If you wish to setup Apache, PHP, MySQL and Perl on your system, this tutorial is for you. Here you will learn from where to download these softwares and how to setup and configure them on your PC.

Apache

Let's start by installing apache (http server) . you can download the
apache installer on www.apache.org . download the verion you like ,
even thought , in win systems i recomand verion 2 (this tutorials is
for apache 2) . here is a link for it :

http://apache.mirror.nedlinux.nl/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/apache_2.0.52-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi 

For a faster mirror , visit http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi .

After downloading the file (.msi installer) , run it . The installation wizard
is a next , next , finish 'work' ... The installer will ask you some details like
your server name , your server adress and the admin's mail adress . if
you have a domain name or a hostname , enter the info's like this :

Server Name : your_domain.org

Server Adress : www.your-domain.org

Admin Email : 
 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 

if you don't have one , you should get one free at :
http://www.no-ip.org/

Check the 'Run as a service for all users on port 8080' option and click
next , finish to fiinish the instllation . Advice : Install it in c: (it creates
a folder , don't worry) to make sure you configure it easyer .
If you are finished , open up a browser and write in the adress bar :

http://localhost/

If you will see a 'Test Page for Apache Installation' , everything works .

PHP  

Let's install PHP . download the archives from www.php.net . Here is a
direct link for verion 4.3.9 :

http://nl.php.net/get/php-4.3.9-Win32.zip/from/this/mirror


Make sure you download the archive and not the installer . Ok! after
downloading it , extract the archive in c:/php (this is to simplify paths) .
Now , open up c:/apache/conf/httpd.conf and search for this line :

#LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so

under that line , add this :

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so



LoadModule php4_module "c:/php/sapi/php4apache2.dll"

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php3

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php4

Now search for this line :

<Directory "C:/Apache2/htdocs">

Change :

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

#

# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.

# It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:

#   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit

#

    AllowOverride None

into :

Options Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks MultiViews ExecCGI



#

# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.

# It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:

#   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit

#

    AllowOverride All

This will allow .htaccess support on your server and make sure you can
see the content of a folder without getting a 403 forbidden error .

Now search for :

DirectoryIndex index.html index.var.html

and change it into :

DirectoryIndex index.html index.php

Save the file and restart apache . (you can restart it by pressing the
Restart apache server shortcut in the start menu or by writing :

net apache restart

in a command prompt window . Ok!

you have php working for your server icon_wink.gif . Now let's configure php and
make sure it really works ! Open up c:/php/php.ini (php.ini-dist renamed)
and search for this paragraph :

max_execution_time = 60    ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds

max_input_time = 60   ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data

memory_limit = 5M      ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)

you should change this to whatever you want . here is an option i use :

max_execution_time = 300    ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds

max_input_time = 300   ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data

memory_limit = 5M      ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)

Now search for :

register_globals = Off

and change it into :

register_globals = On

Search for :

extension_dir = ".\"

and change it into :

extension_dir = "c:/php/extensions"

assuming you have installed php in c: ...

Search for :

;Windows Extensions

;Note that MySQL and ODBC support is now built in, so no dll is needed for it.

and uncomment (delete the ; in the front) the following modules :

extension=php_bz2.dll

extension=php_db.dll

extension=php_gd2.dll

extension=php_java.dll

extension=php_msql.dll

extension=php_pdf.dll

extension=php_pgsql.dll

extension=php_sockets.dll

Ok! now let's change the smtp settings (this is good icon_smile.gif for you mail()
function . you need this !!!) Search for :

[mail function]

; For Win32 only.

SMTP =

smtp_port = 25



; For Win32 only.

;sendmail_from =

and change to :

[mail function]

; For Win32 only.

SMTP = mail.isp.org

smtp_port = 25



; For Win32 only.

sendmail_from = mail@your_domain.org

if you don't have a mail server or :

[mail function]

; For Win32 only.

SMTP = localhost

smtp_port = 25



; For Win32 only.

sendmail_from = mail@your_domain.org

if you have a mail server ...

Save the files . Now let's finalize the php installation . copy all the dll's
from c:/php/dlls into c:/windows/system32 . copy c:/php/php4ts.dll into
c:/windows/system32/ and copy php.ini from your folder php into
windows and system32 folder . restart apache . open up notepad and
add this into the file :

Code:

<?php
   phpinfo();
?>

save this file in your htdocs folder (c:/apache/htdocs) as info.php and
open up a browser . in the adress bar write :

http://localhost/info.php


you should see php's configuration in a table . a looong file icon_smile.gif
you can optionaly install zend optimizer . i am using it ... it doesn't
needs a tutorial . to install the PEAR modules for php , just run the
go-pear batch from the php folder and 2click the reg file to finish the
instllation .

Mysql  

Let's install mysql . download mysql from http://www.mysql.com/ .
this tutorial applyes to verion 4.0.* ... i don't recomand using mysql
4.1 . here is a direct link :

http://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQL-4.0/mysql-4.0.22-win.zip/from/http://mysql.proserve.nl/


after downloading , extract the arhive somewhere and run the setup.exe .
install mysql in c:/mysql and complete the installation . open up command
prompt and write this :

cd mysql

cd bin

mysqld-max-nt --install

this will install mysql as a service . recomended . now you would probably
consider downloading mysql control center . a gui tool to administrate the
server in a graphical mode . here is a link :

http://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQLCC/mysqlcc-0.9.4-win32.zip/from/http://mysql.proserve.nl/

install it like any other program and run the shortcut in the desktop . a
window will pop-up . it will ask you to add a new connection . here are the
info's you need to fill in :

name : localhost or main or whatever :)

host : localhost

user : root

pass :

click add , expand the databases menu and delete databse text . now
expand the users menu and delete all users except root@localhost . right
click it and select edit user . change it's password to whatever you want icon_smile.gif
now right click the server and select edit . change the password to the
pass you chosed for user root . as easy as that . mysql is installed !

phpMyADmin 

phpMyADmin . you can download it from http://www.phpmyadmin.net/ .
i recommend using verion 2.5.1 pl1 . the last verion is still bugy icon_smile.gif
download , unzip the contecnt into a folder in htdocs (phpMyAdmin) and
open up config.inc.php with a text editor .

search for :

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = '';

change it to your phpmyadmin url . eg. :

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = http://www.your_domain.org/phpMyAdmin/';

now search for :

$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = '';

and change it to your mysql root password like this :

$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'password';

now search for :

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']     = 'config';

and change it to :

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']     = 'cookie';

save and exit . that's it ! phpMyAdmin works icon_wink.gif

Perl 

Perl . Optioanl for your server , very usefull . i recomend you to install
it . you can download it from http://www.activestate.com/ . here is a
direct link :

http://downloads.activestate.com/ActivePerl/Windows/5.8/ActivePerl-5.8.4.810-MSWin32-x86.msi

download , install and you are ready . put your perl scripts in the /cgi-bin/
folder (c:/apache/cgi-bin) .