Getting Started - Apache

There is no reason why you cannot implement a WAMP web set up for testing purposes on a development machine.  Yes, Apache is better on a UNIX variant such as LINUX than it is on Windows, but having LINUX is not a pre-requisite to being a web designer.  If you have a Windows machine already, why should you have to either partition your hard drive and install LINUX as part of a dual boot system or use something like VMWare to emulate a similar setup?  The answer is that you don’t.

To begin, you’ll need to install Apache, so go to http://httpd.apache.org and click the download from a mirror link.  This will provide a link to the nearest available download site; the Win32 Binary installer is the quickest and easiest way to get up and running with Apache, being a pre-compiled installation file.  For an installation more tailored to your individual needs, you can download the source files and compile your own installer.

Clearly, installing the server requires nothing more than a double-click and following the on-screen prompts, so I won’t go over this part in too much detail.  You are required to enter your domain name, full server name and administrators email address.  This will all be pre-filled, but you can remove the suggestions and just use ‘localhost’ in the first two and any email address you feel like.  If this is your only web server, select for ‘all users on port 80 as a service.’ 

Unless you are a developer interested in building custom Apache modules, you can safely select the ‘typical’ radio on the next prompt, and the default file location is fine.  Apache should now be installed.

If you do get problems during install, this may be because you have downloaded a corrupt file or because you have another application running that may be listening for incoming connections on port 80.  If you get any errors, search for the specific message or different combinations of the key parts of the error message and you are more than likely to find the answer.

If Apache installs, you’ll see a feather in your system tray with a green play logo on it.  When this happens, open a browser and type http://localhost in the address bar, and you should see an Apache page confirming that the install was successful.