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Now that you have a domain name, you need to have it lead to PrestaShop. This means that the PrestaShop files need to reside on a web server. You might have a web server of your own, but it is more likely that you have or will have your store hosted by an Internet hosting service (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_hosting_service), which provides you with an online home for a monthly or yearly fee.

If you have never had a web host, here are some that you can trust:

• A2 Hosting: http://www.a2hosting.com/
• InMotion Hosting: http://www.inmotionhosting.com/
• OVH France: http://www.ovh.com/
• OVH UK: http://www.ovh.co.uk/

There are many more. Ask your friendsBefore starting an online store, you will first need to select a hosting provider. Just about every webhost can effectively handle the PrestaShop solution. However, only a few Hosting providers offer optimized servers for PrestaShop:

• • 1&1 worldwide: 1&1
  • InMotion Hosting in all countries, except France and Spain: InMotion
    
    

Check out our hosting partners!

When choosing your host, remember one crucial requirement: it must provide you with support for PHP 5.2 (or more recent), the programming language with which PrestaShop is written, and MySQL 5 (or more recent), the database system where PrestaShop stores all its data. There are more requirements: see the "Technical requirements" section below.

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• System: Unix, Linux or Windows. Unix is highly recommended.
• Web server: Apache Web server 1.3 or later.
• PHP 5.2 or later. ( You may have to activate PHP 5 on (ask your hosting service, see below.)provider).
• MySQL 5.0 or later.
• At least 64 Mb of RAM on your server (128 Mb is more comfy, the more the better).

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Installing any web-application locally requires that you first install the adequate environment, namely the Apache web server, the PHP language interpreter, the MySQL database server, and ideally the phpMyAdmin tool. This is called known as an AMP package: Apache+MySQL+PHP and the operating system, giving . It exists for many operating systems, which provides another letter for the acronym: WAMP (Windows+Apache+MySQL+PHP), MAMP (Mac OS X+...) and LAMP (Linux+...). Since all of the items packaged are open-source, these installers are most of the time free.

This would require you to be quite technical; luckily there exist many pre-built packages that you can install easily. It does not prevent you from having to get technical here and there, but they do provide a huge help. Since all of the items packaged are open-source, these installers are most of the time free. Here is a selection of free AMP installerinstallers:

• XAMPP: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris)
• WampServer: http://www.wampserver.com/en/ (Windows)
• EasyPHP: http://www.easyphp.org/ (Windows)
• MAMP: http://www.mamp.info/ (Mac OS X)

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• The web server should be up and running. You should be able to access it through your browser, by typing "127.0.0.1" in the address bar. http://127.0.0.1 is the "localhost", meaning "your computer": it is a loopback address which directs the browser to any your local server. In effect, http://127.0.0.1 and http://localhost are synonymous: you can use one or the other interchangeably.
• The database server should be up and running. MySQL is where all your of PrestaShop's data is stored. The AMP package should provide you with a clear indicator whether MySQL is running or not.
• The phpMyAdmin tool should be accessible. This is the web application that helps you handle data stored in MySQL. Its location depends on which AMP packaging you chose: it can be found at http://127.0.0.1/phpmyadmin (XAMPP, WampServer, MAMP), http://127.0.0.1/mysql (EasyPHP), or maybe at another location. Check your package's documentation – it might even provide a phpMyAdmin button of sort that would open the correct URL in your browser.

Once you have checked that the package is correctly installed and that all of its parts are running, you need to find the root folder. That is the local folder where you will place your application's files, and can be compared to the root folder of your online server, only its content is accessed with http://127.0.0.1. The actual local location of the folder depends greatly on the AMP package, and can be customized:

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• Files are not to be uploaded via FTP to a server: simply move them in the correct local folder, as indicated above.
• You do not have to create a local domain name: PrestaShop is available through the loopback address indicated above, which is either http://localhost or http://127.0.0.1 . PrestaShop itself is available at this address by adding its folder's name, for instance http://localhost/prestashop or http://127.0.0.1/prestashop if PrestaShop is in the /prestashop/ subfolder of the local root folder.. When accessing this address for the first time, you should be automatically redirected to PrestaShop's install, at either http://localhost/prestashop/install or http://127.0.0.1/prestashop/install . From there on, follow the regular installation guide, starting directly at the "Creating a database for your shop" section.