Installation

Welcome to the NanoMVC installation guide. This section walks you through setting up the framework, configuring paths, and preparing your environment to start building applications.

Quick "I just want to see it" Install

To get started quickly:

• Unpack the archive into your web document root
• Point your browser to htdocs/index.php
• You should see the welcome screen

Single Installation (Typical)

This setup is intended for a single website. If you’re planning to host multiple websites that share the NanoMVC core, see the "Shared Installation" section below.

Directory Structure

After unpacking the archive, you’ll see something like this:

/htdocs/
  index.php

/nanomvc/
  /myapp/
  /myfiles/
  /sysfiles/

Setup

1. Move index.php into your web server document root
2. Move the entire /nanomvc/ directory outside the web root (recommended)
3. If keeping it inside the web root, configure your web server to deny access to it

Example Layout

/var/www.foo.bar/htdocs/
  index.php

/var/www.foo.bar/nanomvc/
  /myapp/
  /myfiles/
  /sysfiles/

Configuration

Edit index.php and set paths as needed:

// Enable full error reporting
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', '1');

// Directory separator constant
if (!defined('DS')) define('DS', DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
// Uncomment and set if the /nanomvc/ dir is not one level above this file
// define('NMVC_BASEDIR', dirname(__FILE__) . DS . '..' . DS . 'nanomvc' . DS);

• Change error_reporting(E_ALL); to error_reporting(0); and ini_set('display_errors', '1'); to ini_set('display_errors', '0'); to hide all errors (typically for a production environment).
• Set the correct NMVC_BASEDIR path if necessary
• Always include a trailing slash (DS)

If you define NMVC_ERROR_HANDLING and set it to 1, NanoMVC will use its internal error and exception handlers. If you omit this or set it to 0, PHP's default handlers will be used instead. This is useful for debugging during development.

After saving, open http://localhost/index.php in your browser. If you don’t see the welcome screen, recheck your paths and error messages.

Database Settings

If your application uses a database, edit:

/nanomvc/myapp/configs/​config_database.php

Example configuration:

$config['default']['plugin']     = 'NanoMVC_PDO';
$config['default']['type']       = 'mysql';
$config['default']['host']       = 'localhost';
$config['default']['name']       = 'dbname';
$config['default']['user']       = 'dbuser';
$config['default']['pass']       = 'dbpass';
$config['default']['persistent'] = false;

• default is the name of the default DB connection
• You can define multiple connections by duplicating the block with a different name
• Use NanoMVC_PDO unless you have your own DB plugin

Shared Installation

This setup allows multiple websites to share the NanoMVC core libraries.

Structure

# Shared code
/usr/local/lib/nanomvc/
  /myfiles/
  /sysfiles/

# Website 1
/var/www.foo1.bar/htdocs/index.php
/var/www.foo1.bar/myapp/

# Website 2
/var/www.foo2.bar/htdocs/index.php
/var/www.foo2.bar/myapp/

# Website 3
/var/www.foo3.bar/htdocs/index.php
/var/www.foo3.bar/myapp/

For each website:

1. Install a unique index.php under its document root
2. Copy /myapp/ to the corresponding site folder
3. Edit index.php and define the paths:

/* NanoMVC base library path */
define('NMVC_BASEDIR', '/usr/local/lib/nanomvc/');

/* application library path */
define('NMVC_MYAPPDIR', '../myapp/');

• Be sure to include a trailing slash for both paths
• /sysfiles/ should never be modified directly — it’s updated on NanoMVC upgrades
• Use /myfiles/ to store shared plugins or helpers across projects

Using Git for Updates

If you use Git to get updates — which is a good idea compared to updating manually — keep the following in mind:

• The nanomvc/myapp folder can be modified. It contains demo materials to showcase how NanoMVC works. Any changes you make there may lead to conflicts during updates. The best practice is to copy this folder elsewhere. Instructions for where to copy it are provided earlier in this chapter.
• You are free to modify anything under nanomvc/myfiles. This folder is not affected by updates. The only file that may be updated occasionally is nanomvc/myfiles/plugins/README.

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