Hosting Your Store
In most cases it is easier and more reliable to have your store hosted by Miva Merchant.
- We have in-house expertise on installing, configuring and maintaining stores.
- We know exactly what hardware and software works best for Miva Merchant stores and we already
have those resources available and ready to go.
It's been our experience that customers experience MANY fewer problems when they let us host and install their store. However, for the intrepid spirit, there are two other options:
You can host your store on your own server, but hire us to install and configure your store.
http://www.mivamerchant.com/products/MIVA-SUPPT_VM_INSTALL
http://www.mivamerchant.com/products/MIVA-SUPPT_MERC_INSTALL
- You can host your store on your own server, and do the installation and configuration yourself.
General Requirements and Process for Hosting Your Store
If you are going to host your own store you should contact Miva Merchant support for detailed
instructions, but here's a overview of what is involved:
- Hardware: You need at least one server where you have root access. The hardware specs of the
server and speed of the internet connection must be appropriate for the amount of traffic that you
expect your store to receive.
- Operating system: We strongly recommended Linux or FreeBSD. Windows is supported but not
recommended. If you use Windows you must have a server version that will support IIS 6 or older.
- Database: We strongly recommended MySQL, which is required for PCI compliance. In the past,
other databases have been supported, but beginning in PR9, MySQL will be required for new
stores.
- Application Server: For Linux and FreeBSD you must have Apache/OpenSSL. On a Windows
server you must use IIS 6 and OpenSSL.
- Install and configure Empresa: Empresa is a virtual environment from Miva Merchant. Empresa
also installs CGI on top of Apache.
- Verify your environment: Miva Merchant has a script called diag6 that will examine your server for
readiness.
- Install Miva Merchant: Download the Miva Merchant store package. Run the setup script to install
and add your license key