• klseesea
• Sep 5,2008
• In: Internet & Broadband, Software & Tools

Installing Apache 2.x, PHP5.x and MySQL on Windows XP XAMP Part 1

I just could not remember how many times I done this. Not as easy as it may sound, the LAMP or XAMP (Windows XP, Apache, MySQL, PHP) for that matter still take me an hour just how build a new setup.

First, a couple short notes on whom this tutorial is for. First, it’s for people who want to install PHP 5, Apache 2 and MySQL ; other versions will follow similar procedures, but they will by no means be identical, and these instructions will not work with them. Second, I’ve written this mostly with the beginner in mind, with the objective being to walk you through installation and setup of your own local web server to use as a learning and testing tool. That said, the instructions here should serve as useful information for the more experienced web developer/administrator who needs a refresher on installation, or runs into a problem along the way. If you’re planning on connecting your server to the Internet and serving files to the World, as usual, make sure you know what you’re doing first — you’ll get very little sympathy if something goes wrong because you didn’t.

On business: In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to install Apache 2, PHP 5and MySQL 4 on Windows XP, as well as how to set up a nice working environment.

Note: If you’re a little unsure of what a web server is, it can mean two things: (1) a computer that serves web pages and other content to web browsers and other client programs (this is the definition most people learn first), or (2) a program on a computer that enables it to serve such content. Apache is a web server as defined in the second sense, i.e. it is software. Once you install it on your computer, you will be able to view web pages, PHP pages, etc, on your local machine as if they were on a site on the Internet. In fact, other computers connected to your local network will be able to access the content you serve, and if you choose, you can even make your server available on the Internet.

I will show the installation in several steps.

1. Part 1 - Downloading Apache2, PHP5 and MySQL4 Binaries
2. Part 2 - Install Apache 2
3. Part 3 - Install MySQL 4.1
4. Part 4 - Install PHP 5

Why PHP 5 server was not installed first, you may ask. Well the best way to go about installing and integrating application / server is install the main applications server first only then do the integration. Here the integration portion is PHP.

Part 1 - Downloading Apache2, PHP5 and MySQL4 Binaries

Apache 2: Download Win32 Binary (MSI Installer)
Download the msi installation version of Apache 2, which ended with extension .msi.

PHP 5: Download PHP 5 zip Package
Download the PHP zip package under the Windows Binaries. Do not download the installer version, it’s not supporting Apache web server.

MySQL 4.1: Download MySQL 4.1 Windows Essentials
Search for “Windows Downloads” and download the Windows Essentials (x86) installation package. The file should ended with extension .msi. The Essentials package is recommended since it features only the essential components one needs to run the MySQL server on a Windows machine, and has reduced file size.

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