Background
Plone runs atop the Zope web-application server, which is written in, and requires, the Python programming language. A working installation of Plone thus requires Plone, Zope, and Python. Each of these is a substantial package, and they have to be set up correctly in order to work together.
Fortunately, the Plone community has developed installers that gather together all of the required components and set them up in an immediately-useful configuration. Installers are available for all of the major operating system platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, and the Linux/BSD/Unix operating system family. We'll go over the use of each of these installers in detail.
If you want more control over the installation process than is offered by the installers, or if you wish to install Plone on a new platform, you may wish to install the individual components yourself from source code. This should be possible on any POSIX-compliant platform, and we'll also go over the basics of this type of installation.
Downloading Plone installers
To find the current release of Plone and its installers, visit http://plone.org/products/plone. You'll be offered several downloads, including:
- Plone for all platforms: This is an archive of Plone itself, ready for use if you've already installed the appropriate versions of Python and Zope.
- Plone for Windows: This is the installer for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista.
- Plone for Linux: This is the so-called "Unified Installer" not only for Linux, but also for all varieties of BSD, Solaris, and Unix. It also works with Mac OS X, but most Mac users will find one of the Mac-specific installers more convenient.
- Plone for Mac OS X: This will generally be available in versions for Intel and Power PC processors. Users of recent-vintage Macs should choose the Intel version.
You may also find packages for some specific Linux versions. In general, it's preferable to use the Unified Installer than to use a platform-specific package. Platform-specific packages should be used only by those with a very strong commitment to the packages-only school of system administration. The Plone community will usually struggle to support installations based on platform-specific packages, such as RPMs or DEBs.
Download the installer for your operating system platform, and proceed to the following Windows, Mac, Linux, or source-code install sections. We'll be up and running in no time.