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Minimum System Requirement

To run SMF 2.0, the server it resides on will need to meet some minimum specified requirements. Additionally, there are some recommended requirements that may give advanced capabilities to users.

• PHP 4.1.0 or higher
• The following must be changed in the php.ini file.
  • The engine directive must be set to On.
  • The magic_quotes_sybase directive must be set to Off.
  • The session.save_path directive must be set to a valid directory or empty.
  • The file_uploads directive must be set to On.
  • The upload_tmp_dir directive must be set to a valid directory or empty.
• One of the following databases must be installed.
  • MySQL 4.0.18 or higher (at least 4.1.0 would be better) and PHP MySQL client API version 4.0.18 or higher.
  • PostgreSQL 8.0 or higher.
  • SQLite 1.x - 2.x.
• The following are required of the database.
  • There must be at least 2 MB of storage space in the database, although more is highly recommended.
  • The database user must have at least the following privileges: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, and INDEX.
  • The database user must have the CREATE and DROP privileges during installation, conversion and some package installs.
• About 20 MB of storage space on the web server will be required.

Recommended System Requirements

However, for best performance and use, a bit more is suggested. This includes the following:

• Windows, Linux or another Unix based operating system.
• GNU Aspell 0.50 or higher (with appropriate dictionaries) for spell checking functionality.
• Apache 2.0.x or above with AcceptPathInfo set to On for queryless URL support.
• PHP 5.2.0 or higher, with the following set in your php.ini file:
  • max_input_time set to a value of at least 30.
  • post_max_size and upload_max_filesize set to the size of the largest attachments you wish to be able to upload.
  • memory_limit set to at least 8M.
  • max_execution_time set to at least 15.
  • register_globals set to Off.
  • session.use_trans_sid set to Off.
  • safe mode disabled, or PHP suExec enabled.
  • BCMath library enabled for using the OpenID registration method.
• MySQL 5.0 or higher and PHP MySQL client API version 5.0 or higher if using MySQL.
• PostgreSQL 8.3.3 or higher if using PostgreSQL.
• SQLite 2.8 if using SQLite.
• GD Graphics Library 2.0 or higher.

Client (User) Requirements

To use SMF to its fullest potential, one of the following browsers is strongly recommended (although any standards-compliant browser should be fine.):

• Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or higher recommended.
• Google Chrome 5.0 or higher recommended.
• Apple Safari 4.0 or higher recommended.
• Opera 9.0 or higher recommended.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher recommended.
• Konqueror

The following browsers are still supported, but are not recommended because of minor problems or lack of sufficient testing:

• Mozilla Firefox 1.0 to 3.0.
• Google Chrome less than 5.0.
• Apple Safari 1.0 to 3.0.
• Opera 6.0 to 8.5.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 to 7.0.

Netscape Navigator 4.0 is known not to work, just as Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0.

For wireless access, any personal assistant which supports WAP/WML, WAP 2, or I-MODE should work. We currently do not have enough test data to compile a list of supported clients.

Additionally, JavaScript and cookies must be enabled for some features to work as intended, although efforts have been made to not require them.