How to Install Typo3?

So you have just downloaded the Typo3 and are eager to put up a simple website to see how it performs as a content management system?

Before you jump straight into Typo3 installation you need to mentally prepare yourself for frustration you might experience during your journey through the world of Typo3! Trust me, you may get very irritated and feel quite discouraged. There would be situations when you just can’t google-out the solution – don’t let them make you abandon Typo3 as too complicated. You can do pretty much everything with Typo3 which cannot be said for the other content management systems out there.

This post hopes to help you with certain issues we faced while learning Typo3.

This blog post adresses Typo3 4.1.5 installation on a Linux server environment using the main Install Tool. Tutorials for the “1-2-3 GO” can be found on: wiki.typo3.org/index.php/Typo3_Installation_Basics and
www.installationwiki.org/Typo3.

Purpose of the Main Install Tools is not just to install the Typo3 but to configure it in great detail and perform maintenance tasks. It can be overwhelming if you just want to start playing with the Typo3 ASAP. We would get you through only necessary steps.

You should have downloaded, uncompressed and uploaded both the source and the dummy package to the same folder.

Start the installation: /typo3/install/

The main Install Tool has ten sections of configuration options:

To access the Typo3 Install Tool you would need to create an empty file named ENABLE_INSTALL_TOOL (there is no file extension) and put it into „typo3conf“ folder.
The initial (default) password for the Typo3 Install Tool is joh316. Change this password later. This password is used ONLY for accessing the Typo3 Install Tool and NOTHING ELSE :).

• (1) Basic Configuration

Not much to do here, main thing is to set up the database.
Don’t waste much time trying to get the image libraries to work if they won’t work straight out. If you plan to build modern lightweight sites you won’t really need TYPO3’s image processing capabilities. Also, they are not required for TYPO3 to function correctly, although they may add some flair.

• (2) Database Analyser

Database Analyser can be confusing. Main point is that although you have created the database Typo3 still needs to create all the required tables.
To create the default set of tables you should click on the Update required tables “COMPARE” link.
You don’t need the other options at this point, so just go ahead to the next section.

• (3) Update Wizard

You only need this section if you are upgrading a previous version of Typo3 installation. Just skip it now.

• (4) Image Processing

As mentioned above, you can skip this section for now. Almost every Linux hosting package would come with the required libraries. Once again, they are not required for TYPO3 to function properly.

• (5) All Configuration

You would find this section useful later, when you perhaps want to use UTF8 or tweak Typo3 to your specific needs. For now just go ahead to next section.

• (6) typo3temp/, (7) Clean up database, (8) phpinfo(), (9) Edit files in typo3conf/ and (10) About.

Sections #6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are all used for maintenance, diagnostic and informative purposes. You don’t need them right now.

You are done!

Source: http://blog.neotek.co.yu/tag/typo3-install-installation-tutorial/