Drupal is a powerful enterprise-level content management system that is perfectly suited for complex websites. With Installatron in DirectAdmin, you can install Drupal with just a few clicks. In this guide, we will walk you through the entire installation process.

Why Choose Drupal

Drupal stands out from other CMS systems due to:

  • Excellent scalability for large websites
  • Advanced user and permission management
  • Powerful content structuring with content types
  • Large community and thousands of modules
  • Used by governments and large organizations
  • Strong security as standard

Drupal is ideal for websites that go beyond a simple blog or brochure site.

System Requirements for Drupal

Before you begin, check if your hosting meets the requirements:

PHP Requirements

  • PHP 8.1 or higher (8.2 recommended)
  • PHP memory limit: at least 64MB (128MB recommended)
  • Required PHP extensions:
    • PDO
    • xml
    • gd or ImageMagick
    • OpenSSL
    • JSON
    • cURL
    • mbstring

Database Requirements

  • MySQL 5.7.8 or higher
  • MariaDB 10.3.7 or higher
  • PostgreSQL 12 or higher (alternative)

Other Requirements

  • mod_rewrite for clean URLs
  • Sufficient disk space (at least 60MB for core)

At Theory7 hosting, all packages meet these requirements by default.

Installing Drupal via Installatron

Installatron makes installing Drupal easy and fast.

Opening DirectAdmin

  1. Go to your DirectAdmin URL (usually domain.nl:2222)
  2. Log in with your username and password
  3. You will enter the DirectAdmin dashboard

Finding Installatron

  1. Look for Installatron Applications Installer in the menu
  2. Or click on the Installatron icon in the Software section
  3. You will enter the Installatron interface

Selecting Drupal

  1. Use the search bar and type "Drupal"
  2. Or browse to the Content Management category
  3. Click on the Drupal logo
  4. Click on + Install this application

Configuring Installation

Fill in the installation settings:

Location

  • Domain: Select the domain where you want to install Drupal
  • Directory: Leave empty for the main domain, or fill in a subfolder (e.g., "blog")

Version

  • Choose the latest stable version (currently Drupal 10.x)
  • Use automatic updates only for minor versions

Settings

  • Site name: The name of your website
  • Admin username: Choose a secure name (not "admin")
  • Admin password: Generate a strong password
  • Admin email: Your email address for notifications

Database

  • Installatron automatically creates a database
  • Or select an existing database if desired

Starting Installation

  1. Check all settings
  2. Click on Install
  3. Wait for the installation to complete (1-3 minutes)
  4. You will see a confirmation screen with login details

After Installation

After a successful installation, you can get started right away.

Logging into Drupal

  1. Go to yourdomain.nl/user/login
  2. Enter your admin username
  3. Enter your password
  4. Click on Log in

Walking Through Initial Configuration

Drupal will guide you through the basic setup:

  1. Status report: Check if everything is working correctly
  2. Regional settings: Set time zone and language
  3. Performance: Configure caching for speed

Exploring Administration

The Drupal admin panel consists of:

  • Content: Manage articles and pages
  • Structure: Content types, menus, and taxonomy
  • Appearance: Themes and display
  • Extend: Add modules
  • Configuration: System settings
  • People: User management
  • Reports: Status and logs

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Installation Stuck

  1. Refresh the page after a few minutes
  2. Check the server resources in DirectAdmin
  3. Try the installation again

Database Error

  1. Check if the database limit has not been reached
  2. Create a database manually in DirectAdmin
  3. Use this database during installation

Clean URLs Not Working

  1. Check if mod_rewrite is active
  2. Rename the default .htaccess if necessary
  3. Check the permissions of the .htaccess file

Memory Error

  1. Increase PHP memory limit via DirectAdmin
  2. Go to Domain Setup and then PHP Settings
  3. Set memory_limit to at least 128M

After installation, we recommend these steps:

Setting Up Security

  1. Do not change the default admin URL (Drupal has good security)
  2. Set up two-factor authentication
  3. Configure SSL/HTTPS
  4. Schedule regular backups

Optimizing Performance

  1. Enable caching via Configuration and then Performance
  2. Aggregate CSS and JavaScript files
  3. Configure OPcache in PHP

Planning Content Structure

  1. Define the content types you need
  2. Plan the taxonomy (categories and tags)
  3. Create the menu structure

Next Steps

Now that Drupal is installed, you can continue with:

Need Help?

We are here for you! Are you facing any issues or do you have questions? Our support team is happy to assist you personally. Send us a message via the ticket system - we usually respond within a few hours and are happy to help.