Saturday, January 24, 2009

Chapter 2.2 - Verifying Installed Apache

Now we need to checke whether Apache is running or not.  There are two ways to verify whether the Apache is installed. 
 Go to Start -> and types services.msc in Run prompt .  Select the services as shown.


Once Service is selected , there is a process named Apache2.2 listed. If you can see the process , then Apache is installed. If its running successfully , just double click the Apache2.2 . You will get the pop up

Click on Start . If the service is changed to Started , as shown below , Start will become disabled , and Services will be started. 
Congratulations . Apache is installed on the system. 

Second Way to Use and Verify Apache 

Go to Programs ,  navigate to Apache 2.2 and click the selected server.
An  icon appears in the taskbar as shown. Double click on it . 
 
The dialog box opens. Click on Start , and if its running , Congratulations , your APACHE Web Server is installed 

Once we are done with the Apache installation , we need to verify its working .

Chapter 2.1 - Install Apache

Now the next thing to do is to install Webserver.  Go to 
http://httpd.apache.org/ and select the file in section : "Apache 2.2.11 Released".
Please download the file as shown in the link only. Please Give attention to File being Targetted to Download in next section , as wrong file can get you in troubled waters . 
  
Once you click on the download link , you will be directed to another site. Download the file named 
"Win32 Binary without crypto (no mod_ssl) (MSI Installer): apache_2.2.11-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi [PGP] [MD5]
The same is highlighted in the screen shot. 

Once you download the file , double click on the file . Fill in the basic information . 
In case , you are prompted to ask server host , you can type in localhost . 

Click Next ,and you will be through. Apache is installed. Verifying Apache is installed : 
  1. Go To Program Files. C:/Program Files. Look for folder named "Apache Software Foundation". But in case you have recently got a new 64 bit processor you might just not see the folder mentioned above. I  also faced the same problem. I was unable to locate the Aoache folder in first place. There can be two basic reasons for the Apache server not present in th folder 
1. The installation was not successful 
2. The laptop is 64 bit , and has a different program file folder.   
The second program File folder is named as Program Files (x86). This has all the files compatible with 32 bit processoe r.
 
 ( Continued) 

Chapter 1 - Install PHP

The first step  to install PHP is to download the software. 
Go to http://www.php.net/downloads.php and select the Windows Binary File for Download. The file you need to install is highlighted in the screenshot.  
Once You select the file for download , you will be directed to the mirror image. The file size is approx 10 MB. Select the server near to your country. This helps in faster download. 

Once you have downloaded the file . Do the following Steps: 

  1. Create a new folder named php in C: ( C Drive). 
  2. Extract the contents of the file in C:/php.
PHP is now installed. But there are two more things to do before you can run the PHP actually on your system. 
  1. Install Web Server 
  2. Configure Web server to PHP.
These will be covered in next chapter 


Pre Installing PHP

PHP for Laptop : 
Now i have Vista Home Edition , and look forward to make my PHP scripts working. Its a laptop , and no webserver. 
Problems to be addressed as of now are : 
1. Use of Web server , and how to install it. 
2. Use of config directory 
3. Downloading PHP latest version
4. Integrating PHP with Apache Server ( web server) 
5. Running the first Program .

PHP is one of the fastest growing scripting language . 
 Need of Web server : Since PHP is web server it will execute the scripts on the server side. So server is needed. There can be two ways to run PHP , if you have a domain name , and bought server space with it , and PHP is installed on the the server . Or you want to run it on your system , you need to install webserver. One may use IIS or Apache. 

I will be using  Apache as the web server. 
Please note all the software used are freeware .... and please tell if there is any problem,. Next few sessions will be to install the PHP on the Laptop. Please Feel Free to ask me of any doubts. 

I will be segregating each install as each chapter, so that you are not confused. Follow it chapter wise and you will be able to install PHP on your machine.  

Please go According to Chapters.