Here's my quick guide for running your own web server on Windows...
First of all, for newbies I'd recommend using Xitami instead, it's much easier to use than Apache!
Step 1: Web Server (Xitami)
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First of all, download the installer from
http://www.xitami.com.
Once the file has downloaded, install the server! It self-installs, you only have to tell it where to install, and give it an administrator username and password - you'll need these to access your server's admin console.
Once it's installed, check that it works by ensuring that Xitami is running and entering
http://localhost into your browser's address bar. If it's all working, you should see a Xitami welcome page. Try clicking on a few links, just to make sure.
Step 2: Database (mySQL)
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Next, go to
http://www.mysql.org/downloads/mysql-3.23.html to download the Windows version of mySQL.
Again, installation is straightforward, just enter the installation directory and away you go!
Once it's installed, open Windows Explorer and go to the directory you just installed mySQL in. Look for the program "WinMySQLAdmin" and run it. If it gives you an error, click on the "my.ini Setup" tab, and fill in a username and password.
You can't do much with this program however, so download PHPmyAdmin, from
http://www.phpmyadmin.net. This is a kind of "control panel" written in PHP, which makes updating your database far easier. Place all the files contained in the Zip file into your Web Server's public directory (if you installed into c:\Xitami\, the "public" directory will be c:\Xitami\webpages). However, as you've probably noticed, we haven't installed PHP yet. That's next!
Step 3: PHP
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http://www.php.net is the address you want, and the file you want is "PHP 4.2.0 Installer", under "Windows Binaries". Once downloaded, just double-click to start. Once again, the installer will ask you where you want to install it (the default is fine), and a few other things (such as temp directory) - just accept the defaults. What you will need to look out for is when it asks you what web server you want to configure. Click on Xitami and carry on. PHP also asks you which file extensions you want to configure - .php is the best option, but selecting all of them will do no harm.
Once PHP is in, you can test both PHP and mySQL at the same time - fire up your browser and type in the address of PHPmyAdmin, followed by "phpinfo.php" (for example, if you placed PHPmyAdmin into the directory c:\Xitami\webpages\phpmyadmin\, you should type the following into your browser: localhost/phpmyadmin/phpinfo.php). If Xitami gives you a 404 Not Found error, or if you didn't install PHPmyAdmin, open up notepad and type the following:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
Then save the file as "phpinfo.php" (remember to INCLUDE the quotation marks so that it doesn't save as a .txt), and save it into Xitami's webpages directory. Now open your browser and type localhost/phpinfo.php.
You should get a page displaying various data on your computer and on PHP. Scroll down the page and look for a "mySQL" heading - a value under "Client API version" should confirm that your mySQL installation is setup correctly. Just to make sure, test with PHPmyAdmin (you may have to edit the config file - it tells you if you do).
If you get errors while trying to open scripts, you should edit your php.ini file (it's in your windows directory).
Look for:
register_globals=Off
Replace with:
register_globals=On
Look for:
;cgi.force_redirect
Replace with:
cgi.force_redirect=0
BTW, you SHOULD edit your php.ini file anyway, the defaults aren't secure enough to run a public server.
Step 4: PERL (ActivePerl)
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This step is optional, you only need it if you plan to use CGI on your server. Go to
http://www.activestate.com and go to download ActivePERL. Once more, this is auto-installing and you might as well accept all default values.
Once this is in, you have to make sure that Xitami knows about it. Open your browser and type localhost/admin. Enter the username and password you set before. You will now access Xitami's control panel. Click on "Configuration", then "CGI" in the upper-right hand corner. Make sure that CGI is enabled, then click on "Server". There are two important textfields here: "Main HTML Directory" and "Main CGI Directory". Check that the directory in "Main CGI Directory" actually exists. Otherwise, change the path or create the directory (or both). For example, if you HTML directory is c:\Xitami\webpages, create the directory cgi-bin here and change the path under "Main CGI Directory" to c:\Xitami\webpages
gi-bin.
The only way to test is to get some CGI scripts, so I'll leave this up to you.
End
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That's it! Now you can host your own site and YaBB SE on your own server! Be warned however, I've skipped a few security points. BEFORE making your site live, check the "Security" settings in the Xitami control panel and disable FTP if you don't need it. Install a firewall and avoid installing your server, PHP or mySQL in the Windows directory.
Xitami is not the ideal solution if you want to offer hosting, although it is perfect for beginners and self-hosters. If you want to get serious about self-hosting, you really should think about getting Apache instead, and not using self-installers, but compiling your own install. This goes beyond the scope of this guide, however...
If you're perplexed with one of the stages, or would like me to add something, please IM me and I'll add the necessary information as soon as I can!
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