Articles on: Getting Started (WebPro)

How to Install and Uninstall Astra Website Protection without a plugin in PHP sites (manually)

Congratulations on signing up for Astra Website Protection. Astra works with all PHP based websites, and this guide walks you through the process of installing & uninstalling Astra Website Protection plugin on PHP based websites without a plugin. Before we get started, please ensure your server meets the minimum system requirements.



How to Install Website Protection without a plugin






Step 1 - Download the Astra Website Protection ZIP



After purchasing Astra Website Protection, login to the Dashboard

Navigate to the Website Protection page & click on the Complete Setup button

Complete the details in the Getting Started workflow as follows:

Enter the Full Website URL where you will install the plugin. For eg: https://www.getastra.com/blog
Enter a short nickname which will be displayed instead of the entire website URL
Select PHP as your website technology

Go to the next step, and click on the Download button to download the security engine

Click on the Show Activation Code button & copy the code to your clipboard


Step 2 - Extract the Astra ZIP on your server using the Installer



From the Astra Dashboard, also download the installer by clicking on Download PHP Installer

Now open the File Manger in your Hosting Panel, or connect to it via SSH or (s)FTP

Upload the files to the root of your website (public folder): getastra-vX.Y.Z.zip & astraInstaller.php

In your Web Browser, visit the astraInstaller.php URL. For example, example.com/astraInstaller.php

Follow the steps given in the screen to complete the installation

Step 3 - Enter Activation Code



Open the Activation page either from the link in the Astra dashboard, or the installer. For example: example.com?astraRoute=api/login

If the Activation page does not open for you at the URL, it is possible that your server does not support the .user.ini file. Read this guide to fix this.

Enter the Activation Code which had copied from the dashboard

🎉 You've just successfully installed Astra Website Protection on your PHP based website


How to Reinstall Website Protection without a plugin



If you've installed the plugin on your PHP based website once and want to reinstall it, this guide is for you:

Navigate to the Settings page of the website in your Astra Dashboard

Scroll down and click on Re-install Astra button

Select PHP in the platform dropdown, and Download the ZIP

Now open the File Manger in your Hosting Panel, or connect to it via SSH or (s)FTP

If the getastra-premium folder does not exist on your server, follow the instruction in Step 2 - Extract the Astra ZIP on your server using the Installer mentioned above

Now visit the Activation page URL as shown in the dashboard. For example: example.com?astraRoute=api/login

If you are reinstalling on the same server then your plugin might already be activated, and no further action is required
If you see a button titled Enter Activation Key then you need to copy the Activation code from the dashboard and enter it here



How to Uninstall Website Protection without a plugin



Open the File Manger in your Hosting Panel, or connect to it via SSH or (s)FTP

Create a phpinfo page on your server

Search for the string auto_prepend_file in the phpinfo page contents



If the value in this field is empty, or does not have a path which contains getastra-premium/autoload.php then it means that Astra Website Protection is not installed on your site and you can skip the following steps

[Important] Now we need to remove the auto_prepend_file configuration, before deleting the getastra-premium folder

The auto_prepend_file configuration can be present in any one or many of the following files. Please make a copy of the file before removing the auto_prepend_file value. The actual path to the autoload.php file will vary server to server.

FileCode Snippet to RemoveNotes
.htaccessphp_value auto_prepend_file /var/www/html/getastra-premium/autoload.phpComment it out by changing php_value to #php_value
.user.iniauto_prepend_file = /var/www/html/getastra-premium/autoload.phpComment it out by changing auto_prepend_file to ;auto_prepend_file
php.iniauto_prepend_file = /var/www/html/getastra-premium/autoload.phpComment it out by changing auto_prepend_file to ;auto_prepend_file


After you've removed the code, or commented it out - refresh the phpinfo page and check the auto_prepend_file value. You may have to restart your Apache/Nginx for the changes to take effect.

Once you've verified that the value is no longer set - delete the getastra-premium folder from your server to complete the uninstall

It is important to remove auto_prepend_file config before deleting the getastra-premium folder. Otherwise your website may encounter HTTP 500 errors due to server limitations.

Updated on: 29/05/2022

Was this article helpful?

Share your feedback

Cancel

Thank you!