Problem

You need to configure a Movable Type system.

Solution

Add to and modify the configuration directives in mt-config.cgi, the Movable Type configuration file.

Discussion

Configuration directives define the baseline information Movable Type needs to run in any given environment. These should not be confused with the system and weblog settings accessed through the MT interface. The configuration contains only the basic information that MT needs to get running.

The following steps detail the basic configuration each installation will initially need in order to get running.

• Open mt-config.cgi

  Movable Type's configuration is stored as a text file named mt-config.cgi found in the MT application's directory. If this is your first time configuring the system you can rename mt-config.cgi-original, a sample and annotated configuration, or create one from scratch. Open this file with a text editor such as BBEdit, Notepad or vi.

• Configure the CGI Path

  Set the CGIPath directive with the URL of MT without the script name. For example if your site is http://www.example.com/ and you are installing MT in its own subdirectory mt, under the CGI directory, you would use:

   CGIPath http://www.example.com/cgi/mt/

  With this directive you will be able to access MT with the URL http://www.example.com/cgi/mt/mt.cgi.

• Configure Database Options

  Movable Type needs some information about your database setup in order to access your content and settings. How you handle this step may vary slightly due to the nature of each option.

  • MySQL

     ObjectDriver DBI::mysql
     Database mt_database_name
     DBUser database_user
     DBPassword secret_password
     DBHost database_server_name_or_IP
     

    The database that you specify must already exist. Movable Type cannot create it automatically. MT will initialize the database by creating all necessary tables and indices later. See Initializing the System.

  • PostgreSQL

    Configuring your system for PostgreSQL is identical to MySQL except for a PostgreSQL-only ObjectDriver value.

     ObjectDriver DBI::postgres
     

    Like MySQL, the database that you specify must already exist.

  • SQLite

     ObjectDriver DBI::sqlite
     Database /full/path/to/database/file.db

    SQLite is a file-based database system that runs on the same machine as the MT software. Directives such as DBUser and DBHost are not needed. Placed in a directory with Write permission, MT should be able to create the file during initialization.

  • Berkeley DB

    DataSource /full/path/to/database/directory

    Berkeley DB is Movable Type's default database option because of its near universal availability and easy configuration. It is still recommended that you consider using one of the other database options if at all possible. Berkeley DB is significantly slower and older versions are prone to data corruption issues.

• Configure the URL path for the static system files

  Static files are resources such as style sheets, images and JavaScript libraries that are loaded by the browser in the process of presenting the MT system interface. By default MT assumes the static files are in mt-static, the same directory as your application in the distribution file.

  That said, many system administrators will shut down the ability of static files to be served from CGI directories such as the one where the MT code would reside. This is a security precaution to avoid the potential of code being dumped to a browser screen, possibly revealing information such as passwords that users generally shouldn't be privy to. (See knowledge base article "Images, Styles, and Documentation Do Not Show Up" for further explanation of this problem.)

  Therefore, while theoretically optional, it's highly recommended that the StaticWebPath be set to a location outside of any scripts directory.

  For example:

   StaticWebPath http://www.example.com/mt-static/

• Save and exit mt-config.cgi

  Upon saving the configuration file, MT will be able to make use of the new settings. It is a good idea to keep a backup copy of your configuration in case it gets overwritten or inadvertently changed.

  If you are using SQLite or Berkeley DB, the initial system configuration is now complete.