This article links to all the resources that explain the different methods of installing Liferay. It also tries to give and overview of each of the resources to help the reader choose the most appropriate for his/her needs.
Note: Some of the official documentation for Liferay 4.0 has outdated information for installing Liferay 4.1. If you are installing the latest version be sure to check a short updated manual that has been added to solve this
If all you want to do is to do a quick installation of Liferay to review it, write an article, show it to someone else, etc., you should try one of the bundled packs. These packs come with an open source application server and an embedded database so that all you have to do is unzip and run (assuming you have Java 1.4 or Java 5 installed).
Here are some links to sections of official manuals that explain how to install Liferay from a bundle. Be aware that the links to the bundle are outdated. Be sure to download the latest version of Liferay.
- Installation and Setup from Liferay's Developer Guide: Includes a comprehensive explanation of all the installation options that Liferay supports, including application servers and databases. An administrator that has to make an installation in production should read it to decide what's the best option for his necessities.
- Setting up the development environment from Liferay's Quick Start guide: it describes how to install Liferay's ext environment to develop extensions to the portal. You will only need to do this if you plan to extend liferay further than just deploying your own portlets, themes and layouts.
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