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Documentation

Installation Guide Index

These are the official installation guides and resources for Movable Type.

Installation Guide Index

Reference

See our support page if you need more help.

Tools Necessary for Installation

  • An access to your web server. This can be via FTP (with an FTP client), via SSH, etc.
  • A text editor which edits plain text files. Also called a source code editor. Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on a Mac are common. (If accessing via SSH, then vi or other command line text editor is sufficient.)
  • Your web browser of choice: Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc.

Before Installing

  1. Because each server environment may come with differnet sets of pre-installed software, confirm that your web host meets the minimum requirements to run Movable Type. If you’re unsure, point your web host to the Movable Type System Requirements page.
  2. Download Movable Type. Get the latest version of Movable Type Pro or Movable Type Open Source.
  3. On your web server, determine the following directories (folders):
    • web root directory where the mt-static directory will be placed. The webroot directory contains the homepage of the website.
    • cgi-bin directory where cgi scripts are executable. This directory is usually named cgi-bin, but may be CGI-BIN or cgi. If this directory doesn’t exist as a sibling or child of the web root directory, ask you hosting provider for the location.
  4. Have database details ready.

    For MySQL (recommended database) you’ll minimally need the following:

    • database name
    • database user
    • database user password

    For PostgreSQL (supported in MT3.x and 4.x) you’ll also need this info.

    SQLite (supported in MT3.x and 4.x) will require:

    • the path to the database file.

All ready? Let’s install Movable Type…

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7 Comments

dorothy on July 19, 2012, 8:54 a.m. Reply

I had some trouble installation it, but after reading this it worked out. Thanks!

incasso on October 9, 2012, 6:45 a.m. Reply

Is this for serious building of websites? I am looking for more ease than what I am getting from Wordpress.

Brandon Hopkins on November 14, 2012, 10:21 a.m. Reply

You said that Firefox and Safari were recommended. I found that Chrome works well too!

Camilo on November 17, 2012, 8:04 a.m. Reply

MT is a very versatile CMS which allows you to manage content and output it in any format without making any assumption or imposing anything. I typically use it to produce HTML, PHP, XML files for both static and dynamic sites.

JohnnyD on December 3, 2013, 4:56 a.m. Reply

Hello! what database user “access to database” rights do I require to set when creating database user for movabletype database? Are there any additional access restrictions (i.e “chmod”) required or recommended for mt-static directory, its subdirectories and files? Regards

Kaylee Stewart on January 18, 2014, 9:58 a.m. Reply

I installed the opensource MovableType on one of my blogs. I had a few cgi-bin issues, but got them pretty quickly worked out. This guide was incredibly helpful in the setup process.

I’ve mainly used Wordpress in the past, but after setting up MT and seeing what it’s really made of, I can say that MovableType is MUCH better than the other blogging platforms out there.

ryane on May 10, 2014, 11:25 a.m. Reply

It is easy and reliable to use this.. I use it to produce HTML, PHP, XML files for both static and dynamic sites.