Use MySQL Database on Azure to deploy Joomla! apps

Joomla! is a package of free, open-source content management systems that you can use to build commercial websites, personal blogs, information management systems, and web services. You can also expand the range of Joomla! uses through secondary development. This article explains how to use MySQL Database on Azure to deploy Joomla! apps.

Step 1: Download the latest version of the Joomla! installation package and extract it.

1.1 Select the Download button on the download page of the official Joomla! website (Joomla! 3.6.2 download page).

1.2 Save the installation package locally, and then extract it. The installation package downloaded in this example is Joomla_3.6.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip, and it is extracted to C:\Joomla3.6.2).

Step 2: Create a web app

2.1 Sign in to the Azure Management Portal. In the lower-left corner, select New.

2.2 Click on Web + Mobile > , then Web App > , and then Create. Enter the App Name and Resource Group. At this point, you can create or select the App Service Plan/Location. (In this example, the URL of the website we created is joomlademo.chinacloudsites.cn.)

3-2

  1. Click on Create and wait for Azure to complete the operation.

Step 3: Create a MySQL Database on Azure server and database

Use the Azure portalto create your MySQL server. You can also create the first database for the server during the creation process. (The name of the database created in this example is joomlademodb001.)

Create MySQL server

[!NOTE]

Ensure that you have selected Allow Azure Services to access the server, otherwise this may cause deployment to fail.

Step 4: Upload the content to the /site/wwwroot directory of the web app

[!NOTE]

Upload all the content that you extracted in "Step 1: Download the latest version of the Joomla! installation package and extract it" to the /site/wwwroot directory of the web app that you created in "Step 2: Create a web app." You can complete this step by using an FTP tool, such as FileZilla, and the FTP access details that you obtain from the web app’s dashboard. [!NOTE] It is important that you save the files and folders in the C:\Joomla3.6.2 directory directly to the /wwwroot directory rather than to the /wwwroot/joomla3.6.2 directory.

Step 5: Configure Joomla! and complete the installation. Visit the website that you created in "Step 2: Create a web app,", and then use a browser to configure Joomla! and complete the installation.

5.1 Do either of the following:

* Open the browser, then enter the URL of the web [app] that you created in "Step 2: Create a web app.".

* Select the URL provided on the Azure classic portal dashboard page.

If the previous steps were completed correctly, this action should take you to the Joomla! installation process page.

5.2 Set the website name and administrator account details (using the URL provided on the Azure classic portal web app dashboard), and then click Next.

5.3 Configure the database type, the host name (using the server address that is provided on the Azure classic portal MySQL Database on Azure service dashboard), the account (using the user account that you created in Step 3: Create a MySQL Database on Azure servers and databases,taking care to use the format servername%username or username@servername), and the database name (using the database name that you created in Step 3.5), and then click Next.

5.4 If the connection to the server is successful, the Joomla! installation procedure will proceed to Step 3: Preview. Check all the settings to confirm that there are no errors, and then click Install to finish deploying the Joomla! app.

5.5 Click Delete the installation folder on the installation successful page, so that you can continue to perform other operations.