| Setting up Apache, PHP and MySQL on Windows |
I'm writing this article assuming you're running
Windows XP on your computer. Even if you are not, you
can use this article to setup these three on almost
all basic Windows flavors.
INSTALLING APACHE
First of all you need to install Apache. You can get a
binary installation file from
http://apache.roweboat.net/httpd/binaries/win32/apache_2.0.48-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
Once you have downloaded the installation file, run
it. During the installation process, it asks you for
the following:
== The Installation Path ==
Chose a partition drive (if you have different drives
on the same computer), let us say, C:.
== Network Domain ==
If you are installing (which I guess is the case for
the time being) Apache for learning purpose, it
doesn't really matter what you type here. Just enter
yourname.com.
== Server Name ==
Enter www.yourname.com
== Administrator's Email Address ==
Enter you@yourname.com.
== For Whom To Install Apache ==
Select "For All Users". You need to run Apache as a
service in order to make it show your pages. If you
select the other option, you may have to start the
service whenever you have to use Apache for
development and learning purposes.
== The Installation Type ==
Select "Custom" and then let it install all the things
mentioned in the list.
That's it. If no catastrophe has occurred yet, Apache
should be installed on your computer. Assuming you
chose the c drive, the path of the program should be:
c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2.
INSTALLING PHP
You can download the latest version of PHP (for Apache
on Windows) from
http://in.php.net/get/php-5.0.0b4-Win32.zip/from/a/mirror
After you have downloaded the file, extract it in a
suitable folder. Let the path be c:\php.
You can run PHP for Windows in two ways: - a CGI
executable (php.exe) and as an API module. I recommend
using the API module and we'll configure PHP that way.
Once you have installed PHP in c:\php, locate a file
there named php.ini. Copy this file to WINDOWS or
WINNT folder.
If it is not already set, set extension_dir=c:\php in
your php.ini file.
Now the part where PHP runs as an API module.
You need to locate two files in c:\php and they are
php5apache.dll and php5ts.dll. Make sure these files
here in this folder and in the same location.
Remember you installed Apache in c:\Program
Files\Apache Group\Apache2? In Apache2 there is a
folder "conf" and in this there is a file
"httpd.conf". Open this file (I suggest you take a
backup of this file before tinkering with it), and add
the following lines somewhere:
LoadModule php5_module c:/php/php5apache2.dll
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
If you want to use a PHP file (index.php) go to the
line that contains:
DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.shtml
Add index.php to it such that it appears as
DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.shtml
index.php
That's it. You are ready to unleash PHP on your
computer.
INSTALLING MYSQL
Finally we come to installing MySQL. Now that as soon
as you begin programming in PHP you'll start creating
database applications, but now that we are installing
Apache and PHP, it's better to install MySQL too and
be done with it.
Download the appropriate zipped file from
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/ and unzip it into some
folder other that mysql (better keep this folder
reserved for the actual MySQL program). After
unzipping it, run the setup file and install the whole
thing is c:\mysql. MySQL is installed. It needs to run
as a MySQL server in order to make it work with your
PHP program.
In c:\mysql\bin there is a file namely
"winmysqladmin.exe". Whenever you want to use MySQL,
first run this program.
Another program that comes in handy while handling
MySQL is MySQL-Front that you can download from
http://www.mysqlfront.de/. We'll come back to this
tool once we start studying about MySQL.
==========================================================
Amrit Hallan is a freelance web developer. You can
checkout
his website at http://www.bytesworth.com.
For more such articles join BYTESWORTH REACHOUT at
http://www.bytesworth.com/br/default.asp or if you
have
a web dev related question then post it at
http://www.business180.com/index.php
==========================================================
|
Back to Articles Index
|
|
 |
|
