Server Requirements

MODX will run fine on most shared/cloud hosting, as well as VPS and dedicated boxes. MODX is written in PHP, typically uses a MySQL database, and needs a webserver like Apache or nginx to serve web requests.

PHP¶

Current MODX 3 releases require PHP 8.1 or higher. PHP 8.2+ is recommended.

MODX 3.0 originally required PHP 7.2. The minimum was raised to PHP 8.1 in MODX 3.2. If you are still on an earlier 3.x release, check that version's requirements before upgrading — moving to 3.2 or later means your host must support PHP 8.1+.

Required extensions¶

These PHP extensions are required by the core (same list as ext-* in composer.json):

• curl
• dom
• fileinfo
• gd
• json
• pdo
• simplexml
• xml
• xmlwriter
• zip
• zlib

For a MySQL database you also need the PDO MySQL driver (pdo_mysql). Setup checks for it when you choose the MySQL driver.

On many hosts these ship as packages such as php-xml (covers dom, simplexml, xml, xmlwriter), php-gd, php-curl, php-zip, and php-mysql / php-pdo.

Recommended extensions¶

Composer also suggests these. They are not hard requirements for a bare install, but you will want them in practice:

• mbstring — needed when use_multibyte is enabled, and by many Extras
• iconv — built-in alias transliteration
• imagick — stronger image processing than gd alone
• intl — internationalization helpers

A memory_limit of at least 64M or higher is recommended.

Database¶

MODX supports a mysql database and a third-party postgres implementation is available. It is important to note that extras also need to implement different drivers for their custom database tables, which is often only done for mysql, making that your best bet.

Note: sqlsrv support was removed in MODX 3.0. See the sqlsrv migration notes if you need to move an older site off SQL Server.

The minimum supported MySQL version is 5.7; MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+ is recommended. It is also possible to use clusters like Galera.

Both MyISAM and InnoDB storage engines are supported, as are utf8 and utf8mb4 character sets. It is recommended to use a utf8mb4 character set for widest UTF-8 support.

The following permissions are required: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE for normal operations, CREATE, ALTER, INDEX, DROP for installations and upgrades of the core and installable extras, and CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES by some third party extras.

Web servers¶

MODX will run on most web servers available today. Apache 2.4+ or nginx 1.18.x are recommended.

In order to use friendly urls, you may need additional configuration depending on the web server. Instructions are available for apache, nginx and lighttpd.

Browser Support for the Manager¶

To use the back-end interface, the following desktop browsers are supported:

• Edge (last 2)
• Chrome (last 2)
• Firefox (last 2)
• Safari (last 2)

Supported mobile/tablet browsers:

• Chrome for Android (last)
• Safari on iOS (last)

The manager might work fine on older or different browsers, but they are not officially supported.

Note that these requirements are only for the manager. What browsers your website supports is up to you!