How to Set up a Test Server on Your Own Computer

We have numerous other articles written on this very subject. Each one tackles a different aspect of this complex topic. When you're developing a website, you indigence to see it in action on a truly server, to see how it will work. While you could upload your pages to your web crowd 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 member 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 analysis Server. While with IIS isn't recommended, a test server is very simple to install. All you indigence to do is open 'Add or eradicate Programs' in Windows' direct panel. All you indigence to do is click Internet Information army (IIS), click OK, and you're done. For the rest of this article, we will discuss the meaning behind what we have learned about this subject so far. 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 ponder that installing IIS on your computer will often make it minus secure. Installing an Apache analysis 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 available to indigence to have a little fight with the system. Note: If you want to skip all the next steps, you might ponder with an 'easy installer' edition 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 give new releases, instead of being able to renew 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 surface in your system tray (in the bottom-right bend of your screen). Now, you indigence to find your Apache configuration file. In the folder where you installed Apache, look for another folder named 'conf', and then a chafe named 'httpd.conf'. Open this chafe and look for a setting called DocumentRoot. You should change this to feature to a folder on your hard drive, such as 'c:/html'. Now, you've got Apache, but that's not regularly 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 chafe 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 replicate 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 minute if you just click Next through them to accept all the defaults. The only remaining walk is to allow MySQL help in PHP. item libmysql.dll chafe from c:\php to your Windows\System32 folder, and then open the php.ini chafe you formed before. eradicate the semicolon from the boon of the line that says ';extension=php_mysql.dll', and keep the file. Shut down Apache and save it, and you're done! Visiting Your Server. When they've installed a server on their computer, many people marvel 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. Seeing is believing, but sometimes we cant all experience every subject in life. This article hopes to make up for that by providing you with a valuable resource of information on this topic.