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Installing Apache on Windows, why? Because let's face it
Windows is easy, and well Apache sure beats using IIS. This
tutorial is meant for the person who would like to set up
there own little web server. It's not meant for the IT
Person running a fortune 500 company. But hey if you want go
ahead.
Instalation:
First thing you need is to download the webserver. Now for
windows users your gonna want to go download the .exe . The
apache website is www.apache.org Your gonna wanna head to
the apache binaries sections for Win32 I believe it is at
http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/
There you will be able to download a version of apache.
Now before you download it you gonna want to make a folder.
This folder is where your gonna server your root directory.
Now if you don't want to do this it's ok. You can use the
default path if you want.
Put usually this helps in setting up other things like
php, and MySQL. Most people do is they create a folder in
the C:\ directory called WWW or somthin. You can name it
whatever you want.
Ok so have downloaded the Apache Web Server. Your ready to
go with the setup. No the version I have downloaded was
apache_2.0.36-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi This was a newer version
and supposedly supposed to be more secure. The first screen
you get when your in the setup is The welcome screen we
don't care much about that but owell so hit next. The next
screen is the terms and service. And yes your going to
agree to the terms duh. The next screen is some
documentation.
I never really read it but if you want go ahead and do it.
Once your done hit next again. Know we see a screen that
says enter a network domain. Erase what is ever in there and
type localhost. Now the next box says Servername, erace
what is ever in the box and put in localhost. The next is
Administrators e- mail address. Go ahead and fill that in.
But make sure to change it. Now there are 2 little radio
buttons. Pick the one that best suites your needs. Now that
we got that all filled out. Hit Next and you'll go to a
screen that asks you which type of install you want to do.
Then hit next.
If you wanted to server out of your one special folder.
Change the file location of were your gonna install apache.
Or just leave it at the default path. Click install and it
should be on it's way. Once it's done installing hit the
finish button.
The test:
First were gonna check to see if Apache installed
correctly. This is how we do it. Open up Internet Explorer
and type in " http://localhost" . If everything went smooth
then you should be seeing a message that looks like this"
Seeing this instead of the website you expected?" Yippee!!!
Apache is working. See now wasnt' that really simple. Ok
now were gonna do some fun stuff.
Alright now that we got or test done lets move on to
changing some of this stuff that apache did on default. In
Internet Explorer if you installed on the deafult path. Make
your way to C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2 This is
your Main Apache Directory were you can find everything. If
you want take a short break and run around. There are some
cool things there. Don't worry if you don't understand
what's in these files just yet.
Break Time:
Go take a leak, get some pepsi and somthin to eat. If you
got smokes light them up in your new found glory.
Alright so now you've got apache installed and your about
to start dishing out your web pages that you took so much
time on to build. Head to the folder called htdocs, this is
your main folder. There should be a whole bunch of pages
What i do is i select them all and move them to another
folder. The htdocs folder is the best folder in the world.
It's gonna be one of the places you spend most of your time
dishing out content for the world. Ok so get rid of all
that stuff that is in your htdocs folder. And move all your
great content inside replacing it. Alright so now once we
moved all are content inside the htdocs folder and we
tested it to make sure it was there. http://localhost
remember. Now let's get out of there. Go to Apache's main
directory. Now just to be aware of what is going on and get
a good example of how Apache Functions head off to a folder
called "conf" This is the configuration files Apache Uses.
If you ever wanted to install php and other server side
scripting languages this is where you would do it. Now you
get 2 copys Use 1 as a backup and never edit it at all. Go
ahead and open the folder and open "httpd.conf" Read it
very carefully cause in this tutorial were not gonna read
about it. I just want you to know it's there. Anytime you
edit the httpd.conf file you must re-start apache in order
for it to work. Another good tip for you new people to
apache is you may notice the log files. Yes there great and
make sure to make backups of the logs they will come in
handy. As security precautions. I also recommend getting a
firewall set up. There are lots of great security features
that apache has but this is a tutorial to installing
apache.
Alright so now you've got your webpages up. But the only
way people will be able to view your pages is my typing in
your ip address. This is a bumper. Lets look at some free
re-directories. www.n2v.net, This is a cool one. You sign
up put your ip adress of your new webserver in and whalla
your done. Type in www. .n2v.net and it goes to your server
and brings up your super nice webpages. Now if you go to
google and search for free domain names or re-directors
you should come up with alot. Many People already know about
the www.dot.tk one of the coolest things in the world. Free
.tk very simple That's all you need. It works perfect for
my webserver and I've got around 3,000 hits so it's working
good. If you don't wanna do it you don't have to. But it
just makes it simple.
Alright that comes to the conclusion of installing Apache
Win32 for WINDOWS users. Very easy. One last thing Please
Read more of the Apache Documentation either on there
website or in your Apache2 directory. If you liked reading
this tutorial on how to setup Apache check my website for
others at www.bonfire.tk . Yes there will be follow ups.
I'll be writing another apache tutorail soon so you can set
up PHP. The most awesome scripting language ever built. And
also another on how to secure Apache and yes ALL FOR
WINDOWS!! .
Credits
Author: Will W. |