About Setting up a Test Server on Your Own Computer

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By:Keith

Here are a few basics of what this broad subject has to offer up to any individual who wants

to know more about it.

When you're developing a website, you require to see it in action on a honest server, to see

how it will work. While you could upload your pages to your web mass every time you make a

change, this quickly gets time-consuming and tiresome. Wouldn't it be great if you could have

a little test server of your own? Well, the server is nothing but a quantity of software so

you can! Please note that, for the purposes of this article, I will assume you're with Windows

as your operating system.

Installing an IIS check Server.

While with IIS isn't recommended, a test server is very simple to install. All you require to

do is open 'Add or detach Programs' in Windows' regulate panel. All you require to do is click

Internet Information army (IIS), click OK, and you're done.

What we have explored up to now is the most important information you need to know. Now, lets

dig a little deeper.

Of course, there are downsides to this. Many versions of Windows don't come with IIS, and

there's no way to ensconce it on them Windows XP Professional, for example, comes with IIS,

but Windows XP Home does not. You might also want to think that installing IIS on your

computer will often make it fewer secure.

Installing an Apache check Server.

Compared to installing IIS, installing Apache is hard Linux distributions all have relatively

simple ways of liability it, but Windows wasn't intended for it. To get Apache installed,

then, you're departure to require to have a little fight with the system.

Note: If you want to skip all the next steps, you might think with an 'easy installer' report

of Apache, such as XAMPP (for Windows), which you can get at

www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html. The downside to this approach is that you will be

relying on them to impart new releases, instead of being able to inform things yourself.

First of all, download Apache from http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi. Make sure you

download the Windows Installer (MSI) version. You'll find it easiest to make the server run as

a service, as this will make it run automatically Apache will exist in your system tray (in

the bottom-right turn of your screen).

Now, you require to find your Apache configuration file. In the folder where you installed

Apache, look for another folder named 'conf', and then a sand named 'httpd.conf'. Open this

sand and look for a setting called DocumentRoot. You should change this to moment to a folder

on your hard drive, such as 'c:/html'.

Now, you've got Apache, but that's not commonly much good on its own. The odds are that you'll

want to ensconce PHP and MySQL as well, so here's how:

Download PHP from http://www.php.net/downloads.php. Again, go for the installer. Once you've

installed PHP, find its folder, and rename the php.ini-dist sand there to php.ini. Find the

'doc_root' setting there, and set it to the same thing you set Apache's to.

Back in Apache's httpd.conf, you should add these lines:

LoadModule php5_module "c:/php/php5apache2.dll"

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

PHPIniDir "c:/php"

If you didn't ensconce PHP in c:php, change the outline above to exhibit where you put it.

Now, installing MySQL isn't as difficult, because it runs independently of your Apache

configuration. Download MySQL from dev.mysql.com/downloads. Again, get the Windows installer

version. This installer has a lot of settings, but you'll be punish if you just click Next

through them to accept all the defaults.

The only remaining measure is to allow MySQL scaffold in PHP. print libmysql.dll sand from

c:php to your WindowsSystem32 folder, and then open the php.ini sand you bent before. detach

the semicolon from the create of the line that says ';extension=php_mysql.dll', and prevent

the file.

Shut down Apache and renew it, and you're done!

Visiting Your Server.

When they've installed a server on their computer, many people miracle how they can access the

server they just installed as if they were visiting it over the web. The answer is simple:

just open your web browser, and go to this URL: http://localhost (you can also use

http://127.0.0.1). This special address means 'the server on this computer'.

You'll know if you installed Apache successfully because you'll see a page congratulating you.

When you change your web pages, just use your browser's Refresh button to see the effect.

If you would like to learn more about this subject, take a look at our wide selection of

articles to see if any interest you.

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Article keywords: server, web server, internet server

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

To learn more, please visit web-development-info.info/

Keith Londrie II

klondrie @ yahoo.com

web-development-info.info/