XAMPP installation

Contents

2. Problems

3. Linux, Mac, Windows
    3.1 Linux
    3.2 Mac (not ready)
    3.3 Windows (not ready)
        3.3.1 Known issues

4. To conclude

1. Introduction

Many people know from their own experience that it's not easy to install an Apache web server and it gets harder if you want to add MySQL, PHP and Perl.

XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP, Perl and more. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start.

And now for the 'but ...'
NOTE: Please read the following security information from the Apachefriends:

The philosophy behind XAMPP is to build an easy to install distribution for developers to get into the world of Apache. To make it convenient for developers XAMPP is configured with all features turned on. The default configuration is not good from a security point of view and it's not secure enough for a production environment - please don't use XAMPP in such environment. Since LAMPP 0.9.5 you can make your XAMPP installation secure by calling »/opt/lampp/lampp security«.

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2. Problems

Reading this chapter does not relieve you from reading the Installation chapter, section 1.2.2. User requirements

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3. Linux, Mac, Windows

3.1 Linux

• Download xampp-linux-5.6.3-0-installer.run to /home/dirk/Downloads.
• Open a terminal, cd to Downloads and run the installer with:

  dirk@c36:~/Downloads:$ sudo ./xampp-linux-5.6.3-0-installer.run
  [sudo] password for dirk:
  

  Enter your password and hit [Enter]. The installation starts with the Setup - XAMpp
• Window: Setup - XAMpp: click [Next >].
• Window: Select Components: both components stay checked. Click: [Next >].
• Window: Installation Directory: XAMPP will be installed to /opt/lampp. Click: [Next >].
• Window: Bitami for XAMpp: uncheck 'Learn more about Bitami for XAMPP'. Click: [Next >].
• Window: Ready to install. Click: [Next >].
• windows with ads + 'Unpacking files' and progression bar. Wait.... and wait even longer until ...
• ... the 'Completing the XAMpp setup wizard' becomses available. UNcheck the 'Launch XAMPP' box. We will start/stop XAMPP manually.
  Click [Finish].
• Now you have returned to the terminal.

Test XAMPP

• Open a browser and surf to http://localhost/. You should see the 'XAMPP' splash screen.
• Select your documentation language.

Yes indeed....

How to start and stop XAMPP

Starting XAMPP:

dirk@c36:~$ sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start
[sudo] password for dirk:
Starting XAMPP for Linux 5.6.3-0...
XAMPP: Starting Apache...ok.
XAMPP: Starting MySQL...ok.
XAMPP: Starting ProFTPD...ok.
dirk@c36:~$

Stoppintg XAMP:

dirk@c36:~$ sudo /opt/lampp/lampp stop
Stopping XAMPP for Linux 5.6.3-0...
XAMPP: Stopping Apache...ok.
XAMPP: Stopping MySQL...ok.
XAMPP: Stopping ProFTPD...ok.
dirk@c36:~$

Now shut down your Linux box and star up again. This forces you to manually start XAMPP. It's an extra check. Better to check now than hours, days, month later find out ... @Q!@#$%!!

Secure XAMPP

• Browse to http://localhost/.
• In the left XAMPP menu select 'Security'. Read the instructions and observe that the installation is insecure.
• Return to the terminal, typing and follow instructions:
  

      
  root@c37:/opt/lampp# /opt/lampp/xampp security
  XAMPP:  Quick security check...
  XAMPP:  Your XAMPP pages are NOT secured by a 
  password.
  XAMPP: Do you want to set a password? [yes]
  XAMPP: Password:
  XAMPP: Password (again):
  XAMPP:  Password protection active. Please use 
  'xampp' as user name!
  XAMPP:  MySQL is accessable via network.
  XAMPP: Normaly that's not recommended. Do you want 
  me to turn it off? [yes]
  XAMPP:  Turned off.
  XAMPP: Stopping MySQL...ok.
  XAMPP: Starting MySQL...ok.
  XAMPP:  The MySQL/phpMyAdmin user pma has no 
  password set!!!
  XAMPP: Do you want to set a password? [yes]
  XAMPP: Password:
  XAMPP: Password (again):
  XAMPP:  Setting new MySQL pma password.
  XAMPP:  Setting phpMyAdmin's pma password to the 
  new one.
  XAMPP:  MySQL has no root passwort set!!!
  XAMPP: Do you want to set a password? [yes]
  XAMPP:  Write the password somewhere down to make 
  sure you won't forget it!!!
  XAMPP: Password:
  XAMPP: Password (again):
  XAMPP:  Setting new MySQL root password.
  XAMPP:  Change phpMyAdmin's authentication method.
  XAMPP:  The FTP password for user 'daemon' is 
  still set to 'xampp'.
  XAMPP: Do you want to change the password? [yes]
  XAMPP: Password:
  XAMPP: Password (again):
  XAMPP: Reload ProFTPD...ok.
  XAMPP:  Done.
  root@c37:/opt/lampp#
  
• Choose secure and different passwords for each service. Return to the XAMPP security page:
  

  xampp_linux_welcome.png
• In the Menu, under XAMPP, selcect 'Security'. You see:
  

  xampp_linux_security.png

Preparations for the installation of Website@School

• In /opt/lampp/htdocs, create a directory for the Website@School program; for example was:
  mkdir /opt/lampp/htdocs/was.
• Copy the websiteatachool-<version>.zip to the directory and unzip.
• Create the Website@School data directory in /opt/lampp/, for example wasdata. Chmod 700 and chown deamon.root /opt/lampp/wasdata

  	
  root@c36:/opt/lampp# pwd
  /opt/lampp
  root@c36:/opt/lampp# mkdir wasdata
  root@c36:/opt/lampp# chmod 700 wasdata
  root@c36:/opt/lampp# chown daemon.root wasdata
  root@c36:/opt/lampp# ls -l
  [snip]
  drwx------  2 daemon root      4096 2013-12-23   14:22 wasdata
  [snip]
  root@c36:/opt/lampp#
  
• Browse to http://localhost/.
• In the XAMPP menu under Tools, select phpMyAdmin. Click [Databases]. At 'Create database' enter, for example, localwas. Do not use this common name.
  Click [Create]. In the phpMyAdmin left menu the database is added.
• Copy websiteatschool-<version>.zip and the manual to /opt/lampp/htdocs/. Unzip both.
• Go http://localhost/was/program/install.php. You see the first install page.
• Start the installaton. Please see chapter Installation, section 2. The installation.
• At the 'Database' window use: Server: localhost Username: root Password: ********* Database name: localwas
• NOTE: You have to download the config.php file and copy it to /opt/lampp/htdocs/. Next set ownership to daemon.root and file permissions to read-only for deamon.root (chmod 400):

  root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# pwd
  /opt/lampp/htdocs
  root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# chown daemon.root config.php
  root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# chmod 400 config.php
  root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs# ls -l
  [snip]
  -r--------  1 daemon root   722 2013-12-23 15:34 config.php
  [snip]
  root@c36:/opt/lampp/htdocs#
  

Testing

3.2 Mac (not ready)

3.3 Windows (not ready)

3.3.1 Known issues

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in C:\wamp\www\program\lib\database\mysql.class.php on line 295

The installation fails because 30 seconds apparentlly is not enough to complete the installation. Reasons can be: - The installation takes time because of the huge amount of Demonstration data (The Exemplum Primary School, users, Areas, sections, pages, modules, etc).
- The PC is too slow for the default 'max_execution_time' of the file php.ini, which is set to 30 seconds.

Workarounds:
- Raise 'max_execution_time' in php.ini.
- Install without Demonstration Data
- Faster PC

A fix until the release of Website@School 0.90.6b:

• In file ../program/lib/usermanager.class.php, go to line 427 and 726 and look for password_hash( (do not forget the brace!).
  Change 'password' in, for example, 'pazzword'. Save.
• Do exactly the same in ../program/lib/loginlib.php on lines 869, 1035, 1114, 1144 and 1176. Save.

4. To conclude

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