How to Install Magento 2.4.xx: Step-by-Step Installation Guide – 2025

Installing Magento 2.xx involves several critical steps to ensure a smooth and efficient setup. Magento is a robust eCommerce platform that requires proper server configuration and software dependencies. Begin by setting up a local development environment, often using XAMPP or a similar tool. Update the php.ini file to enable required PHP extensions like soap, gd, intl, and set the memory limit to 4GB.

Next, configure a virtual host by modifying the httpd-vhosts.conf file and update the hosts file to map a custom domain (e.g., acesoftech.local). Download and install Composer, a dependency manager, and use Magento’s access keys to fetch the community edition package. Install Elasticsearch 7.x, essential for Magento’s search functionality, and verify it runs successfully.

Run the Magento installation command, specifying database credentials, admin details, and search engine configuration. After installation, finalize the setup by clearing the cache, reindexing data, and deploying static content. To troubleshoot issues, disable two-factor authentication if needed or resolve file path validation errors by modifying core files like Gd2.php and Validator.php.

With Magento 2.xx successfully installed, you can access the storefront and admin panel, ready to build a feature-rich eCommerce website tailored to your business needs.

Composer download and install

1. Install Composer

• Download Composer from https://getcomposer.org/.

        composer update

2. Windows Environment Setup

       Edit hosts File: Add this line to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts:

       127.0.0.1 acesoftech.local

3. Xampp related Configuration

       php.ini changes

       PHP extension:

extension=soap

extension=sockets

extension=sodium

extension=sqlite3

extension=tidy

extension=xsl

extension=zip

extension=gd

extension=intl

Open the file located at:

C:\xampp\php\php.ini

Search for the following line:

php.ini

memory_limit = 128M

memory_limit = 4G

Create virtual host

Edit httpd-vhosts.conf: Add this configuration in C:\xampp822\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf:
apache

<VirtualHost *:80>

    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp822/htdocs/magento/pub"

    ServerName acesoftech.local

    <Directory "C:/xampp822/htdocs/magento/pub">

        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI

        AllowOverride All

        Require all granted

    </Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Restart Apache
Use the XAMPP Control Panel to restart Apache.

1. Access Key from Magento
   
   Create an Account

Visit Magento Marketplace.

4.Click on Sign In > Create an Account and complete the registration.

Obtain Access Keys

After logging in, go to My Profile > Access Keys (under the Marketplace tab).

Click Create a New Access Key.

1. Provide a name for your key (e.g., “Magento Setup Key”).

       Save the Public Key (username) and Private Key (password).

5. Magento Download

composer global config http-basic.repo.magento.com <public_key> <private_key>

          Replace <public_key> and <private_key> with your Magento access keys.

         Navigate to your desired directory (e.g., C:\xampp\htdocs) and run:

     composer create-project –repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition magento

6. Elasticsearch Setup

1. Download Elasticsearch
   • Download Elasticsearch 7.x compatible with Magento 2.4 from https://www.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch.
2. Install and Configure Elasticsearch
   • Extract the Elasticsearch archive (e.g., C:\xampp822\htdocs\elasticsearch-7.16.3).

Open the terminal and navigate to the bin folder:

cd C:\xampp822\htdocs\elasticsearch-7.16.3\bin

Run: elasticsearch.bat

1. Test Elasticsearch
   Open a browser and go to http://localhost:9200. You should see the Elasticsearch JSON response.

7.Trouble shoots before /  while installing

vendor\magento\framework\Image\Adapter\Gd2.php

Before

private function validateURLScheme(string $filename) : bool
{
    $allowed_schemes = ['ftp', 'ftps', 'http', 'https'];
    $url = parse_url($filename);
    if ($url && isset($url['scheme']) && !in_array($url['scheme'], $allowed_schemes)) {
        return false;
    }

    return true;
}

 Change it to

private function validateURLScheme(string $filename) : bool
{
    $allowed_schemes = ['ftp', 'ftps', 'http', 'https'];
    $url = parse_url($filename);
    if ($url && isset($url['scheme']) && !in_array($url['scheme'], $allowed_schemes) && !file_exists($filename)) {
        return false;
    }

    return true;
}

Open app/etc/di.xml.

Locate the following line:
xml

Magento\Framework\App\View\Asset\MaterializationStrategy\Symlink

Replace it with:

Magento\Framework\App\View\Asset\MaterializationStrategy\Copy

This ensures Magento uses file copying instead of symbolic links, which are not always supported on 

==============================================================================

If you see blank screen after installation

Magento\Framework\View\Element\Template\File\Validator

function isPathInDirectories replace below code in isPathInDirectories function

C:\xampp\htdocs\magento\vendor\magento\framework\View\Element\Template\File\validator.php

// $realPath = $this->fileDriver->getRealPath($path);

        // foreach ($directories as $directory) {

        //     if ($directory !== null && 0 === strpos($realPath, $directory)) {

        //         return true;

        //     }

        // }

        // return false;

$realPath = $this->fileDriver->getRealPath($path);

foreach ($directories as $directory) {
    // Get the real path of each directory in the list
    $directoryRealPath = $this->fileDriver->getRealPath($directory);

    // Check if the real path of the file starts with the real path of the directory
    if ($directoryRealPath !== false && 0 === strpos($realPath, $directoryRealPath)) {
        return true;
    }
}

return false;

7.Create Database

Open phpmyadmin and create database

8. Magento Installation

Run the Magento setup command:

php bin/magento setup:install \

    –base-url=”http://acesoftech.local/” \

    –db-host=”localhost:3308″ \

    –db-name=”magento3″ \

    –db-user=”myadmin” \

    –db-password=”Angular13″ \

    –admin-firstname=”admin” \

    –admin-lastname=”admin” \

    –admin-email=”saz3sumar@gmail.com” \

    –admin-user=”admin” \

    –admin-password=”Admin123!” \

    –language=”en_US” \

    –currency=”USD” \

    –timezone=”America/Chicago” \

    –search-engine=elasticsearch7 \

    –elasticsearch-host=”localhost” \

    –elasticsearch-port=9200 \

    –use-rewrites=1

For CMD single line

php bin/magento setup:install –base-url=”http://magento.local/” –db-host=”localhost:3306″ –db-name=”magento” –db-user=”root” –db-password=”admin” –admin-firstname=”admin” –admin-lastname=”admin” –admin-email=”saz3sumar@gmail.com” –admin-user=”admin” –admin-password=”Admin123!” –language=”en_US” –currency=”USD” –timezone=”America/Chicago” –search-engine=elasticsearch7 –elasticsearch-host=”localhost” –elasticsearch-port=9200 –use-rewrites=1

If this problem arises

C:\xampp\htdocs\magento>php bin/magento admin:user:unlock admin

9. Post-Installation Commands

Run these commands to finalize the setup:

 php bin/magento cache:clean

 php bin/magento cache:flush

 php bin/magento indexer:reindex

 php bin/magento setup:upgrade

 php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

Reindex Data:

php bin/magento indexer:reindex

1. Upgrade Setup:
2. php bin/magento setup:upgrade

Deploy Static Content:

php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

Clear Cache:

php bin/magento cache:flush

Problem:

Solution:

Disable Two-Factor Authentication (Optional):

 php bin/magento module:disable Magento_AdminAdobeImsTwoFactorAuth Magento_TwoFactorAuth

10. Optional: Install Sample Data

Enable Developer Mode:

php bin/magento deploy:mode:set developer

Deploy Sample Data:

php bin/magento sampledata:deploy

php bin/magento setup:upgrade

php bin/magento cache:clean

php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy en_US -f

11. Elasticsearch Troubleshooting

If you encounter disk allocation errors with Elasticsearch, run the following commands:

Disable disk threshold checks:

curl -X PUT -H “Content-Type: application/json” http://localhost:9200/_cluster/settings -d “{ \”transient\”: { \”cluster.routing.allocation.disk.threshold_enabled\”: false } }”

Clear read-only blocks:

curl -X PUT -H “Content-Type: application/json” http://localhost:9200/_all/_settings -d “{ \”index.blocks.read_only_allow_delete\”: null }”

12. Test and Access

1. Access the Magento storefront:
   http://acesoftech.local
2. Access the Magento Admin panel:
   http://acesoftech.local/admin
   Use the admin credentials you set during installation.