LostInTechnology

Make Your Computer Into a Webserver with XAMPP

Posted on 05. May, 2009 by srikanth in How To

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There are vast number of open source frameworks on the web which can be configured and customized to build a wide range of websites from ecommerce to event management. But, if you want to test run a new software package you came across on the server, it would be a tedious task, as you would be entirely naive to the control interface.

Rather than testing a package on the server, you can install Apache web server and make your PC work as a local server and test run software packages like WordPress, Drupal, Elgg or any other open source frameworks. But, its not that easy to install an Apache web server and it gets harder if you want to add MySQL, PHP and Perl.

XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. You just need to download and extract to start experimenting.

Setting up XAMPP

After installation, you should see the XAMPP control panel as follows.Now, type localhost on your internet browser and select your language.  You can access this startup page as http://127.0.0.1 or http://localhost.  XAMPP has a few tweaks you might want to try out like Flash art, Excel Writer, Phone Book etc which are accessible via the left sidebar on http://localhost.  The MySQL server runs with the default MySQL privileged account i.e root with no password, in order to fix this security risk go to http://localhost/security/index.php and assign a password for the MySQL SuperUser  account.Now, restart MYSQL for these changes to take effect.  If you have processed the above steps appropriately, then you have successfully configured XAMPP.

Testing a Software Package

Now that you have installed XAMPP successfully, lets test run and install a software packages. I’m test running one of the popular open source  social networking engines: Elgg

Test Run: Elgg

For the test run, I’m installing elgg V1.1.  First, download and extract the elgg folder onto htdocs in the xampp folder on C:/ drive, in general the file location would be as C:xampphtdocs.  For installing any package we need a database name and the database user name and password.  Go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and login as root, then create a new database.  Thus, we have the database name as : db_name_elgg ( example) , database username: root and the database password: “****”.  Now go to http://localhost/elgg/install.php for installing Elgg onto the localhost.Provide the database details and then it would ask you for the site name and description.  Once you are done with creating the administrator account,  go to tool administration for enabling or disabling features like blogs, diagnostics, friends, groups and a lot more.  The rest would be a cake walk, now based on this engine you can customize your site design and implement it with appropriate features and plug-ins on the server.

Conclusion

Setting up your own webserver may not be for everyone, but if you do want to try it, XAMPP is a very easy software to use and is a great place to start.

By Srikanth AD, see his blog or follow him on Twitter for more information.

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Tags: elgg, review, tutorial, webserver, xampp