apache Archives - Complete, Concrete, Concise

Disabling the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)

richardsplanet — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:00:28 +0000

These instructions are for Windows XP with Service Pack 3. The procedure should be the same for other versions of Windows, but no guarantee is made.

Some images may be clicked for full sized versions.

Why would I want to disable the IIS?

If you have installed Apache Server, either as part of a package (like XAMPP or AMPPS) or by itself, having IIS running will interfere with the Apache Server starting up.

This is because only one service can use the Internet ports 80 and 443 at any given time, so if the IIS is using them, then Apache Server cannot.

How to Disable the IIS

1) Click on the Start Menu button and select Run from the menu. (Or use the keyboard shortcut: windows key + R):

2) Enter services.msc into the dialog and click on OK:

3) The Services Window will open. Find the IIS service.

4) Check that the IIS service is disabled. If it is set to Automatic or Manual, then you will need to disable it.

5) To disable the service, Right Click on the service and select Properties from the pop-up menu:

6) Select Disabled from the Startup Type drop down menu. Click on the OK button:

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How to Change the Apache Port in XAMPP

richardsplanet — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:04:12 +0000

These instructions are for XAMPP 1.7.3 running on Windows XP.

They should be similar for other configuration combinations, but no guarantee is made.

These instructions should also work for an Apache Server install that is not part of a XAMPP install (specific details regarding file locations and restarting of the Apache Server will differ).

NOTE: XAMPP 1.7.4 and XAMPP 1.7.7 display misleading port information in the XAMPP Control Panel.

Regardless of which port you specify Apache to listen to, the XAMPP Control Panel will always display:

Apache started [Port 80]

This is WRONG!!!! This is a HARDCODED string in XAMPP 1.7.4 and 1.7.7. It does not reflect the actual port Apache is listening to.

Yet another reason why you should not be using XAMPP 1.7.4 or 1.7.7.

By default, Apache Server listens on port 80, but this can be changed.

Why Change the Port?

Perhaps certain ports are blocked by your network admin or ISP (although, I would not recommend running XAMPP as a publicly accessible server).

Perhaps port 80 is already being used by some other application (like IIS) and you don’t want to or are not allowed to shut it down or change it.

Apache Server is not starting and you are using XAMPP 1.7.4 (I recommend XAMPP 1.7.3). XAMPP 1.7.4 removed a useful port debugging tool, so changing the Apache Server port is one way of checking to see if you have a port conflict – change the port and if Apache Server starts working, then you know some other application is using port 80. You should try several ports, just in case you are lucky and manage to pick ports used by other applications. Some ports to try are 2375, 4173, 5107, 9260, 20010 – these ports, among others, are all listed as unassigned (but that doesn’t mean someone else isn’t using them).

How to Change the Port

Edit the httpd.conf file to change the port Apache listens on.

(1) Locate the file httpd.conf. This file should be found in C:\xampp\apache\conf (or whichever directory you installed XAMPP in – mine is on my D-drive because that is where I installed XAMPP).

(2) Open the file using a text editor or programmer’s editor (I use notepad++). DO NOT use a word processor (like Word) to open the file, it will badly mess it up.

(3a) Locate the line that says Listen 80. It is line #47 in the XAMPP 1.7.3 install.

(3b) Change the port number (80) to a different number (for this tutorial, I changed it to 1234).

(3c) Save the file.

(4) Restart the Apache Server to have the change take effect. Do this by clicking on the Stop button on the XAMPP control panel and then clicking on the Start button. (You could also just reboot the computer, but that is overkill).

Using the New Port

When you connect to the Apache Server, you will have to append the port number to the URL. Previously where you typed localhost, you will now have to type localhost:1234 (or whatever your new port number is):

Note: in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), it is necessary to prepend the prefix http:// before localhost: localhost:1234 will not work, it must be http://localhost:1234.

I did not observe this with Firefox 4.0 – entering localhost:1234 worked just fine (the browser was able to resolve the address as http://localhost:1234).

Second note: this is not a bug in IE8 – as a convenience, browsers automatically try to fixup URLs for you. Technically, you ARE required to type http:// before every URL you type in.

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Installing XAMPP – Apache Server, MySql, and PHP

richardsplanet — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:32:06 +0000

These instructions are for installing XAMPP 1.7.3 on Windows XP, Service Pack 3. It should work for other configurations as well.

XAMPP 1.7.4 (released in January 2011). I had no problem with the install and most things work just fine, however, there are many little things that require “expert” tinkering to get it working right. Because of this, I cannot recommend it to someone just looking for a straightforward install with minimal tinkering. See also this discussion thread at Apache Friends which covers in more detail the various issues.

XAMPP 1.7.7 (released in Septemeber 2011) is the latest version. I had no problem with the install and most things work just fine, however, there are many little things that require “expert” tinkering to get it working right (it is much stricter on PHP errors than 1.7.3 is – a flag change to fix that). Because of this, I cannot recommend it to someone just looking for a straightforward install with minimal tinkering. It has a new phpmyadmin interface (unfortunately, it defaults to German – easily changed, though). It still exludes the port checker present in version 1.7.3 (which is a really useful debug tool).

If you are determined to install XAMPP 1.7.4 or 1.7.7 and you are more of a user than a developer, you will want to check out this article on preventing the PHP interpreter from spitting out error messages related to poor programming practice (yes, even popular packages can be filled with poor programming practices) and deprecated features.

NOTE: If you are just looking for a way to install and test various web applications. A simpler alternative might be to install AMPPS instead. It provides the same basic functionality as XAMPP, but includes installation scripts for over 200 different web applications. You can read about installing AMPPS here.

Click on images for full sized versions.

XAMPP is an extremely easy to install and use Apache Server which comes bundled with MySQL (a database), PHP (server side scripting language), Perl (another server side scripting language), FileZilla FTP Server and Mercury Mail Transport System.

Why would I want to install it?

To allow development and testing on your local machine instead of on a remote (and probably live) server. I use it to test out changes to my website before uploading and committing changes to the real site.

Installation

Download the self extracting package, run it and, in most cases, accept the default settings.

Downloading

1) Go to the SourceForge website and select xampp-win32-1.7.3.exe to download XAMP (this is the self extracting version with the built-in installer):

2) You will be redirected to a download page. If the download does not start in a few seconds, click on the direct download link:

3) Select to either Save the file or to Run it directly over the Internet. Saving allows you to uninstall and reinstall if necessary:

Extracting

4) Enter the location to extract XAMPP into. By default, it selects the C:\ drive. I entered my D:\ drive because I have more space there. [NOTE: XAMPP will automatically create a folder called \XAMPP in the directory you specify, having C:\ as your install folder will result in XAMPP being installed in C:\XAMPP\]. Click on the Install button:

Configuring

The XAMPP installation will ask a few configuration questions. It should be safe to accept the defaults.

5) Enter y and press the Enter / Return key for the prompt: Should I add shortcuts to the startmenu/desktop? (y/n): y

6) Enter y and press the Enter / Return key for the prompt:

Should I locate the XAMPP paths correctly?

Should I proceed? (y/x=exit setup): y

7) Enter n and press the Enter / Return key for the prompt:

Should I make a portable XAMPP without drive letters?

NOTE: – You should use drive letters, if you want use services.
– With USB sticks you must not use drive letters.

Your choice? (y/n): n

8) Press the Enter / Return key for the prompt:

XAMPP is ready to use.

Press to continue:

9) Press the Enter / Return key for the prompt:

I have set the timezone in ‘php.ini’ and ‘my.ini’ to “America/New_York”.

You should correct these values if my guess was wrong.

Press to continue:

10) Enter 1 and press the Enter / Return key for the prompt: Please choose (1-7/x): 1. This will start the XAMPP control panel:

Setting Up

11) Click the two check boxes labelled Svc located next to the Apache and MySQL labels. This will install both services for you:

12) Press OK when prompted to install the Apache Service and MySQL service:

13) Observe that the services are now running. If the services are not running, then you need to manually start them. See step (14).

14) If the Apache and MySql services did not start when you installed them, then click on the Start button beside each service. NOTE: The Apache service can take several seconds to start and the application may look as though it is hung – just wait. If the Apache service does not start, see Troubleshooting below.

Testing The Installation

XAMPP is now setup and ready to use on your computer.

To test, launch your browser and enter:

http://localhost

into your navigation bar. You should see the following display:

The default installation of XAMPP Is not secure and should not be used as a publicly accessible server. However, it functions just fine as a test bed server for various software packages like Joomla!, WordPress, Drupal, or even if you want to experiment with PHP or MySQL.

When you set up a web site under XAMPP, you need to type localhost/my-site into the navigation bar to access it. If you would like to change it so you can type my-site.com instead (so it looks more like a “real” web site), you can find instructions for that here.

Troubleshooting

Sometimes the Apache Server will not run. This is most often caused by some other application using port 80 (the http port).

If you are not allowed to change or disable programs using port 80, or if port 80 is being blocked on your computer, consider changing the port the Apache Server uses.

Instructions for changing the port used by Apache Server are found here.

1) Click on Port-Check to see if any other applications or services are using port 80.

2) A console window will appear and XAMPP PortCheck will run. Sample results are shown in the image below. In this case, uTorrent is using port 80 and preventing Apache Server from running. The solution is to either shutdown uTorrent or change its configuration to use a different port.

The more common cause is that Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) is running. Instructions for disabling the IIS can be found here.

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