Apache

[Bill_Thompson]

I am absolutely no experience in Apache -- well, no first hand experience, that is. Where do I start, where do I download? What do I download?

I have been trying to get serious about developing my web site. I have Windows XP Home Edition OS and I have not yet been able to get going. [img]http://fool.exler.ru/sm/kngt.gif[/img] Do really need to explain my conclusion why I need to get Apache? In order to do Source Save, I need IIS. In order to use IIS, I cannot have Windows XP Home, I need to either get free Apache or buy Windows XP Pro.

So, where do I start? What is a good plcae to get it and what is a good place to get information?

[Kate Albany]

A good place to start
http://www.apache.org/

The Apache HTTP Server project homepage
http://httpd.apache.org/

The Apache HTTP Server project download page
http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

You will need:

# Win32 Binary (MSI Installer): apache_2.0.54-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
or
# Win32 Source: httpd-2.0.54-win32-src.zip

[Bill_Thompson]

Cool.
Thanks!

[Bill_Thompson]

I have downloaded Apache for the Windows operating system and have read the installation documentation and I have a question: Do I need to register a domain name before I install Apache?

I am getting Apache, by the way, so that I can:Edit and debug PHP without having to upload to a sever constantly.
I can use Source Safe on my home computer. This is a somewhat long story. But, basically, Source Safe requires either IIS or Apache and IIS does not exist for Windows XP Home Edition.

Anyway, in the installation documentation for Apache, it reads:
Run the Apache .msi file you downloaded above. The installation will ask you for these things:
Network Domain. Enter the DNS domain in which your server is or will be registered in. For example, if your server's full DNS name is server.mydomain.net, you would type mydomain.net here.

Do I need to register a domain name before I install Apache?

[Kate Albany]

No, you can put anything in there if you are only going to use it locally

[Troy]

Edit and debug PHP without having to upload to a sever constantly.

Quick tip: I use PSPad as my code editor. Like many advanced editors, it includes the ability to edit files directly on your webserver using ftp. So you "open" files from your ftp server. When you save, it saves by ftping the changed file to your server. No more saving locally, then manually ftp'ing to your server. This saves a lot of time for me. PSPad is free and high quality. You can also integrate the PHP documentation file so you can hover over any PHP statement and hit Alt-F1 to see the PHP documentation--very handy. www.pspad.com

[Troy]

Hello, World!

[bkendall]

kind of an aside i know but I jsut upgraded to the most recent (stable) version of phpMyAdmin and so far I am very impressed with the new interface changes, very slick.

[Bill_Thompson]

Wow.

Hey, I downloaded and am running XAMPP along with Apache.

Is that going to mess things up?

Otherwise, tell me did it work so far?

Can anyone access http://192.168.0.100/ from the outside world?

[Troy]

Bill, 192.168.0.100 is a private IP address. Nobody will be able to access it from the Internet. Any addresses in these ranges are private:

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

These are designed to be used in local networks that access the Internet behind a router or firewall. (Or networks that are not even connected to the Internet. Yes, there actually are networks NOT connected to the Internet! GASP!) More info at http://www.jpsdomain.org/networking/nat.html

My guess is you are using a Linksys Cable/DSL Router. I say this, because they default to using the 192.168.0.0 network, and the first DHCP address they give out by default is 192.168.0.100.

For people on the Internet to access your webserver, there are two things you have to do.

First, you must find out what your public IP address is. This will be the IP address of your router's external port--the address assigned by your ISP. You can find your external IP by checking your router's config. You can access your router's admin page at http://192.168.0.1 . You can also simply go to http://www.whatismyip.com/ to see what your external IP is.

Second, you must configure your router to allow web traffic (TCP, port 80) to your local 192.168.0.100 computer. To do this, you need to go to your router's admin page and find the section where you configure port forwarding or NAT.

As for messing things up with XAMPP, it's not going to mess anything up, but you said "..along with Apache". It appears XAMPP includes Apache, so you would not install XAMPP along with Apache. You'd just install XAMPP. XAMPP gives you more than my HOWTO, but it doesn't look any easier to follow than my simple step-by-step instructions. I'm curious, did my detailed instructions not work for you, so you went and found XAMPP? Or did you find XAMPP before looking at my post above?

[mickoc]

Hi there,

I am having a similar problem.

I would like to access my apache server from my external IP address but cannot access the page.

It works fine from http://localhost

I have forwarded both inbound and outbound ports to my
[Internal] ip address 192.168.0.2 for port 80 via my router
but still cant access...

Got this working before and i was nearly sure i had to edit the httpd.conf file in apache??

Any help is much appreciated...

[whizz81]

You are a life saver...HOw can I ever thank you for helping me setup php/mysql/admin/apache. thank to your instructions I was able to successfully setup my system for web development.

[kannan1985]

i could not find the line
"DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var"

[Troy]

All, I just wanted to pop in here to say first, thanks for the thanks and glad I could help. Second, those very specific steps I provided were back in 2005, as indicated in the post. Some things are bound to change. I do not have time to revamp the instructions for current versions, but I can tell you that not a lot has changed. It will require you, though, to do some translating--which may not be possible for a beginner. My apologies!

Please do not PM me for personal help as I simply do not have the time these days. Hopefully one of you will find a better, more up-to-date tutorial and post a link here.

Stick with it--it gets easier! :)

[elina4u]

@Troy, Thanks for the information!