Tutorial Run PHP/MySQL on your Desktop

Tooya — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:54:40 GMT

If you have attempted to learn about web development, you have undoubtedly heard about the usefulness of learning both PHP and MySQL. You really have two options in learning to play around with PHP, commit your changes to your own hosting service, or run PHP on a virtual host.

What I want to cover, is setting up your own virtual host for trial and error. What you set up here, will NOT be available on the open web, and is mostly only used for testing and development purposes.

First, we need to get a virtual host provider. What this guide will be using is WAMP, however there are alternatives such as XAMPP, or LAMP (for Linux Distributions.)

First, download the WAMP server at: http://www.wampserver.com/en/download.php

Run the installation, simply select "Next" to all available options.

After everything is installed, run WAMP server. You should see a... sushi looking icon appear on your desktop.

Now, lets take a step back for a second, and create a directory where you want to build your website. The following folder/file names are left to your own discretion.

Create a new folder in your c directory, name it "MySite". You should have a folder in: "C:/MySite". Got it? Good.

Next we are going to want to set up an alias. An alias essentially allows you to specify a point in your computer, and use it as an access point for your web server.

Now, click on the WAMP icon in your tasklist. You want to hover over "Apache", "Alias" and "Add Alias."

A Command-Prompt screen should appear, asking you to specify your site name. Lets go with the name, "test".

It will then ask you for a directory. Enter in

Quote:

C:/MySite

You should receive a confirmation message, telling you your alias is set up.

Great. Now, how do you know this is working? Simple! Open up a notepad file, and type in:

Quote:

Click on Save as, go over to your "MySite" folder, and create a file named "index.php"
Make sure you select "All Files" type, otherwise you are not saving a php file.

Heres the fun part! :)

Make sure WAMP is running, and go over to: "localhost/test/" on your favorite browser. You have created your first PHP file on your computer, congrats. Give yourself a pat on the back, and head on over to http://www.w3schools.com/PHP/php_intro.asp to take your next steps.

Notes
---
This guide is a WIP, if you have any issues or are confused with what I said, let me know and I will clarify. :)

It is also important to note, with WAMP, you are running MySQL on your computer as well. You can access this by going to http://localhost/phpmyadmin/

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Tutorial Run PHP/MySQL on your Desktop