Install & Configure Apache, PHP, JSP, Ruby on Rails, MySQL, PHPMyAdmin & WordPress on Windows XP/2000

Install Apache

Prerequisites

From the Apache HTTPD download page, download the latest Win32 Binary (MSI Installer). The latest version should be under a section titled "the best available version".

Version: 2.2.3
File Name: apache_2.2.3-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
Download Location: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

Install

  1. Run apache_2.2.3-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi. Click Next >.
    Click Next >
  2. Choose "I accept the terms in the license agreement", and then click Next >.
    Select "I accept the terms in the license agreement", and then click Next >
  3. Click Next >.
    Click Next >
  4. Fill in the appropriate information. Select "for All Users, on Port 80, as a Service", and then click Next >. If you do not know what to enter, you can put in "localhost" for the network domain and server name.
    click Next >
  5. Choose "Typical", and then click Next >.
    Choose Typical, and then click Next >
  6. Click Next >.
    Click Next >
  7. Click Install.
    Click Install
  8. Click Finish.
    Click Finish
  9. If you have Windows Firewall enabled, click Unblock on the Windows Security Alert. For other firewalls, make sure port 80 is open.
    Click Unblock

Test

  1. Open http://localhost/ in a web browser. If you see something like the following, you've successfully installed Apache!
    Apache Test
  2. You'll also notice a new icon in your system tray. If you single left-click, you'll get a menu that allows you to start, stop, or restart the Apache HTTPD service.
    System Tray Icon

Configuration

Apache stores it's configuration settings in a file called httpd.conf. This file is located at C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf. The file is well documented so feel free to snoop around. You can learn a lot just by looking through it.

Although for this tutorial I left it alone, I usually change the default document root. This is where all of your website's files are stored. To change the document root:

  1. Change line 149. Notice that for Windows, you convert the backslashes to regular slashes. i.e. \ to /.
    DocumentRoot "C:/Path to website files"
  2. Change line 177 to match the same path as above.
    <Directory "C:/Path to website files">