A Comprehensive Guide to Developing Custom Drupal 8 and 9 Modules with Forms and Database Integration — 01 / 08 (Preparation: Setting up the Development Environment)

1. Preparation: Setting up the Development Environment
2. Introduction to Drupal Installation
3. Module Fundamentals: Creating and Configuring Your Module
4. Building the Custom Form
5. Storing Form Data: Integrating with the Database
6. Presenting the Form: Adding it to a Block
7. Verifying Correctness: Testing and Debugging Your Module
8. Deployment: Taking Your Module to Production.

Preparation: Setting up the Development Environment

Before diving into the process of developing a Drupal 8 or 9 module, it’s important to set up a suitable development environment. In this chapter, we will cover the steps necessary to set up the environment for different operating systems including Windows, Linux, Unix, Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, and Fedora.

Setting up the Development Environment for Windows:

To set up the development environment on Windows, you will need to install a web server, database server, and PHP. We will be using XAMPP, which is a popular and easy-to-use package that includes Apache, MySQL, and PHP in one installation.

Step 1: Download XAMPP

The first step in setting up a development environment for Windows is to download XAMPP. You can download XAMPP from the official website at https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html.

Step 2: Install XAMPP

Once the XAMPP download is complete, run the installation file and follow the prompts to complete the installation. During the installation process, you will be asked to choose the components you want to install. For this guide, you will need to select the following components:

• Apache
• MySQL
• PHP

Step 3: Start Apache and MySQL

Once the installation is complete, you can start Apache and MySQL using the XAMPP control panel. To open the XAMPP control panel, go to the start menu, and select “XAMPP Control Panel”. In the XAMPP control panel, start the Apache and MySQL modules by clicking on the “Start” button next to each module.

Step 4: Verify the Installation

To verify that Apache and MySQL have been successfully installed and started, open a web browser and navigate to “http://localhost". You should see the XAMPP start page, which indicates that Apache is running and working properly.

Step 5: Create a Database

To create a database, you will use the phpMyAdmin tool that is included with XAMPP. To access phpMyAdmin, open a web browser and navigate to “http://localhost/phpmyadmin". In phpMyAdmin, click on the “Databases” tab, and enter a name for your database. Then, click on the “Create” button to create the database.

Step 6: Test PHP

To test PHP, you will create a simple PHP script and save it to the “htdocs” folder in your XAMPP installation directory. This folder is the web root for your development environment. To create the PHP script, open a text editor, and enter the following code:

<?php
   phpinfo();
?>

Save the script as “info.php” in the “htdocs” folder. Then, open a web browser and navigate to “http://localhost/info.php". You should see a page displaying information about your PHP installation, which indicates that PHP is working properly.

Setting up the Development Environment for Linux:

To set up a development environment on Linux, you can choose to install a LAMP stack or use a virtual machine. To set up a LAMP stack, you will need to install the following components:

• Linux operating system (e.g. Ubuntu)
• Apache web server
• MySQL database server
• PHP programming language

Instructions for setting up a LAMP stack will vary depending on your distribution of Linux. Typically, you can use the package manager for your distribution to install these components. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following commands to install the components:

Step 1: Install Apache

The first step in setting up a development environment for Linux is to install Apache. The process for installing Apache will vary depending on your distribution. For most distributions, you can install Apache using the package manager.

For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following command to install Apache:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2

Step 2: Install MySQL

Once Apache is installed, you can install MySQL. Again, the process for installing MySQL will vary depending on your distribution. For most distributions, you can install MySQL using the package manager.

For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following command to install MySQL:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

Step 3: Install PHP

After installing Apache and MySQL, you can install PHP. For most distributions, you can install PHP using the package manager.

For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following command to install PHP:

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql

Step 4: Start Apache and MySQL

Once the installations are complete, you can start Apache and MySQL using the service command.

For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following commands to start Apache and MySQL:

sudo service apache2 start
sudo service mysql start

Step 5: Verify the Installation

To verify that Apache and MySQL have been successfully installed and started, open a web browser and navigate to “http://localhost". You should see the default Apache page, which indicates that Apache is running and working properly.

Step 6: Create a Database

To create a database, you will use the mysql client that is included with your Linux distribution. To access the mysql client, open a terminal and enter the following command:

mysql -u root -p

Enter your root password when prompted, and you will be logged in to the mysql client. From here, you can use SQL commands to create a database. For example, the following commands will create a database named “mydb”:

CREATE DATABASE mydb;
USE mydb;

Step 7: Test PHP

To test PHP, you will create a simple PHP script and save it to the “html” folder in your Apache installation directory. This folder is the web root for your development environment. To create the PHP script, open a text editor, and enter the following code:

<?php
   phpinfo();
?>

Save the script as “info.php” in the “html” folder. Then, open a web browser and navigate to “http://localhost/info.php". You should see a page displaying information about your PHP installation, which indicates that PHP is working properly.

Setting up the Development Environment for Unix:

Step 1: Install LAMP Stack

The LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack is necessary for running Drupal. To install the LAMP stack on Unix, follow these steps:

Install Apache:

sudo apt-get install apache2

Install PHP:

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php

Install MySQL:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

Step 2: Create a Database

To create a database, you can use the following steps:

Log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a new database:

CREATE DATABASE drupal_db;

Create a new user and grant permissions to the new database:

CREATE USER drupal_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal_db.* TO drupal_user@localhost;

Note: Replace “drupal_db” with the desired database name and “drupal_user” with the desired username. Replace “password” with the desired password.

Step 3: Check PHP

To check that PHP is running properly, you can create a new PHP file in the Apache web root directory. For example:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

In the info.php file, add the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file.

Next, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/info.php. You should see information about your PHP installation, including version and configuration settings.

Setting up the Development Environment for Ubuntu:

Step 1: Install Apache

The first step in setting up a development environment for Ubuntu is to install Apache. To install Apache, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2

Step 2: Install MySQL

Once Apache is installed, you can install MySQL. To install MySQL, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

Step 3: Install PHP

After installing Apache and MySQL, you can install PHP. To install PHP, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php

Step 4: Start Apache and MySQL

Once the installations are complete, you can start Apache and MySQL using the service command.

For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following commands to start Apache and MySQL:

sudo service apache2 start
sudo service mysql start

Step 5: Configure PHP

Finally, you can configure PHP to work with Apache. To do this, you need to edit the php.ini file and set the date.timezone setting. For example:

sudo nano /etc/php/7.0/apache2/php.ini
date.timezone = America/New_York

Note: Replace “America/New_York” with your desired timezone.

Step 6: Create a Database

To create a database, you can use the following steps:

Log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a new database:

CREATE DATABASE drupal_db;

Create a new user and grant permissions to the new database:

CREATE USER drupal_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal_db.* TO drupal_user@localhost;

Note: Replace “drupal_db” with the desired database name and “drupal_user” with the desired username. Replace “password” with the desired password.

Step 7: Check PHP

To check that PHP is running properly, you can create a new PHP file in the Apache web root directory. For example:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

In the info.php file, add the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file.

Next, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/info.php. You should see information about your PHP installation, including version and configuration settings.

Setting up the Development Environment for CentOS:

Step 1: Install LAMP Stack

The LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack is necessary for running Drupal. To install the LAMP stack on CentOS, follow these steps:

Install Apache:

sudo yum install httpd

Install PHP:

sudo yum install php php-mysql

Install MySQL:

sudo yum install mysql-server

Start the Apache and MySQL services:

sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl start mysqld

Enable the Apache and MySQL services to start on boot:

sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl enable mysqld

Step 2: Create a Database

To create a database, you can use the following steps:

Log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a new database:

CREATE DATABASE drupal_db;

Create a new user and grant permissions to the new database:

CREATE USER drupal_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal_db.* TO drupal_user@localhost;

Note: Replace “drupal_db” with the desired database name and “drupal_user” with the desired username. Replace “password” with the desired password.

Step 3: Check PHP

To check that PHP is running properly, you can create a new PHP file in the Apache web root directory. For example:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

In the info.php file, add the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file.

Next, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/info.php. You should see information about your PHP installation, including version and configuration settings.

Setting up the Development Environment for Debian:

Step 1: Install LAMP Stack

The LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack is necessary for running Drupal. To install the LAMP stack on Debian, follow these steps:

Install Apache:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2

Install PHP:

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql

Install MySQL:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

Step 2: Create a Database

To create a database, you can use the following steps:

Log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a new database:

CREATE DATABASE drupal_db;

Create a new user and grant permissions to the new database:

CREATE USER drupal_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal_db.* TO drupal_user@localhost;

Note: Replace “drupal_db” with the desired database name and “drupal_user” with the desired username. Replace “password” with the desired password.

Step 3: Check PHP

To check that PHP is running properly, you can create a new PHP file in the Apache web root directory. For example:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

In the info.php file, add the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file.

Next, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/info.php. You should see information about your PHP installation, including version and configuration settings.

Setting up the Development Environment for Fedora:

Step 1: Install LAMP Stack

The LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack is necessary for running Drupal. To install the LAMP stack on Fedora, follow these steps:

Install Apache:

sudo dnf install httpd

Install PHP:

sudo dnf install php php-mysqlnd

Install MySQL:

sudo dnf install mariadb-server mariadb

Step 2: Create a Database

To create a database, you can use the following steps:

Log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Create a new database:

CREATE DATABASE drupal_db;

Create a new user and grant permissions to the new database:

CREATE USER drupal_user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON drupal_db.* TO drupal_user@localhost;

Note: Replace “drupal_db” with the desired database name and “drupal_user” with the desired username. Replace “password” with the desired password.

Step 3: Check PHP

To check that PHP is running properly, you can create a new PHP file in the Apache web root directory. For example:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

In the info.php file, add the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file.

Next, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/info.php. You should see information about your PHP installation, including version and configuration settings.

In conclusion, setting up a development environment is a crucial first step in developing a Drupal 8 or 9 module. By following the steps outlined in this chapter, you’ll be ready to begin building your module.