Article: Setting up your own Web Server
Tutorial by: Matt Jacob
Setting up your own Web server
Who should read this series?
Anyone who wants to have a fully-functioning Web server operating
on their own computer should read this series. There are a few important benefits to having your own server, including:
- You can test your scripts and applications without having to upload them;
- You can create a personal Web site to share with friends and family;
- You can possibly save hundreds of dollars a year on hosting*.
What will you learn in this series?
My goal here is not to make you an expert on all possible aspects of server technology. All I want to do is teach you how to install and run a server locally, on your own computer. Here's what you'll learn:
- How to install and configure Apache 2.0.39;
- How to install and configure ActivePerl 5.6.1;
- How to install and configure PHP 4.2.1;
- How to install and configure MySQL 3.23.51;
- How to make your server accessible to the world using dynamic DNS;
- Necessary security cautions to take in order to protect your computer;
- Note: version numbers above are current as of 7/5/02**.
Conventions used in this series
Constant width is used to indicate HTML tags, code examples, and keyboard commands
Constant width bold is used to indicate on-screen labels and user-entered text
Italicized text is used to indicate filenames, directory names, and URLs
Minimum system requirements
There are a few prerequisite items that you need to meet before you go any further.
First, these instructions are geared to
Windows users only. Sorry if you're a Mac person--I like 'em too--but this series just isn't for you. Second, you need to have either
Windows 2000 or
Windows XP Professional installed, but nothing earlier.
And absolutely no Win95, Win98, or WinME. I'll be using Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2, but I assure you that XP also works just fine. Third, you need to be able to download and unzip files, some of which are quite large. I estimate the combined size of the downloads at about 30 megabytes, so access to a broadband connection will come in handy.
Got all that? Let's get ready to roll!
Page 1:
Installing and configuring the
serverTable of contents
- Installing and configuring the server
- Installing the Perl package
- Manually installing the PHP package
- Installing MySQL as a service
- Final comments and instructions
*This is actually only feasible if you have a broadband connection, and even then it's a little sketchy. Some ISPs don't allow you to run a HTTP server through their connection, so please check with
your ISP before advertising that your server is accessible to the outside world.
**That date would be July 5, 2002 for the uninformed.
Contact:
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