Manually installing an extension?

[anton]

Hi,

Maybe I've missed it, but I'm looking for a way to install an extension outside of the extension catalog. It seems it's not possible to point the Extension Manager directly to a file, and I'm not quite sure if/how I can manually extract the extension in the file system - I couldn't find the .xml for installed extensions, I suppose the database is involved as well?

I'm needing to do this to test some modifications I've made to an existing extension so that I can submit it to the developer knowing it works properly. 8-)

Any guidance on how this can/should be done?

Thanks,

[FloB]

Just put the extension files into the correct directories (most files should be in /system/modules) and run the installation tool (this should update the database).

[anton]

Great, thanks.

A follow-up question: the package.jpg and package.xml files are outside the TL_ROOT in the extension's zip file, what should I do with those?

[FloB]

You don't need them. Those are generated by the Repository server and only of interest for the repository client.

[anton]

Ok, that worked as advertised.

But, this way the extension manager is seemingly not aware of the installed extension. Does that mean there's no way to do a clean uninstall (including database modifications)? I suppose it is also possible to install a conflicting (older?) version of the same extension using the extension catalog, which would probably not be a good idea.

I keep thinking that it would be good to be able to directly feed extension zip files to the extension manager. This would also be a helpful way for folks who can't use the extension catalog due to a lacking php-soap module on their web server. I might create a feature request for this..

Anyway, mission accomplished so thanks for your help FloB.

[FloB]

This has been requested several times (not using trac, though), and it might come up in future versions. The extension manager only deals with extensions installed using the manager and not manually ones. And it will overwrite manually installed extensions if a newly installed one uses the same directory name (you could just rename your customized extension to prevent it from being deleted). A clean uninstall can be done by removing the module directory and executing the install tool again.

You might also take a look at tensiderepository as it provides several new features (including using the repository without SOAP enabled).