PrestaShop is an open-source CMS for online stores. PrestaShop supports a system of modules and themes, allowing you to extend functionality without changing the core. Thanks to an active community and a large number of ready-made extensions, the platform easily adapts to any business processes, from product catalogs to integrations with delivery services and CRMs.

Environment preparation

Installing PrestaShop on hosting

1. Download the PrestaShop distribution. Get a stable build from the project’s releases page on GitHub.

2. Upload the PrestaShop archive using the file manager or via FTP.

3. Create a user and a database.

4. Run the web installer. Open http://DOMAIN_NAME/install/ and follow the setup wizard steps:

• Select your preferred interface language.

• Accept the license agreement.

• Fill in the administrative details and your store information.

• Choose your preferred store theme.

• Enter the parameters of the previously created database: DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD.

• Wait for the installation to complete.

Installing PrestaShop on a server

1. Download the PrestaShop distribution. Get a stable build from the project’s releases page on GitHub.

   Create directory and download archive

   mkdir -p /var/www/DOMAIN_NAME && cd /var/www/DOMAIN_NAME
   wget -O prestashop.zip "https://github.com/PrestaShop/PrestaShop/archive/refs/tags/9.0.0.zip"
   unzip prestashop.zip && rm prestashop.zip
   

2. Create the database and user. Run the following commands:

   Create DB and MySQL/MariaDB user

     mysql -u root <<'SQL'
   CREATE DATABASE DB_NAME CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
   CREATE USER 'DB_USER'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'DB_PASSWORD';
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DB_NAME.* TO 'DB_USER'@'localhost';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   

3. Install PHP and extensions. For Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 install PHP 8.3 and required modules:

   Install PHP and extensions (Ubuntu)

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install -y php8.3 php8.3-fpm php8.3-cli php8.3-mysql php8.3-xml \
     php8.3-gd php8.3-curl php8.3-zip php8.3-intl php8.3-mbstring
   php -v
   php -m | grep -E "mbstring|intl|zip|curl|xml|gd|mysql"
   

   Increase PHP limits in php.ini: memory_limit=512M, max_execution_time=300.

4. Run the web installer. Open http://DOMAIN_NAME/install/ and follow the wizard.

Nginx web server configuration

Use the current example configuration from the official PrestaShop documentation.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name DOMAIN_NAME;

    root /var/www/DOMAIN_NAME/;
    index index.php index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    # PHP scripts
    location ~ \.php$ {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 120;
    }

    # Security: deny direct access to sensitive paths
    location ~* ^/(classes/|config/|download/|mails/|modules/|translations/|tools/|var/) {
        deny all;
        return 403;
    }
}

Create a symlink, test the config, and reload Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/prestashop.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Configuring additional PrestaShop features

SSL certificate (HTTPS)

To enable HTTPS, use Let’s Encrypt or a commercial SSL certificate.

PrestaShop cron tasks

Enable regular tasks via the Cron Tasks module or configure a system crontab:

crontab -e
# every 5 minutes:
*/5 * * * * wget -q -O - "http://DOMAIN_NAME/modules/cronjobs/cron.php?token=CRON_TOKEN"

Caching and performance

• Enable OPcache in PHP.
• On the Nginx side, use compression and caching for static assets. You can do it as shown here.

Verification and testing

1. Open your site: http://DOMAIN_NAME/ — the storefront should load without 404s or redirect loops.
2. Admin panel login: after installation, the admin directory name receives a random suffix. The URL will look like http://DOMAIN_NAME/admin<random_hash>/.
3. Enable Friendly URL in SEO settings and make sure pages and images open correctly. For Nginx, the try_files rule is critical.

Useful links