Setting Up a Web Server with XAMPP: Quick Guide to Apache XAMPP for Windows and Linux for Beginners

It is easy to deploy a full web server with PHP, Perl, and MySQL support using XAMPP from Apache Friends. This article takes the reader through the various steps needed.

There are many reasons to set up a local web server, including as a playground for would-be developers and as a low-cost intranet for small to medium sized organisations wanting to get the most from their local area network.

However, in many cases, the sheer complexity and workload involved in setting up a traditional web server, along with PHP, Perl, a database like MySQL, as well as setting up and configuring Apache falls well outside existing corporate skill sets.

This is where XAMPP comes in : a lightweight, near-zero configuration, self-contained web server environment. It may not be the most secure, or be optimized for heavy use, but as a starter kit, it simply cannot be beaten.

What is XAMPP?

XAMPP is a collection of open source, industry standard, web server tools, including:

• Apache - the web server;
• PHP and Perl - for server side scripting;
• MySQL - a lightweight database.

It is designed to be entirely self-contained and ready-to-run, right out of the box with an absolute minimum of installation and configuration.

XAMPP is available for Windows and Linux, and is equally easy to deploy on either platform, making it ideal as a way of re-using old technology for basic web serving duties via a lightweight Linux distro like Damn Small Linux, NimbleX or Xubuntu.

Downloading and Installing XAMPP for Dummies

XAMPP can be obtained from the Apache Friends web site for both Windows (a self-contained installer) and Linux: https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html The Windows installer works well, and is entirely straightforward.

Linux users, however, would be advised to search their software repository to find the XAMPP installation created specifically for their breed of Linux. Almost all distros are supported, and for those deploying a Linux box purely for the sake of a web server, all these Linux Live CD distros have a XAMPP either bundled with them or available from their software updater or installer.

XAMPP in Windows is started from the appropriate shortcut, like any other application (but can run in multiple modes – the author recommends experimentation), and in Linux from a suitable terminal session, usually as root (or via sudo, as in 'sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start').

Linux users will note that XAMPP lives in /opt/lampp once it has been installed. Security options can be set using the command line 'sudo /opt/lampp/lampp security' which will allow the user to set passwords for the content, FTP server, and MySQL.

Once all the steps of the chosen installation have been followed, the user now has a nice shiny XAMPP installation. Windows users will want to put their .php, .pl, or .html files in the htdocs folder that is in the installation root.

Testing that the system is working is easy enough, a browser can be pointed at http://localhost/xampp which serves the index.php file located in /opt/lampp/xampp.

Linux users wanting to add content can look in /opt/lampp/htdocs and add a folder for their project, whereupon they may need to change the permissions in order to be able to edit files in that location when not using the system as root. Aside from this small piece of housekeeping, the system is ready to go.

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