reinstall.php

PHP front-controller to destroy and re-install a Drupal (8) site.

Usage

Place this script into the document root of your Drupal site; i.e., /reinstall.php

Request it in your browser to drop all Drupal database tables and delete all configuration, so you can re-install from scratch.

Without additional parameters, settings.php is retained as-is, so you can re-install with your previously existing database connection info, etc.

Optional GET query parameters:

• delete=1
  Additionally deletes settings.php and the files directory.
• main=1
  Unlocks reinstallation of of the main/default site. By default, only a [multi-]site may be reinstalled/deleted.

Regardless of parameters, the site directory itself (and /sites/sites.php) is never deleted. This enables the Drupal installer to discover the same site directory again.

You may pass additional query parameters like langcode and profile, which will be forwarded to /install.php; e.g.:
http://drupal8.test/reinstall.php?delete=1&langcode=en&profile=testing

Installation

Unmanaged Download (sans git)

Simply download reinstall.php into the Document Root directory of your Drupal site.

Linux/Mac

# Wherever you normally clone git repos...
cd ~/gitrepos
git clone https://github.com/sun/drupal-reinstall.git

# In the Document Root directory of your Drupal checkout...
cd /var/www/drupal8
ln -s ~/gitrepos/drupal-reinstall/reinstall.php

Windows

:: Wherever you normally clone git repos...
cd C:\gitrepos
git clone https://github.com/sun/drupal-reinstall.git

:: In the Document Root directory of your Drupal checkout...
cd H:\htdocs\drupal8
mklink /H reinstall.php C:\gitrepos\drupal-reinstall\reinstall.php
:: yields:
Created hard link for reinstall.php <<===>> C:\gitrepos\drupal-reinstall\reinstall.php

Multi-WUT?

This script and manual refers to "multiple sites" in a couple of places. This chapter explains what is meant by that and why it matters.

Drupal core natively supports a multi-site concept; see /sites/default/default.settings.php

Drupal's multi-site functionality is normally used when you have multiple domains pointing to the same host and identical code base. — But what if you don't have or want that? Can you leverage it for quick throw-away "scratch" re-installations?

Yes, you can. Assuming the following:

1. You have Drupal in /var/www/drupal8/
2. You normally access it via http://drupal8.local/
3. You want to access a separate scratch site via http://drupal8.local/scratch/

Here is how:

1. Edit your Apache httpd.conf (or corresponding virtual host *.conf file) to add an Alias:

   <VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerName drupal8.local
     ...
     Alias /scratch /var/www/drupal8
   </VirtualHost>

2. Restart Apache.

3. Create an empty /sites/scratch directory.

4. Copy /sites/example.sites.php into /sites/sites.php

5. Add the following line to /sites/sites.php:

   $sites['drupal8.local.scratch'] = 'scratch';

6. Visit http://drupal8.local/scratch/reinstall.php

Known limitation:

1. The Apache 2.4+ mod_alias module supplies a $_SERVER['CONTEXT_PREFIX'] variable to PHP, which is not consumed in any way by Drupal.

2. mod_alias is only triggered when requesting a file within the aliased location. When only requesting a directory (e.g., /scratch), then the request does not run against the alias.

3. Due to the above, the final redirect to /scratch after completing the Drupal installation will end up in the default site. To access the newly installed scratch site, you have to manually inject a "dirty" URL:

   -http://drupal8.local/scratch/user/1
   +http://drupal8.local/scratch/index.php/user/1

The limitation does not apply to the reinstall.php script itself, nor to install.php, since both are interpreted as files by Apache.

Tip: Use the SQLite database driver when installing your scratch site, so the entire site is contained in files in the /sites/scratch directory.