This site is hosted on my Strato V power server. I had some trouble installing everything, so I figured some oof you could probably use some instructions with this. Most of it is just general Joomla setup, the only difference being the file permissions modification on the Strato server - you need root access for this.

Here's a step by step guide on installing Joomla (or Mambo for that matter) on the V-Powerserver from Strato (stratoserver.de).

PRE SETUP STAGE : 

1. Register the domain name somewhere

2. Point the DNS record to your V-Power server IP address

3. Open the PLESK control panel of your strato account and log in as ADMIN, this should be on a url similar to mine which is something like http://h34242221689.stratoserver.net:8843 (not an actual working link, you should have your own link provided to you by Strato)

4. If you have already created a 'client' in Plesk, continue to step 5.

In Plesk, click on 'clients' in the left menu. Click on 'add new client' and fill in the details of the domain owner (probably your own details). These are only for your administration purposes and it not used anywhere outside of Plesk.

5. After having created the client, you can create a domain. Click on 'domain' in the left menu. Then click on 'add new domain' and select the name of the 'client' we created in step 4. Now enter the domain name in the first field provided (it's marked WWW). Click 'ok' to continue to the hosting setup screen.

6. If you have not configured the DNS record properly, you will now get a warning that the provided domain name does not yet resolve (point) to the Strato V power server's IP address.  HOWEVER, you might also get this warning because it takes time for the DNS record to be updated everywhere. If you still get this warning after 12 hours you probably configured the wrong IP address. 

If everything is OK (only green boxes, no yellow warning), just choose 'physical hosting' and continue

7. Domain hosting setup screen. Here you must enter a username and password for the FTP user for this domain. Create something unique using a username of 8 characters and a password of at least 8 characters with mixed uppecase, lowercase, numbers and symbols. Write it down.

8. IMPORTANT STEP :  Where it says 'Shell access to server with FTP user's credentials', make sure to select /bin/bash !! Ignore the warning it gives you, it only applies if you give that account to other people. Again, make sure you have a STRONG password on this FTP/SHELL account.

9. IMPORTANT STEP : Select the tickbox for PHP but DEselect the option for SAFE MODE !! Click OK to create the hosting space.

10. Now we have to create a MYSQL database for Joomla to use.

-Click on 'databases' and then click on 'add database'

-Enter a name for your database, for instance DBJOOMLA, then click 'OK' 

11. Now we have to create a database USER for Joomla to use

-Click on 'add new database user'

-Enter a name for the user, for instance SQLUSER1, enter a strong password and click 'OK'. Don't make the password too long or it won't work. 8 or 10 characters is long enough if you mix uper lower case and numbers. Write it down where you wrote the FTP user information. 

You are now done seting everything up in Plesk, you generally won't need Plesk anymore now. You can log out of Plesk. (end of presetup stage)

SETUP STAGE 

Now we must put the actual files for Joomla on the server and start the setup process.

1. Download the latest release of Joomla (Joomla.org)

2. Unzip the files into a folder

3. Start up your favorite FTP client (Ftp client for PC , Ftp Client for Mac OS X).

4. Connect to the site using the FTP account you created earlier in Plesk (if you are new to FTP, read our 'Guide to FTP and Joomla '

5. Upload the files you unzipped, to the folder HTTPDOCS on the server. If you don't know how to do this, follow our guide to FTP and Joomla

6. When the upload is complete, you can open your browser to start the Joomla installer. Just go to the domain name you created.

Troubleshooting tips : 

If you now see a page representing the domain name company where you bought the name, this means the domain name has not updated to the other DNS servers. You either didn't edit the DNS record (correctly) or you have to wait a few hours.

If you now see a 'default Plesk page', this means the DNS record is working correctly. You did not setup the domain in Plesk correctly, or you did not upload the files correctly.

FINAL SETUP 

You should now see the Joomla installer. However, several things are marked RED and we have to fix that. Follow the final few steps described below to complete the Joomla setup on your Strato server :

The files have been uploaded using the FTP account, but this actually causes a problem with Joomla on Strato servers as the file permissions do not allow Joomla to install properly, or at a later stage add components properly.

1. Connect with your favorite SSH client to the server, using the username and password of the FTP account. If you do not know what SSH is, read our guide to using SSH for beginners , it will explain how to login to your server using SSH. You can download a Windows SSH client here and if you use Linux or Mac OS, just open a terminal window and use the command ssh (it's built in).

2. Change to root user.

In the SSH terminal window, type :

su

And hit enter. It will ask you for the ROOT password which is something you should now. It was provided to you by Strato, so if you do not have it you should contact Strato.

3. As root user, change ownership of the httpdocs folder.

In the SSH terminal window type : 

chgrp -R psaserv httpdocs

FINAL FINAL SETUP 

You can now grant the permissions to the folders needed by Joomla (the red marked ones in the installer) in two ways. Through FTP or directly using shell command in the SSH terminal. Since we are writing a simple guide we will explain the FTP method (if you know shell commands you can figure it out youself just CHMOD the folders).

Note : If you are not familiar with FTP, read our quickstart guide here  

1. Open your favorite FTP client. We will use FlashFXP for Windows and Cyberduck for Mac OS X in our example.

(FlashFXP example)

When logged in, you will see a folder called HTTPDOCS. Right-click it and choose 'CHMOD'. A permission window will open where you must select write permissions for GROUP (the middle column). Click 'OK'

(Cyberduck example)

When logged in, you will see a folder called HTTPDOCS. Select the folder and hit APPLE-I or click the action menu and choose 'info'. A permission window will open where you must select write permissions for GROUP (the middle column). Click 'OK'

2. Repeat step 1 for all the subfolders mentioned on the Joomla installer page (cache, templates, modules)

3. Refresh the webpage for the Joomla installer, you will see all the RED folders now marked as green. You will also see if you missed any and you need to go back and fix the permissions of that folder (in that case go back to step 1 and 2).

4. Now you should only see 2 red items in the list, 'do not display warnings' and 'GPC MAGIC QUOTES' on. You can read more about these things in our guide HERE, but it's not required for proper operation of Joomla.

5. YOU CAN NOW CLICK NEXT. Now it's time to get that piece of paper again with the MYSQL username and password. Fill in the DATABASE NAME, the MYSQL USERNAME, the MYSQL PASSWORD and type LOCALHOST in the server field. It should look something like the picture below.

6. Click 'OK' once more, and you will be prompted for the name of the site. This name will be displayed in the top bar of the browser when visiting the page, but it can be modified later (by going to site / global configuration).

7. Now you will be prompted for an ADMIN password. Enter a strong password and write it down again. Safely store the passwords somewhere. Make a copy if possible. If you lost the password, follow our guide here.

8. You are now finished with the installation, but before you can view the site you have to delete the folder called 'installation' on the server. Connect with your FTP client, browse into the HTTPDOCS folder and delete the folder called 'installation'.

9. Now when you open the webpage again, it should show you the basic Joomla site.

10. Congratulations ! You have now installed Joomla ! You can start modifying everything by going to http://www.yoururl.com/administrator and logging in with the ADMIN account you created in step 7.

POST FINAL SETUP 

I recommend you read our guides on 'Guide to installing new components, modules, mambots and templates in Joomla ' and 'The 5 best SEO tips for Joomla webmasters' to get started with building your site and attracting visitors.

Feel free to comment on this article if anything was unclear during the installation.