Hosting basics
This section is for everyone at a hosting company who needs to know what Exponential asks of a server before an
offer is designed, a server is built or a customer is helped: product managers, system administrators and support
staff. It answers one question per page: what does the software need, and what does that mean for the way you host
it. Every fact on these pages is taken from the repository (the installation book in doc/eng-us/install/, the help pages
on database support and operating system support, and the
shipped settings in settings/), and each page links to its sources so you can check them.
Back to the start of the hosting help: Hosting companies: start here.
Contents
How to read this section
| If you are ... | Start with |
|---|---|
| a product manager designing an offer | What hosting Exponential involves, then Requirements at a glance and Databases in the official order |
| a system administrator building a server | Requirements at a glance, PHP versions and extensions, PHP settings for Exponential, Writable directories and permissions |
| support staff answering a customer | Requirements at a glance and the page of the customer's database |
| planning capacity | Sizing memory, CPU and disk |
The pages
| Page | What it answers |
|---|---|
| What hosting Exponential involves | The parts a host provides (PHP, database, web server or Velocity, cron, mail, storage, backups) and who usually does what |
| Requirements at a glance | One table of everything a server needs, with the minimum, the recommendation and what checks it |
| PHP versions and extensions | PHP 8.0 to 8.5 (PHP 7.4 usable without support), the required and recommended extensions, and the package names per system family |
| PHP settings for Exponential | php.ini values the installer checks, the values to give a pool, OPcache, and the functions not to disable |
| Databases in the official order | The six supported databases, in order, side by side, and how to choose what to offer |
| SQLite for hosts | The default database: one file, its permissions, backups and limits |
| PostgreSQL for hosts | The recommended database server: owner, pgcrypto, backups |
| MongoDB for hosts | The MongoDB adapter: requirements, the user, indexes and limits |
| MariaDB for hosts | MariaDB on the mysqli driver: character set, grants, backups |
| Oracle for hosts | Oracle 19c and later through ezoracle: oci8, the user, DRCP |
| MySQL for hosts | MySQL on the mysqli driver: grants, InnoDB, replicas |
| Microsoft SQL Server status | Why there is no driver in 6.0.x and what it would take |
| Operating systems for hosts | The four tiers, the reference platform, panels and containers |
| Composer and Git on servers | How the code arrives, how extensions are packages, what not to run on a live site |
| Writable directories and permissions | What must be writable, one user or one group, the hardened file modes |
| Sizing memory, CPU and disk | The figures the repository states, and how to measure the rest |
| Image processing and media | GD and ImageMagick, image aliases, accepted upload types |
| Search backends | The built-in search, delayed indexing, and Solr through eZ Find |
The short version
- PHP 8.0 or later for the kernel, and for Exponential Velocity, the recommended web server, with
sockets(from Velocity 0.0.4.54; chapter 2). - Databases, in the official order: 1. SQLite 3 (default) · 2. PostgreSQL · 3. MongoDB · 4. MariaDB · 5. Oracle · 6. MySQL. Microsoft SQL Server is known to be possible with additional work at this time (no driver in 6.0.x). See Database support.
- Writable:
var/andsettings/always;design/andextension/while packages are installed from the administration (chapter 8). - Command line access matters: Composer, cronjobs, cache clearing and the console all run with the command line PHP.
- The installer checks the machine for you: the setup wizard's system check, the kickstarter and
exp:installrun the same critical tests and print the fix for each failure.
Related pages
- Hosting companies: start here
- Hosting models and Control panels
- Web servers and engines and Performance
- Operations, Security and Provisioning
- Chapter 2: Requirements
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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