XAMPP installation

Contents

2. Problems

3. Linux, Mac, Windows
    3.1 Linux
    3.2 Mac (not ready)
    3.3 Windows (not ready)
        3.3.1 Known issues

4. To conclude

1. Introduction

Many people know from their own experience that it's not easy to install an Apache web server and it gets harder if you want to add MySQL, PHP and Perl.

XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP, Perl and more. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start.

And now for the 'but ...'
NOTE: Please read the following security information from the Apachefriends:

The philosophy behind XAMPP is to build an easy to install distribution for developers to get into the world of Apache. To make it convenient for developers XAMPP is configured with all features turned on. The default configuration is not good from a security point of view and it's not secure enough for a production environment - please don't use XAMPP in such environment. Since LAMPP 0.9.5 you can make your XAMPP installation secure by calling »/opt/lampp/lampp security«.

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2. Problems

Reading this chapter does not relieve you from reading the Installation chapter, section 1.2.2. User requirements

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3. Linux, Mac, Windows

3.1 Linux

• Download XAMPP to /home/dirk/Downloads.
• Open a terminal, cd to Downloads and run the installer with:

  dirk@c36:~/Downloads:$ sudo ./xampp-linux-1.8.2-3-installer.run [sudo] password for dirk:

  Enter your password and hit [Enter]. The installation starts.
• Window: Setup-XAMPP: click [Next >].
• Window: Select Components: both components stay checked. Click: [Next >].
• Window: Installer Directory: installation will be done ine /opt/lampp. Click: [Next >].
• Window: Bitami for XAMPP: uncheck 'Learn more... etc.'. Click: [Next >].
• Window: Ready to install. Click: [Next >].
• windows with ads + unpacking files bar. Wait.... and wait until the [Finish] button becomes available.
• Window: Completing the XAMPP Setup Wizard. Uncheck: Launch XAMPP, click [Finish]. The installer closes. You are back on the terminal.

Test XAMPP

• Open a browser and surf to http://localhost/. You should see the logo and XAMPP. Select a language for the documentation.
• You are on the XAMPP for Linux home page.

Secure XAMPP

• In the left XAMPP menu select 'Security'. Read the instructions and observe that the installation is insecure.
• Return to the terminal and secure XAMPP by typing:
  

  dirk@c36:~/Downloads:$ sudo /opt/lampp/xampp security

• Follow the instructions and choose secure and different passwords for each service. Return to the XAMPP security page to see:
  

  xampp_linux_security.png

dirk@c36:~$ sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start
[sudo] password for dirk:
Starting XAMPP for Linux 1.8.2-3...
XAMPP: Starting Apache...ok.
XAMPP: Starting MySQL...ok.
XAMPP: Starting ProFTPD...ok.
dirk@c36:~$

dirk@c36:~$ sudo /opt/lampp/lampp stop
Stopping XAMPP for Linux 1.8.2-3...
XAMPP: Stopping Apache...ok.
XAMPP: Stopping MySQL...ok.
XAMPP: Stopping ProFTPD...ok.
dirk@c36:~$

Preparations for the installation of Website@School

• Create the Website@School data directory. As root, create, chmod 700 and chown deamon.root /opt/lampp/wasdata

  root@c36:/opt/lampp# pwd /opt/lampp root@c36:/opt/lampp# mkdir wasdata root@c36:/opt/lampp# chmod 700 wasdata root@c36:/opt/lampp# chown daemon.root wasdata root@c36:/opt/lampp# ls -l [snip] drwx------ 2 daemon root 4096 2013-12-23 14:22 wasdata [snip] root@c36:/opt/lampp#

• Go to http://localhost/, enter the loginname xampp and your password to log in into XAMPP.
• In the XAMPP menu, select phpMyAdmin. Click [Databases]. At 'Create database' enter, for example, was. Do not use this common name.
  Click [Create]. In the left menu the database is added.
• Both XAMPP and Website@School use the same index.php file to enter their application in the XAMPP document root /opt/lampp/htdocs/.
  You have to change the name of XAMPP's index.php file. Go to /opt/lampp/htdocs. Sudo to root and change the index.php to, for example, index.php.lampp. You can still enter XAMPP with http://localhost/index.php.lampp.
• Copy websiteatschool-<version>.zip and the manual to /opt/lampp/htdocs/. Unzip both.
• Go http://localhost/program/install.php. You see the first install page.
• Start the installaton. Please see chapter Installation, section 2. The installation.
• NOTE: You have to download the config.php file and copy it to /opt/lampp/htdocs/. Next set ownership to daemon.root and file permissions to read-only for deamon.root (chmod 400):

  root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# pwd /opt/lampp/htdocs root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# chown daemon.root config.php root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# chmod 400 config.php root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# ls -l [snip] -r-------- 1 daemon root 722 2013-12-23 15:34 config.php [snip] root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs#

Testing

3.2 Mac (not ready)

3.3 Windows (not ready)

3.3.1 Known issues

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in C:\wamp\www\program\lib\database\mysql.class.php on line 295

The installation fails because 30 seconds apparentlly is not enough to complete the installation. Reasons can be: - The installation takes time because of the huge amount of Demonstration data (The Exemplum Primary School, users, Areas, sections, pages, modules, etc).
- The PC is too slow for the default 'max_execution_time' of the file php.ini, which is set to 30 seconds.

Workarounds:
- Raise 'max_execution_time' in php.ini.
- Install without Demonstration Data
- Faster PC

4. To conclude

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