Technical Requirements

J2Commerce requires a properly configured server environment. This page details the exact requirements for running J2Commerce optimally.

Server Requirements

PHP Version

Version	Status	Notes
PHP 8.3+	Required	Current minimum requirement
PHP 8.2	Not Supported	May work but not tested
PHP 8.1	Not Supported	Not compatible
PHP 8.0	Not Supported	Not compatible

Database

Type	Version	Notes
MySQL	8.0+	Recommended
MariaDB	10.6+	Compatible with MySQL 8.0
PostgreSQL	Not Supported	Requires extension

Web Server

Type	Support	Notes
Apache 2.4+	Full	with mod_rewrite
Nginx	Full	Requires configuration
IIS	Partial	URL rewriting setup required
LiteSpeed	Full	Compatible with Apache config

PHP Extensions

Required Extensions

These extensions must be installed and enabled:

Extension	Purpose	Check
mysqli or pdo_mysql	Database connectivity	php -m | grep mysql
json	JSON encoding/decoding	Built into PHP 8+
mbstring	Multi-byte string support	mb_substr() works
curl	HTTP requests for APIs	Payment gateways, currency updates
zlib	Compression	Gzip output, package installation

Recommended Extensions

Extension	Purpose	Benefit
gd or imagick	Image processing	Product image resizing, thumbnails
zip	Archive handling	Extension installation, exports
openssl	Encryption	Secure API connections, webhooks
bcmath	Precision math	Accurate price calculations
intl	Internationalization	Currency formatting, translations

Check Extensions

Run this PHP code to check installed extensions:

<?php
$required = ['mysqli', 'json', 'mbstring', 'curl', 'zlib'];
$recommended = ['gd', 'imagick', 'zip', 'openssl', 'bcmath', 'intl'];

echo "Required:\n";
foreach ($required as $ext) {
    echo "- $ext: " . (extension_loaded($ext) ? "OK" : "MISSING") . "\n";
}

echo "\nRecommended:\n";
foreach ($recommended as $ext) {
    echo "- $ext: " . (extension_loaded($ext) ? "OK" : "MISSING") . "\n";
}

Directory Permissions

J2Commerce requires write access to the following directories:

Directory	Purpose	Permissions
/tmp	Temporary files	755 or 775
/logs	Log files	755 or 775
/administrator/cache	Cache files	755 or 775
/images	Product images	755 or 775
/media/com_j2commerce	Media files	755 or 775

Verify Permissions

# Check if directories are writable
ls -la /var/www/html/tmp
ls -la /var/www/html/logs

# Test write access
touch /var/www/html/tmp/test.txt && rm /var/www/html/tmp/test.txt

PHP Configuration

Required Settings

Setting	Minimum	Recommended
memory_limit	256M	512M
upload_max_filesize	10M	32M
post_max_size	20M	64M
max_execution_time	300	600
max_input_time	300	600

php.ini Example

memory_limit = 512M
upload_max_filesize = 32M
post_max_size = 64M
max_execution_time = 600
max_input_time = 600

# Required extensions
extension=mysqli
extension=mbstring
extension=curl
extension=zip
extension=gd

SSL Requirements

HTTPS is required for:

• Payment processing (PCI compliance)
• Payment webhook verification
• Currency API connections
• Some shipping carrier APIs

Recommended SSL Configuration

• TLS 1.2 or higher
• Modern cipher suites
• HSTS enabled
• Certificate from trusted CA

Hosting Recommendations

Shared Hosting

J2Commerce can run on quality shared hosting with:

• PHP 8.3+ support
• MySQL 8.0+ database
• SSH or CLI access for cron jobs

VPS / Dedicated

For better performance:

• 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
• 2 CPU cores minimum
• SSD storage for database
• Opcode cache (APCu or OPcache)

Cloud Hosting

Compatible with:

• AWS (EC2, Lightsail)
• Google Cloud Platform
• DigitalOcean
• Linode

Environment Check

J2Commerce includes a system check in the Dashboard. To verify your environment:

1. Go to Components -> J2Commerce -> Dashboard
2. Look for the Setup Guide panel on the right
3. It will alert you to any missing requirements

Troubleshooting

"PHP version not supported"

Update PHP to version 8.3 or higher via your hosting control panel or contact your host.

"Database extension not found"

Install or enable the mysqli extension in php.ini:

extension=mysqli

"Curl extension not found"

Install curl support:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install php-curl

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install php-curl

"Permission denied" errors

Set correct ownership for the web server:

# Apache on Ubuntu/Debian
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html

# Nginx on Ubuntu/Debian
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html

What's Next?

• Installation -- Install J2Commerce
• Getting Started Guide -- Set up your first store
• Upgrading -- Upgrade from J2Store or free version