information on how to configure
mod_python once you have it installed.

If you can't use mod_python for some reason, fear not: Django follows the WSGI_
spec, which allows it to run on a variety of server platforms. See the
`server-arrangements wiki page`_ for specific installation instructions for
each platform.

.. _Apache: http://httpd.apache.org/
.. _mod_python: http://www.modpython.org/
.. _WSGI: http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0333.html
.. _How to use Django with mod_python: ../modpython/
.. _server-arrangements wiki page: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/ServerArrangements

Get your database running
=========================

If you plan to use Django's database API functionality, you'll need to
make sure a database server is running. Django works with PostgreSQL_,
MySQL_, Oracle_ and SQLite_ (the latter doesn't require a separate server to
be running).

Additionally, you'll need to make sure your Python database bindings are
installed.

* If you're using PostgreSQL, you'll need the psycopg_ package. Django supports
  both version 1 and 2. (When you configure Django's database layer, specify
  either ``postgresql`` [for version 1] or ``postgresql_psycopg2`` [for version 2].)

  If you're on Windows, check out the unofficial `compiled Windows version`_.

* If you're using MySQL, you'll need MySQLdb_, version 1.2.1p2 or higher.
  You will also want to read the database-specific notes for the `MySQL backend`_.

* If you're using SQLite, you'll need pysqlite_. Use version 2.0.3 or higher.

* If you're using Oracle, you'll need cx_Oracle_, version 4.3.1 or higher.

.. _PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/
.. _MySQL: http://www.mysql.com/
.. _Django's ticket system: http://code.djangoproject.com/report/1
.. _psycopg: http://initd.org/tracker/psycopg
.. _compiled Windows version: http://stickpeople.com/projects/python/win-psycopg/
.. _MySQLdb: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mysql-python
.. _SQLite: http://www.sqlite.org/
.. _pysqlite: http://initd.org/tracker/pysqlite
.. _MySQL backend: ../databases/
.. _cx_Oracle: http://www.python.net/crew/atuining/cx_Oracle/
.. _Oracle: http://www.oracle.com/

Remove any old versions of Django
=================================

If you are upgrading your installation of Django from a previous version,
you will need to uninstall the old Django version before installing the
new version.

If you installed Django using ``setup.py install``, uninstalling
is as simple as deleting the ``django`` directory from your Python
``site-packages``.

If you installed Django from a Python egg, remove the Django ``.egg`` file,
and remove the reference to the egg in the file named ``easy-install.pth``.
This file should also be located in your ``site-packages`` directory.

.. admonition:: Where are my ``site-packages`` stored?

    The location of the ``site-packages`` directory depends on the operating
    system, and the location in which Python was installed. To find out your
    system's ``site-packages`` location, execute the following::

        python -c "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib; print get_python_lib()"

    (Note that this should be run from a shell prompt, not a Python interactive
    prompt.)

Install the Django code
=======================

Installation instructions are slightly different depending on whether you're
using the latest official version or the latest development version.

It's easy either way.

Installing the official version
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    1. Check the `distribution specific notes`_ to see if your
       platform/distribution provides official Django packages/installers.
       Distribution-provided packages will typically allow for automatic
       installation of dependancies and easy upgrade paths.

    2. Download the latest release from our `download page`_.

    3. Untar the downloaded file (e.g. ``tar xzvf Django-NNN.tar.gz``).

    4. Change into the downloaded directory (e.g. ``cd Django-NNN``).

    5. Run ``sudo python setup.py install``.

The command will install Django in your Python installation's ``site-packages``
directory.

.. _distribution specific notes: ../distributions/

Installing the development version
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you'd like to be able to update your Django code occasionally with the
latest bug fixes and improvements, follow these instructions:

1. Make sure you have Subversion_ installed.
2. Check out the Django code into your Python ``site-packages`` directory.

   On Linux / Mac OSX / Unix, do this::

       svn co http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk/ django_src
       ln -s `pwd`/django_src/django SITE-PACKAGES-DIR/django

   (In the above line, change ``SITE-PACKAGES-DIR`` to match the location of
   your system's ``site-packages`` directory, as explained in the
   "Where are my ``site-packages`` stored?" section above.)

   On Windows, do this::

       svn co http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk/django c:\Python24\lib\site-packages\django

3. Copy the file ``django_src/django/bin/django-admin.py`` to somewhere on your
   system path, such as ``/usr/local/bin`` (Unix) or ``C:\Python24\Scripts``
   (Windows). This step simply lets you type ``django-admin.py`` from within
   any directory, rather than having to qualify the command with the full path
   to the file.

You *don't* have to run ``python setup.py install``, because that command
takes care of steps 2 and 3 for you.

When you want to update your copy of the Django source code, just run the
command ``svn update`` from within the ``django`` directory. When you do this,
Subversion will automatically download any changes.

.. _`download page`: http://www.djangoproject.com/download/
.. _Subversion: http://subversion.tigris.org/