Advantages of installing Apache/MySQL & PHP manually

Question

I have seen some people say it is good to install Apache/MySQL/PHP manually, rather than installing them using a package like XAMPP or WAMP.

Is this really true ? Are there any advantages of installing them one by one, manually ?

Answer 1

If you are a newbie and you want to get the server without too much effort than just get xampp or mamp OR if you a programmer and you want complete control in your server than i guess you can do manual installation, but it is your choice.

Answer 2

Step By Step Process to Setup Apaache,PHP,Mysql,phpMyAdmin and XDebug.

1)How to install Apache

2)Setup PHP for Apache

3)Install & Configure MySQL to use with PHP

4)Setup XDebug for Debugging

5)phpMyAdmin

Note:In this tutorial my Server Folder is located on F:\Server

How to install Apache

1)There are two ways to install apache either install the old version of apache httpd (Compatible with Windows XP) from httpd.apache.org/download.cgi or get the latest apache build zip from www.apachelounge.com/download/ .

2)I will show how to configure apache from the zip version downloaded from apachelounge.com/download/ .

3)Click on Additional + VC9 on the left of the page.

4)Download the 2.4.x zip build with OpenSSL 0.9.8.

5)Create a folder with a name Server on location where .

6)My Location is F:\Server

7)Extract the Apache24 from apache zip to the Server folder.

8)Now Goto config folder in Apache and open httpd.config in any text editor.

9)Find(Ctrl + F) and replace each and every instance of "c:/Apache24" and change it to your apache location in my case its f:/Server/Apaache24.

ServerRoot "c:/Apache24" with ServerRoot "f:/Server/Apache24"

DocumentRoot "c:/Apache24/htdocs" with DocumentRoot "f:/Server/Apache24/htdocs"

<Directory "c:/Apache24/htdocs"> with <Directory "f:/Server/Apache24/htdocs">

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "c:/Apache24/cgi-bin/" with ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "f:/Server/Apache24/cgi-bin/"

<Directory "c:/Apache24/cgi-bin"> with <Directory "f:/Server/Apache24/cgi-bin">

8)Now run the Command Prompt (with Administrator Rights) .

9)On Command Prompt go to the location Server/Apache24/bin .

10)Inside the Bin folder type "httpd -k install" to install the Apache service and then press Enter.

11)To start the Apache Server simply type in "httpd -k start" and then press Enter.

12)Restart Your Computer

13)Now Open the Bin folder and double click on the ApacheMonitor.exe and Start Apache

14)Now Goto localhost if you see page "It Works" then Apache is sucessfully installed on you computer.

If you see a page that says "It works!" then the Apache server has been installed successfully.

Setup PHP for Apache

1)Goto windows.php.net/download/ download the php-5.4.x-Win32-VC9-x86.zip.

2)Create a folder named php inside Server folder.

3)Extract all files from php-5.4.x-Win32-VC9-x86.zip to php folder in the Server.

4)Now Goto config folder in Apache and open httpd.config in any text editor.

5)Find(Ctrl + F) the LoadModule scroll down until last LoadModule and Paste the following

LoadModule php5_module "f:/Server/php/php5apache2_4.dll".

6. Find(Ctrl + F) the AddType scroll down until last AddType and Paste the following

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .

7)Add the PHP location to the end of the httpd.conf file. For example, at the end of the file, add the following: PHPIniDir "Your PHP Location".

localhost/info.php

8)In the php folder rename the php.ini-development to php.ini and open it in Text Editor.

9)Find(Ctrl + F) the display_errors, and make sure the value is set to On.

10. Find(Ctrl + F) the extension_dir = "./" and change it to extension_dir = "F:\Server\php\ext" .

11)Restart Apache Server.

12)Create a file "phpinfo.php" in htdocs folder in Apache with follwoing content:

13)Goto localhost/phpinfo.php

extension_dir = "./"

14)Right Click MyComputer Click Propertes

15)Click Environment Variables

16)Add Your php folder location at the end of the path

17)Restart Your Computer.

Install & Configure MySQL to use with PHP

1)Goto dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/ download the zip or installer version.

2)Install MySQL

3)Click Next

4)Select Complete & click Next

5)Click Finsh

6)Click Standard Configuration

7)Click Next

8)Enter the password for mySQL

9)Goto MySQL Command Line and enter the password.

12)Open the php.ini file and find the line: ;extension=php_mysql.dll remove the semi-colon.

and find the line: ;extension=php_mysql.dll

phpMyAdmin

1)Goto config folder in Apache and open httpd.config in any text editor.

2. Find(Ctrl + F) the line DirectoryIndex index.html add index.php.

3)Open php.ini file in the Server Folder and Uncomment the mbstring and mysqli extension.

3)Goto phpmyadmin.net/ Download the latest phpMyAdmin-4.0.8-english.zip.

4)Extract it to phpMyAdmin folder in htdocs.

5)Restart the Apache Server.

6)Goto localhost/phpMyAdmin/

Setup XDebug for Debugging

1)Goto http://xdebug.org/download.php from your browser and download the

php_xdebug-2.x.x-5.4-vc9 Thread Safe 32 bit version.

2)Copy and Paste it to the extension folder in the php.

3)Copy & Paste the following line of code at the end of php.ini file .

[XDebug]

;; Only Zend OR (!) XDebug

zend_extension="Your Location of Xdebug"

xdebug.remote_enable=true

xdebug.remote_host=localhost

xdebug.remote_port=10000

xdebug.remote_handler=dbgp

4)Restart Apache Server.

5)Goto to localhost/phpinfo.php scroll down to see if xDebug is installed

Answer 3

You have more control over which version of software (and modules/extensions) you install and how its configured. It usually takes some time for package vendors (XAMPP/WAMP) to implement latest versions of Apache/PHP/etc. in their software. Some versions are never released for their packages.

Manual installation is rather for people who like having full control over their environment setup.

Answer 4

If you want to be a user who have no idea how it works and what to do when it doesn't - go for the pre-made package.
If you want to be a programmer, who is trying to understand things and can fix issues - manual installation would be good practice and introduction to config files, settings and such.