Requirements

1. Get the package

The installation package is available for download on this site’s Download page. Pick the archive that matches your needs:

• CDN — JavaScript libraries are loaded from the Internet. Small archive, but whoever browses the application needs Internet access.
• Portable — libraries are bundled in. Larger archive, no Internet access needed at runtime. This is the one to pick for an air-gapped network.

The sw_pkg_*.zip archive holds mon-appli\ (the web root), lib\, docs\, and a minimal securite\database.sqlite pre-filled with the title, theme and library URLs. It carries no secret — no database password, no encryption key.

2. PHP extensions

The list below comes from the application’s own source code. It separates what is mandatory from what only matters if you enable a given module — there is no point installing the Oracle Instant Client, several hundred megabytes, on a server that will never see an Oracle database.

Mandatory core — without these, the application either will not start or loses an essential function.

Depending on the modules you enable — only install these if the matching module is of use to you.

By contrast, curl, intl, exif, sockets, bz2, gmp, gettext and imap are never used by the application, whichever modules you enable: turning them on achieves nothing. Some of them still appear in older installation procedures.

3. php.ini settings

These values suit a typical instance. Each one answers a specific need of the application.

; --- Encoding and time zone ---
default_charset = "UTF-8"       ; seven-language interface
date.timezone = "Europe/Paris"  ; timestamps in logs and reports

; --- File uploads ---
; Audit archives, module update ZIPs, Oracle wallets.
; post_max_size must stay LARGER than upload_max_filesize, otherwise the
; upload is rejected before it even reaches the application, with no
; useful message.
upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 72M

; --- Resources ---
memory_limit = 256M             ; large reports, archive reading
max_execution_time = 300        ; long collections and exports

; --- Outbound network access ---
; Required for OAuth authentication and for building a Portable package.
; The application does not use curl: without this setting, both of these
; fail silently.
allow_url_fopen = On

; --- Sessions ---
session.use_strict_mode = 1
; No need to set gc_maxlifetime, cookie_httponly or cookie_samesite here:
; the application sets them itself when starting the session, from its own
; lifetime setting.

; --- Logging ---
; The application already forces display_errors to Off and log_errors to On.
; Only the log destination is worth setting here.
error_log = /var/log/php/error.log

Two directives deserve particular care, because they break features without any clear message:

4. Linux Red Hat / Oracle Linux

Applies to RHEL 8 and 9, Oracle Linux, Rocky and AlmaLinux.

# Enable PHP 8.2 (RHEL 9 / OL 9)
sudo dnf module reset php
sudo dnf module enable php:8.2
# RHEL 8: Remi repository, then "sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.2"

# Apache, PHP and the mandatory core
sudo dnf install -y httpd php php-cli php-common \
    php-mbstring php-sodium php-zip php-xml php-process

# Depending on the modules you enable
sudo dnf install -y php-ldap php-gd php-pgsql

php-process provides exec and shell_exec, which the Batch page needs to write the crontab. fileinfo is built in by default.

For the Oracle module only, add the Instant Client and build OCI8:

sudo dnf install -y oracle-instantclient-basic oracle-instantclient-devel
# or install the RPMs downloaded from oracle.com

# Declare the libraries to the linker
echo "/usr/lib/oracle/19.25/client64/lib" | \
    sudo tee /etc/ld.so.conf.d/oracle-instantclient.conf
sudo ldconfig

# Build the extension
sudo dnf install -y php-devel php-pear gcc make
sudo pecl install oci8-3.3.0
#   at the prompt: instantclient,/usr/lib/oracle/19.25/client64/lib
echo "extension=oci8.so" | sudo tee /etc/php.d/30-oci8.ini

SELinux being enforcing by default, allow Apache to write into the application’s working directories:

sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1
sudo chown -R apache:apache /opt/app/securite /opt/app/log
sudo chmod 750 /opt/app/securite
sudo restorecon -R /opt/app

Then move on to step 7.

5. Linux Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt update
# PHP 8.2 if your distribution does not ship it
sudo apt install -y software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt update

# Apache, PHP and the mandatory core
sudo apt install -y apache2 libapache2-mod-php8.2 \
    php8.2 php8.2-cli php8.2-mbstring php8.2-sqlite3 \
    php8.2-zip php8.2-xml

# Depending on the modules you enable
sudo apt install -y php8.2-ldap php8.2-gd php8.2-pgsql

For the Oracle module only:

sudo apt install -y libaio1 unzip php8.2-dev php-pear gcc make

sudo mkdir -p /opt/oracle
sudo unzip instantclient-basic-linux.x64-19.25*.zip -d /opt/oracle
sudo unzip instantclient-sdk-linux.x64-19.25*.zip   -d /opt/oracle

echo "/opt/oracle/instantclient_19_25" | \
    sudo tee /etc/ld.so.conf.d/oracle-instantclient.conf
sudo ldconfig

sudo pecl install oci8-3.3.0
#   at the prompt: instantclient,/opt/oracle/instantclient_19_25
echo "extension=oci8.so" | sudo tee /etc/php/8.2/mods-available/oci8.ini
sudo phpenmod oci8

Permissions on the working directories:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /opt/app/securite /opt/app/log
sudo chmod 750 /opt/app/securite

Then move on to step 7.

6. Windows with ppowa

The Windows installation relies on a portable layout: Apache and PHP side by side, with no installer and no imposed system service.

C:\ppowa-64S\
├── httpd-2.4\          Apache server
│   └── conf\httpd.conf
├── php-8.2.17\        PHP interpreter
│   ├── php.ini
│   ├── php8apache2_4.dll
│   └── ext\
└── my-app\            the unpacked package
    ├── mon-appli\      web root (DocumentRoot)
    ├── lib\
    ├── securite\       outside the web root
    └── log\            outside the web root

1. Download Apache 2.4 for Windows (VS17 x64) from apachelounge.com and extract it into C:\ppowa-64S\httpd-2.4\.
2. Download PHP 8.2.x Thread Safe x64 from windows.php.net and extract it into C:\ppowa-64S\php-8.2.17\.
3. Install the matching Visual C++ Redistributable, required by both Apache and PHP.
4. Copy php.ini-production to php.ini and add the lines below, on top of the settings from step 3.

extension_dir = "C:/ppowa-64S/php-8.2.17/ext"

; Mandatory core
extension=sqlite3
extension=sodium
extension=mbstring
extension=zip
extension=openssl
extension=xml
extension=fileinfo

; Depending on the modules you enable
extension=oci8_19     ; Oracle module (Instant Client 19c required)
extension=pgsql       ; PostgreSQL module
extension=ldap        ; LDAP / Active Directory authentication
extension=gd          ; custom logo and favicon

Configure Apache in C:\ppowa-64S\httpd-2.4\conf\httpd.conf:

Define SRVROOT "C:/ppowa-64S/httpd-2.4"
ServerRoot "${SRVROOT}"
Listen 80

# Load PHP as a module
PHPIniDir "C:/ppowa-64S/php-8.2.17"
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
LoadModule php_module "C:/ppowa-64S/php-8.2.17/php8apache2_4.dll"

# Web root = the mon-appli subfolder of the package
DocumentRoot "C:/ppowa-64S/my-app/mon-appli"
<Directory "C:/ppowa-64S/my-app/mon-appli">
    Options +FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

For the Oracle module only: download the Instant Client Basic 19c 64-bit from oracle.com, extract it into C:\oracle\instantclient_19_25\, and add that folder to the system PATH.

7. Deploy the package

Transfer the archive to the server, then extract it.

# Linux
scp sw_pkg_*_portable.zip user@server:/tmp/
sudo mkdir -p /opt/app
sudo unzip /tmp/sw_pkg_*_portable.zip -d /opt/app

# Windows: extract into C:\ppowa-64S\my-app\

The web root is the mon-appli subfolder, and nothing else. The securite\ folder (SQLite database and encryption key) and log\ stay outside the web root: they are never reachable over HTTP.

Under Apache, URL rewriting must be active: check that mod_rewrite is loaded and that AllowOverride All is set on the directory, otherwise the .htaccess file shipped with the application is ignored.

8. First login

Start the web server and open the application in a browser. On first access, the application creates its full database schema and its encryption key.

9. Check the installation

1. The login page appears, style sheets included.
2. You can log in and change the admin password.
3. In Administration » Modules, enable the modules you need. A module whose PHP extension is missing will say so when you enable it.
4. Declare a database and run a connection test: this is the most telling check of all, as it exercises the extension, the client and the network in one go.
5. Check that log\app.log is filling up. If the file stays empty or missing, revisit the write permissions.

If you get a blank page, the answer is in the PHP error log, not in the browser: display_errors is Off in production.