Server requirements
PHP, MySQL, extensions, HTTPS, cron and filesystem requirements for DoorFall Search.
Recommended server environment
DoorFall Search is a self-hosted PHP/MySQL application. Before installation, make sure the hosting account can run a normal PHP website and create a MySQL database.
PHP
Use a currently supported PHP 8.x release. Your hosting account must allow PHP sessions and outbound HTTPS requests.
PHP extensions
DoorFall Search relies on common PHP extensions used for database access, crawling and HTML processing. Make sure these are enabled:
- PDO and PDO MySQL
- cURL
- DOM / XML
- mbstring
- JSON
- OpenSSL
Most normal PHP hosting plans already provide these extensions.
MySQL / MariaDB
You need an empty MySQL-compatible database and a database user with permission to create and modify tables.
During installation you will enter:
- Database host
- Database name
- Database username
- Database password
On many hosting accounts the Database host is localhost, but use the value supplied by your hosting company.
HTTPS
HTTPS is strongly recommended for the DoorFall Search installation. The crawler also verifies SSL certificates when it connects to HTTPS source websites.
Outbound connections
The server must be allowed to make outbound HTTP/HTTPS connections. This is required for:
- crawling source websites;
- reading robots.txt and sitemaps;
- fetching source favicons;
- connected APIs and Awin feeds;
- DoorFall license activation and verification.
If the hosting provider blocks outbound cURL requests, these functions cannot operate normally.
Cron
For automatic crawling, your hosting account should provide cron jobs or scheduled tasks. DoorFall shows the correct cron command/URL for the installed site under Crawler Health.
Cron is not required merely to open Admin or perform a manual test, but it is strongly recommended for a production search engine.
File permissions
PHP must be able to write to the application upload/cache locations used for logos, favicons and locally cached source icons.
Start with normal hosting permissions. Do not make the entire application world-writable.
Public DNS
The installed domain and websites you crawl must resolve normally on the public internet. DoorFall deliberately refuses private/internal network targets as a security measure.