I started trying to create a website which uses PHP on an old computer (previously used by another programmer).
I wanted to test my PHP code without uploading it each time, so I downloaded Apache and installed it. I was starting to set Apache up when I discovered this computer already had Apache on it.
Now I had multiple versions of Apache, so I went into add/remove programs and got rid of Apache (which only showed up once in the list).
Unfortunately windows decided it would uninstall the old version and keep mine which was not functioning properly. Also for whatever reason it seemed to have kept a good few files from the old version, but not enough that I could actually use it in any way. I believe it just had some configurations files.
I thought I would copy my files from the new version into the old version and not replace anything so hopefully I would be able to run under the older configurations, but that didn't work.
At this point I just wanted to cut my losses, so I put all the versions of Apache in an archive so there was no way the computer could be using them. I also removed Apache from the windows startup and rebooted the computer after configuring one single version of the newer copy of Apache to supposedly run PHP.
The problem is upon startup I could immediately log in to localhost and apache was already running. Also when I opened Apache manually from the files I had left unzipped, it only gives me the option to start Apache (not an option to stop or restart implying it is not running) and when I click it, it says "The requested operation has failed!" which is less than helpful.
So anyway, I just want to be able to run PHP locally and now I don't feel like I can even successfully uninstall and start from scratch anymore. Does anyone know what I have to do to get this to work? Sorry for the long description, I wove such a tangled knot.
One way to solve is use a XAMP (Apache + MySQL + PHP) client like XAMPP http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html brings it all set up for you to use. The problem of conflict can be caused by any IDE (Netbeans for example) that already carries a version of Apache.
Try to configure config files of Apache case exist.
Assumption: Running Windows OS for development and linux for production environment.
My recommendation is to not mix the Windows and Linux worlds as while they can be made to behave after lots of work, it is usually more pain than good.
Instead, as a humble windows and linux user, download and install Virtualbox [https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads], a free open source virtualisation tool.
Then download a linux distribution of your choice and install that into a new virtual machine.
Configure the linux tools inside linux and leave your windows machine relatively untouched.
A useful linux service to install would be Samba - windows file sharing - you can use this to edit your code in windows using any IDE of your choice, while saving directly to linux and testing through linux. When happy, upload from the linux system (again like any other file uploader) and all will be well.
If you are deploying to a linux based environment in your production service then this will help you avoid common mistakes such as case-sensitivity trouble and many others.
Building and running this system is free and it will help teach you more about the linux environment you are deploying to also.
Equally, when you don't have the virtual machine booted, there's no services lying around exposing your computer to possible local network threats and consuming resources - as opposed to installing Apache on Windows where it will be using some resources all the time.
Related
I had installed php and mysql on Windows Server 2003 Web edition many years ago. The hard drive crashed on December 23rd, 2021, and although I had all our data backed up, I did not have a system backup to save the OS and all configurations/installations. I have php scripts to bridge Adobe Air and mysql, so I have to stick with php.
Installing PHP 5.3 on IIS6, as was what was running before. The installation with FastCGI is straight forward and fairly simple to get php running, but I am stuck. After following the dozen or so "how-to" guides floating around the web, I am left with the same issue no matter what I try.
When running php.exe from the command line, I get "Access is denied"
I changed security of C:\PHP to allow full control for all users.
I changed the application pool identity to local system from network service.
I double-checked the .ini configs for php.ini and fcgiext.ini.
I believe every location for path variables has been updated/set properly.
At this point, I'm leaning toward something in IIS or Windows blocking access, but I have run out of ideas/options. A new server is being ordered, but we need to get this one up and running so we can limp along until we have new hardware/software to install our programs on.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This might be a long shot but have you tried to check that the .exe isn't set to "Read-Only" also you can try take ownership of the folder with the following:
Take Ownership on Right Click
What I have so far:
Two VirtualBox LAMP machines (separate locations) where I connect my two Windows development machines via SFTP, to write code using PHPStorm.
One VPS machine where I deploy my code written for a project in Laravel.
What I am trying to achieve:
Fast and easy code deployment, as in: write the code in Windows via PHPStorm, test it on the LAMP machine, deploy to VPS if necessary.
The problem is that I need to use some php artisan commands on LAMP machines to get some code generated. This means that I always have to synchronize PHPStorm with LAMP files tree in order to see the changes. Then, I need to also sync the other dev (LAMP) machine and the other PHPStorm running on Windows machine number 2. I know that this can be done via Git.
So everytime I use the command line to generate code, I need to sync 4 machines (excluding the deployment server).
Later, if I add another pair of Windows/LAMP dev machines, the complexity grows.
Back in the days of Dreamweaver, I could write code directly on the deployment server. Not the greatest idea, but it was way much simpler and faster, and that's what I need now.
Any ideas on how can I simplify this?
Switching to WAMP so I can have files in sync with PHPStorm (because all is locally) is not OK because... Windows and PHP libraries issues :)
Also, switching to Dreamweaver is not OK either.
What other options do I have?
Thanks!
LE: on the side, I am also thinking if a NAS can be helpful for this type of problem.
LLE: is Linux Desktop + PHPStorm the only straight solution?
No matter the protocols
You can put your code outside of the guest machine and configure the guest machine to mount the code (mount a folder from the host inside the guest).
Apache will run slower because it will use the mounted remote-folder but PHPStorm will run at its maximum speed.
Taking protocols into consideration
Try using SSHFS on windows.
I use SSHFS for remote development from my Linux host machine to headless vagrant boxes (and/or to remote development servers / staging servers).
It's much faster than SAMBA (the windows SMB protocol) and oddly faster than NFS even though SSH uses encryption.
Coleages using Windows+SMB often leave their computers for 30 min while PHPStorm is indexing and git branch changes on the dev machine go unnoticed for minutes at a time.
Indexing over SSHFS usually takes less than 5 min on a Symfony2 project. Branch changes are detected in less than 15s.
Using Linux (shameless plug)
Linux is nice, and it's free, and it works out of the box (Ubuntu) -- including pesky USB-Modems which would normally require an install on windows.
You already know how to handle a Linux CLI the learning curve is already halfway crossed.
Auto-updates don't rule your life, they're not the king of you!
All the applications you need are part of the software repositories you don't need to look for anything, download 40+ executables and attempt to install them just to be welcomed by an error "invalid architecture", "windows version not supported", ".NET framework version too old", "DirectX version too new (wtf?)", "your cousin is a software pirate".
Dependency management is a concept Linux never fully solved -- but at least the bloody tried and in 90% of consumer use-cases it fits the bill. Windows is still eating glue at the back of the class.
How I solved the problem:
I have an extra Mac, on which I installed everything for my PHP ecosystem, including the IDE, so everything is local. That's the dev machine. Then I manually copy the code to the VPS when needed. Another solution was to install Ubuntu Desktop (or similar) on dual boot with Windows and use it as a local dev environment.
Much faster development / deployment :)
I am setting up a server for the first time ever (no prior experience) and got the static IP setup for it no problem. The next step is to setup the server to have a mysql database so other local machines can connect to it. Is it best to achieve this by installing PHP, MySQL, Apache etc. separately or to use something like wampserver?
I figured wampserver would be the straightforward approach but doesn't using a virtual server on a server defeat the purpose of it? Basically looking for some direction or a link here as I am completely clueless
WAMP server basically packages those different programs together and gives you things like a program icon, a system tray icon to control servers, readymade links to say phpMyAdmin. The underlying servers are the same as the 'original' ones. As such you may find WAMP server easier to install AND easier to administer.
Downside - the WAMP server does NOT includes latest 'originals'. They latest originals make it to WAMP server distribution with some lag. If you need latest say PHP, then better off installing them on your own.
WAMP server is a collection of Apache, Mysql and PHP modules.
WAMP server is same as having each component installed separately, however WAMP server gives you a package that is very user friendly in terms of quick shortcuts like (starting/stopping server, activating modules ans so on) which you would have to do manually (by editing config files if installed separately)
Pros of WAMP
Userfriendly
Easy to activate/ desactivate modules
Additional features (phpmyadmin,sqlbuddy etc..)
Cons
Difficult to upgrade
Securitiy issues
Performance issues
In the past, I used WAMPserver on windows to parse PHP for me. This is a pre-configured package, focussed on working with MySQL.
When I tried to run PostgreSQL, I got error messages that said that my version of PHP wasn't compiled to work with PostgreSQL.
So, I've recently uninstalled WAMP and every associated with it. I've downloaded Apache 2.2.11 with openSSL, installed as admin(you know, run the command prompt as administrator, cd to the directory where the download was done and have it executed, so the install was done as admin).
That's that. I now have Apache installed, "it works" shows up, so I'm that far.
Now I'm wondering, do I download the exe and install, or the zip, or something else.
What is the best thing to do to make sure that the PHP on my system can handle everything I can ever throw at it?
Also, PHP first, or MySQL/Postgre first.
And lastly, what about PEAR? I need PEAR installed, which isn't standard on Windows. I'm guessing the pear.bat file in the PHP downloads will do that for me?
EDIT: I see one close vote, yet no comment as to why. It makes me wonder how people who are so lazy and rude got to have somany points.
I would recommend downloading the zip package, as configuring php is not really that difficult, and it allows you to add features as needed.
As for whether first to install php or MySQL/PostgreSQL, - it does not really matter. You can install them in any order.
Your guess regarding PEAR is quite correct
i haven't used wamp before, so i can't comment on that
i do however use xampp which sounds very similar
in xampp if i want to enable postgres support i edit the php.ini file and uncomment the postgres section of the ini file, same with any of the extensions that i need
perhaps this might be an alternative you can try if you get stuck
There are many ways to setup a HTTP server/PHP/database machine. Sometimes the behaviour of your development setup will differ from the live server's.
I would recommend finding out the setup your web host is using, then getting a vmware appliance image that fits that as close as possible and get any additional software using it's package manager (which is easier that installing stuff on Windows).
Setup a file sharing link between the VM and the host, make sure you can view the VM's port 80 in a browser running in your host OS and you're set.
I want to test some PHP on my local machine running Windows XP Professional. I'm familiar with coding PHP for upload, but not with running a web server.
What is the easiest way to set up a test environment? Step-by-step instructions would be great if you can give them.
(I see WAMP recommended in this thread - thoughts?)
Update - a year later
A little self-promotion: after using XAMPP for a long time, I began to want things it didn't include. (Support for PDO was a big one - every time I tried to enable pdo and mysqli simultaneously, something crashed.) I eventually worked through the process of installing Apache, PHP, MySQL, and PHPMyAdmin individually, and documented the process with screen shots on my blog.
Some of the configuration that I was able to do this way could have been done in XAMPP, but it was only because I had to set things up myself that I discovered new things (like being able to serve files out of c:\whatever instead of c:\program files\apache\htdocs).
On the whole, I'm happier with having installed these items separately. But XAMPP was a good (and easy) package to start with, and served me well while I used it.
(source: apachefriends.org)
Xampp is the simplest. You can setup everything in a Step by Step and if you require further configuration (Virtual Server, extension) you have the normal php.ini and other file in the directory that you can edit yourself.
Here is the Step By Step installation for Windows.
XAMPP from ApacheFriends is pretty simple to set up and use.
note the site appears to be down as at 15:02 UTC on 3rd Dec 2008
note again and it is back!
Instead of WAMP, I recommend XAMPP, for Cross Platform (X), Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl, all in one package. It is very simple to setup and use, and like WAMP puts an icon in the system tray to manage it all.
You can get it here: www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html. This site also includes comprehensive instructions to get up and running quickly.
There is even a portable version available at http://portableapps.com/apps/development/xampp.