XAMPP All-in-one Web Development Stack
It's time consuming setting up web development environments and any seasoned developer will have most likely spent countless hours debugging obscure configuration issues. Also, with the plethora of options available, some newer developers can have a hard time locating and choosing what to install.
It turns out that most dynamic websites use a fairly common setup known as LAMP, short for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP/Perl.
With this in mind, the developers at Apache Friends have released XAMPP, the X being an operating system of your choice. It comes with Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl (along with a grab-bag of other goodies), and you can choose the package built for your OS.
Although I'm a sometime Ubuntu user, my current development environment is primarily on a Vista laptop. I grabbed the Windows XAMPP package and was amazed at how easy the "no-config" install was.
It includes:
- Apache
- MySQL
- PHP + PEAR
- Perl
- OpenSSL
- phpMyAdmin
- Webalizer
- Mercury Mail Transport System
- Ming
- JpGraph
- FileZilla FTP Server
- mcrypt
- eAccelerator
- SQLite, and
- WEB-DAV + mod_auth_mysql.
Whew! They threw in everything and the kitchen sink. But, luckily the installation is painless and you don't have to worry about the stuff you might not use, plus it's nice to know it's there if you need it. phpMyAdmin makes managing the database a breeze and above all, everything just works.
After downloading and installing the package to C:\xampp (they recommend against placing it in Program Files on Vista due to file permissions issues), I took it for a spin by visiting http://localhost in my browser. The user is presented with a handy control panel, with links pointing to all of the various parts of the XAMPP bundle.
Note: I chose to run Apache and MySQL as services, meaning they will always start when the computer boots up, but you may choose to run them as standalone programs if you don't use them much. If you didn't choose to install it as a service and are not getting a response from http://localhost, make sure you're running Apache and MySQL.
You can control which parts of XAMPP are running under Start / Programs / XAMPP. This is where you can start/stop servers as well as toggle them as services.
The XAMPP control panel for start/stop Apache, MySQL, FilaZilla & Mercury
Assuming everything is working correctly, visiting http://localhost should result in the following screen:
If you need more options, such as Java/JSP support or Python, check out the add-ons available:
- Perl Addon with Mod_Perl and a selection important Perl Modules
- Tomcat Addon (Requirement: SUN J2SE SDK must already be installed)
- Cocoon for Tomcat Addon (Requirement: Tomcat Addon must already be installed)
- Python Addon
A final note: This is for development purposes only, so it has absolutely no security. Don't even think about using this set up in a live environment. You've been warned. Don't believe me? Here's the list of security holes:
Here a list of missing security precautions in XAMPP:
* The MySQL administrator (root) has no password.
* The MySQL daemon is accessible via network.
* PhpMyAdmin is accessible via network.
* Examples are accessible via network.
* The user of Mercury and FileZilla are known.
Even in development, it's a good idea to set passwords and disable unused services. You can do so by changing the settings at http://localhost/security in a web browser.
For more info on XAMPP, visit the site the FAQ:
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp-windows.html
Or the forum:
Happy XAMPPin'!
It's time consuming setting up web development environments and any seasoned developer will have most likely spent countless hours debugging obscure configuration issues. Also, with the plethora of options available, some newer developers can have a hard time locating and choosing what to install.
It turns out that most dynamic websites use a fairly common setup known as LAMP, short for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP/Perl.
With this in mind, the developers at Apache Friends have released XAMPP, the X being an operating system of your choice. It comes with Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl (along with a grab-bag of other goodies), and you can choose the package built for your OS.
Although I'm a sometime Ubuntu user, my current development environment is primarily on a Vista laptop. I grabbed the Windows XAMPP package and was amazed at how easy the "no-config" install was.
It includes:
- Apache
- MySQL
- PHP + PEAR
- Perl
- OpenSSL
- phpMyAdmin
- Webalizer
- Mercury Mail Transport System
- Ming
- JpGraph
- FileZilla FTP Server
- mcrypt
- eAccelerator
- SQLite, and
- WEB-DAV + mod_auth_mysql.
Whew! They threw in everything and the kitchen sink. But, luckily the installation is painless and you don't have to worry about the stuff you might not use, plus it's nice to know it's there if you need it. phpMyAdmin makes managing the database a breeze and above all, everything just works.
After downloading and installing the package to C:\xampp (they recommend against placing it in Program Files on Vista due to file permissions issues), I took it for a spin by visiting http://localhost in my browser. The user is presented with a handy control panel, with links pointing to all of the various parts of the XAMPP bundle.
Note: I chose to run Apache and MySQL as services, meaning they will always start when the computer boots up, but you may choose to run them as standalone programs if you don't use them much. If you didn't choose to install it as a service and are not getting a response from http://localhost, make sure you're running Apache and MySQL. You can control which parts of XAMPP are running under Start / Programs / XAMPP. This is where you can start/stop servers as well as toggle them as services.
The XAMPP control panel for start/stop Apache, MySQL, FilaZilla & Mercury
Assuming everything is working correctly, visiting http://localhost should result in the following screen:
If you need more options, such as Java/JSP support or Python, check out the add-ons available:
- Perl Addon with Mod_Perl and a selection important Perl Modules
- Tomcat Addon (Requirement: SUN J2SE SDK must already be installed)
- Cocoon for Tomcat Addon (Requirement: Tomcat Addon must already be installed)
- Python Addon
A final note: This is for development purposes only, so it has absolutely no security. Don't even think about using this set up in a live environment. You've been warned. Don't believe me? Here's the list of security holes:
Here a list of missing security precautions in XAMPP:
* The MySQL administrator (root) has no password.
* The MySQL daemon is accessible via network.
* PhpMyAdmin is accessible via network.
* Examples are accessible via network.
* The user of Mercury and FileZilla are known.
Even in development, it's a good idea to set passwords and disable unused services. You can do so by changing the settings at http://localhost/security in a web browser.
For more info on XAMPP, visit the site the FAQ:
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp-windows.html
Or the forum:
Happy XAMPPin'!
posted by Jonah Dempcy at
11:33 PM
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