Textpattern CLI installation

Install Textpattern CMS in seconds from the command line with this shell script for automatic creation of a database and Textpattern installation based on site specifications defined in a setup.json file.

Prerequisites

• Shell access (this example runs on MacOS with a zsh shell)
• A (local) web server with active git, php and mysql services
• jq installed in your shell

Description

This repo comprises two files:

• setup_textpattern.zsh - a shell script. Set up once and re-use, and
• setup.json - a config file containing the configuration for each new site.

In the standard setup, the script pulls the current dev branch of Textpattern from GitHub, prunes all descriptive text files, repo config files and typically unused folders, reads the setup configuration in setup.json, creates the database if it does not already exist and installs Textpattern.

The result is a clean, ready-to-use Textpattern installation with a preconfigured admin user, perfect for quickly spinning up test sites on a local web server.

This principle can be adapted to setup a Textpattern site with a custom start configuration, or based on the release branch of Textpattern.

Installation

Option A – In you local site folder (once per site)

• Create a folder in your web root to hold your site.
• Save setup_textpattern.zsh as a text file in this folder.
• Open a Terminal at this folder (on Mac: right-click on the folder in the Finder and choose Services › New Terminal at Folder).
• Enter chmod +x setup_textpattern.zsh + ENTER to make the setup file executable.

Continue below with "Usage".

Option B – For system-wide use (re-usable)

• Either open a fresh Terminal at a folder that you already know to be in your PATH variable such as usr/local/bin or create a separate folder to hold your own executable scripts, e.g.:
  • Open a fresh Terminal and type cd ~ + ENTER to go to your home directory.
  • Type mkdir bin to create a folder called bin (if this does not already exist).
  • Type vim ~/.zshrc to open the zsh shell environment variable settings file.
  • Press i to start editing, find or make a free line (e.g. alongside other PATH settings) and type export PATH=~/bin:$PATH.
  • Press ESC and type :wq to save the changes.
  • Close and restart your Terminal. From now on, executable scripts saved in this folder should be reachable system-wide.
• Still in the Terminal: save setup_textpattern.zsh as a text file to the folder you chose/created above.
• Run chmod +x setup_textpattern.zsh to make the setup file executable.

Continue below with "Usage".

Usage

• Create a folder in your web root folder to hold your site (if not already created earlier). If your host or local web server requires you to set up any domain details / databases, do this now.
• Save setup.json as a text file into this folder.
• Open setup.json in a text editor and modify to match your site's configuration. Not all details are required, but you will need:
  • public_url
  • your MySQL connection and db details
  • user credentials for a predefined admin user
• Open a Terminal window in your site's folder and run ./setup_textpattern.zsh.
• The script should execute and report on its progress, for example:

Cloning into 'textpattern'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 100074, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (934/934), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (325/325), done.
remote: Total 100074 (delta 781), reused 680 (delta 606), pack-reused 99140 (from 3)
Receiving objects: 100% (100074/100074), 51.93 MiB | 21.87 MiB/s, done.
Resolving differences: 100% (71060/71060), done.
Deleted: textpattern/.git
Deleted: textpattern/.github
Deleted: textpattern/.gitignore
Deleted: textpattern/.gitattributes
Deleted: textpattern/.phpstorm.meta.php
Deleted: textpattern/phpcs.xml
Deleted: textpattern/composer.lock
Deleted: textpattern/composer.json
Deleted: textpattern/package.json
Deleted: textpattern/HISTORY.txt
Deleted: textpattern/UPGRADE.txt
Deleted: textpattern/INSTALL.txt
Deleted: textpattern/LICENSE.txt
Deleted: textpattern/README.txt
Deleted: textpattern/README.md
Deleted: textpattern/CONTRIBUTING.md
Deleted: textpattern/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
Deleted: textpattern/SECURITY.md
Deleted: textpattern/rpc
Deleted: textpattern/sites
Enter password: 
Enter password: 
Database your_sitename_db created.
[OK]	Connected
[OK]	Using your_sitename_db (utf8mb4).
[OK]	Creating database tables
[OK]	Lang: 'en'
[OK]	Prefs: 'data/core'
[OK]	Import: 'data/txp_category'
[OK]	Import: 'data/txp_link'
[OK]	Import: 'data/txp_section'
[OK]	Import: 'articles/articles.welcome'
[OK]	Public theme: 'four-point-nine'
[OK]	That went well!

Depending on your connection and computer, this usually takes less than a minute, often just 10-20 seconds.

Your site is ready to go: open it in your browser and sign in to the admin area using the login details you specified.

Example with Laravel Valet on a Mac

Laravel Valet sets up a low-overhead always-on web server with php and mysql running as background services. It maps any folder in the ~/Sites folder to the site url name-of-folder.test making it very easy to create new sites. You just need git and jq already installed on your system. If you have setup the install script for system-wide use, spinning up a new site is as easy as:

• Create a new folder named after the site name in the MacOS Sites folder.
• Copy setup.json into this folder
• Edit setup.json to match the site's name and your desired database name. If your standard admin user doesn't change, there's often nothing more to change.
• Open a Terminal window at your folder and run ./setup_textpattern.zsh.

Your site is installed and immediately reachable in your browser at http://name-of-folder.test.

Bonus: set up an alias for easier use

• Open a Terminal window, and enter vim .zshrc to open the zsh shell environment variable settings file.
• Press i to begin editing. On a free line enter alias setup_txp="~/bin/setup_textpattern.zsh" (adapt to match where you saved your script).
• Press ESC and type :wq to save the changes.
• Close and restart your Terminal. From now on, you can start the script by entering setup_txp in the Terminal.

Adapting to own scenarios

Adapting setup_textpattern.zsh

• You can rename the file if desired. Equally you can use an alias name of your choosing.
• If you prefer to keep certain files & folders in your Textpattern installation, edit the TO_DELETE variable in the script in a text editor.
• If you want to copy a different branch, edit the REPO_BRANCH variable to match the desired branch name, e.g. REPO_BRANCH="main" for the release branch.
• If you want to use a different name for the config file, edit the SETUP_JSON variable to match your filename. It must be in json format.
• Create several versions of the installer for different pre-configured quick-install options.

Adapting your site’s start configuration

• Extend the setup_textpattern.zsh script to copy in desired test files or insert a pre-prepared .sql file to the database with initial settings.
• Supply a different content_directory to start with your own initial content. By default, the setup script uses the details supplied in the articles, themes and data folders in the /textpattern/setup/ folder. Follow this pattern for your own details.

Adapting for offline use or non-git-capable servers (TODO)

• Instead of cloning the current dev/main branch from the GitHub repo, setup_textpattern.zsh could be adapted to make a copy of a pre-existing blank installation folder saved elsewhere on your computer. Unneeded files and/or add further desired files could be added to this folder as required.

Contributions welcome

• Instructions for use on Windows, Linux, or with other local web servers welcome.

Credits

The Textpattern devs and team, especially Pete Cooper for his example of the demo installer and makss for adding the CLI installation facility to the setup installer back in 2017.

Changelog

• v1.0 – Initial version – 20 Oct 2025