Classic TYPO3 installation on linux using symlinks and shell access

Note

These instructions describe how to install TYPO3 in classic mode. This approach makes updates, deployment, and maintenance more difficult compared to using Composer.

If possible, use the dependency manager Composer. See Composer-based installation instructions.

This guide explains how to install TYPO3 manually on a Linux/Unix or Windows server using a .tar.gz or .zip archive. Shell access is required to create symbolic links, which makes future upgrades easier.

Prerequisites:

Shell (SSH) access to the server. If you do not have shell access, see Manual TYPO3 installation using .zip or .tar.gz archive.
Basic server tools such as wget or curl, tar, and ln or mklink
A web server such as Apache or nginx
A PHP version and required PHP extensions supported by the TYPO3 version you plan to install. See System requirements.
A database such as MySQL or MariaDB
A web browser to run the installation wizard

You can install TYPO3 on any server that meets the system requirements, including a suitable PHP version and database.

You can download TYPO3 either via a web browser from https://get.typo3.org/ or directly on the server using wget or curl.

To ensure that future upgrades can be performed smoothly and with minimal downtime, it is highly recommended to use symbolic links.

Installing TYPO3 on a Linux or Unix server

Download the TYPO3 source package using wget

Download the TYPO3 source package from https://get.typo3.org/:

/var/www/site/$

wget --content-disposition https://get.typo3.org/13

Ensure that the package is placed one level above the web server's document root.

Note

Make sure to check the TYPO3 release integrity of the downloaded files.

Unpack the TYPO3 package using tar

Unpack the typo3_src-13.4.y.tar.gz:

/var/www/site/$

tar xzf typo3_src-13.4.y.tar.gz

The y placeholders in the folder name will be replaced with the latest patch version number of TYPO3.

Create the required symlinks using ln

Create the following symlinks in your document root:

/var/www/site/$

ln -s ../typo3_src-13.4.y typo3_src
ln -s typo3_src/index.php index.php
ln -s typo3_src/typo3 typo3

Important

Make sure to upload the entire TYPO3 source directory, including the vendor directory. Missing this directory will result in missing dependencies.

Expected directory structure

After creating the symlinks, your directory structure should look like this:

typo3_src-13.4.y/
public/ :path:`typo3_src -> ../typo3_src-13.4.y/` typo3 -> typo3_src/typo3/ * index.php -> typo3_src/index.php