Creating a new distribution

This chapter describes the main steps in creating a new distribution.

Concept of distributions

The distributions are full TYPO3 websites that only need to be unpacked. They offer a simple and quick introduction to the use of the TYPO3. The best known distribution is the Introduction Package. Distributions are easiest to install via the Extension Manager (EM) under "Get preconfigured distribution".

A distribution is just an extension enriched with some further data that is loaded or executed upon installing that extension. A distribution takes care of the following parts:

  • Deliver initial database data
  • Deliver fileadmin files
  • Deliver configuration for a package
  • Hook into the process after saving configuration to trigger actions dependent on configuration values
  • Deliver dependent extensions if needed (e.g., customized versions or extensions not available through TER)

Kickstarting the Distribution

A distribution is a special kind of extension. The first step is thus to create a new extension. Start by registering an extension key, which will be the unique identifier of your distribution.

Next create the extension declaration file as usual, except for the "category" property which must be set to distribution.

Configuring the Distribution Display in the EM

You should provide two preview images for your distribution. Provide a small 220x150 pixels for the list in the Extension Manager as Resources/Public/Images/Distribution.png and a larger 300x400 pixels welcome image as Resources/Public/Images/DistributionWelcome.png. The welcome image is displayed in the distribution detail view inside the Extension Manager.

Fileadmin Files

Create the following folder structure inside your extension:

  • Initialisation
  • Initialisation/Files

All the files inside that second folder will be copied to fileadmin/<extkey> during installation, where "extkey" is the extension key of your distribution.

A good strategy for files (as followed by the Introduction Package) is to construct the distribution so that it can be uninstalled and removed from the file system after the initial import.

To achieve that, when creating content for your distribution, all your content related files (assets) should be located within fileadmin/<extkey> in the first place, and content elements or other records should reference these files via FAL. A good export preset will then contain the content related assets within your dump.

If there are files not directly referenced in tables selected for export (for example ext:form .yml form configurations), you can locate them within fileadmin/<extkey>, too. Only those need to be copied to Initialisation/Files - all other files referenced in database rows will be within your export dump.

Note that you should not put your website configuration (TypoScript files, JavaScript, CSS, logos, etc.) in fileadmin/, which is intended for editors only, but in a separate extension. In the case of the Introduction Package, the configuration is located in the Bootstrap Package extension, and the Introduction Package depends on it. In this way, the Introduction Package provides only the database dump and asset files which results in only content-related files being in fileadmin/, which are provided by the Introduction Package.

Site configuration

In order to import a site configuration upon installation, supply a site config file to Initialisation/Site/<SITE_IDENTIFIER>/config.yaml.

Database Data

The database data is delivered as TYPO3 export file under Initialisation/data.xml.

Generate this file by exporting your whole TYPO3 instance from the root of the page tree using the export module:

  1. Page tree

    Open the export module by right-clicking on the root of the page tree and selecting More Options > Export.

  2. Export module: Configuration

    Select the tables to be included in the export: It should include all tables except be_users and sys_log.

    Relations to all tables should be included, whereas static relations should not. Static relations are only useful if the related records already exist in the target TYPO3 instance. This is not the case with distributions that initialize the target TYPO3 instance.

    Fine-tune the export configuration by evaluating the list of records at the bottom of the page under "Inside pagetree": This is a precalculation of the records to be included in the export.

    Do not forget to click Update before proceeding to the next tab.

  3. Export module: Advanced Options

    Check Save files in extra folder beside the export file to save files (e.g. images), referenced in database data, in a separate folder instead of directly in the export file .

  4. Export module: File & Preset

    Insert meaningful metadata under Meta data. The file name must be "data" and the file format must be set to "XML".

    To reuse your export configuration during ongoing distribution development, you should now save it as a preset. Choose a descriptive title and click the Save button. A record will be created in the tx_impexp_presets table.

    Currently, after saving the export configuration, you jump to the first tab, so navigate back to the File & Preset tab.

    To finish the export, click the Save to filename button. Copy the export file from /fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/importtexport/data.xml to the distribution folder under Initialisation/data.xml.

    If referenced files were exported, copy the fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/importtexport/data.xml.files/ folder containing the files with hashed filenames to the distribution folder under Initialisation/data.xml.files/.

Distribution Configuration

A distribution is technically handled as an extension. Therefore you can make use of all configuration options as needed.

After installing the extension, the event AfterPackageActivationEvent is dispatched. You may use this to alter your website configuration (e.g. color scheme) on the fly.

Test Your Distribution

To test your distribution, copy your extension to an empty TYPO3 installation and try to install it from the Extension Manager.

To test a distribution locally without uploading to TER, just install a blank TYPO3 (last step in installer "Just get me to the Backend"), then go to Extension Manager, select "Get extensions" once to let the Extension Manager initialize the extension list (this is needed if your distribution has dependencies to other extensions, for instance the Introduction Package depends on the Bootstrap Package). Next, copy or move the distribution extension to typo3conf/ext, it will then show up in Extension Manager default tab "Installed Extensions".

Install the distribution extension from there. The Extension Manager will then resolve TER dependencies, load the database dump and handle the file operations. Under the hood, this does the same as later installing the distribution via "Get preconfigured distribution", when it has been uploaded or updated in TER, with the only difference that you can provide and test the distribution locally without uploading to TER first.