ApachePHPMySQLForUbuntu
This guide has been written for Ubuntu (versions 6.06/6.10) using a GNOME (standard) desktop - it will need to be adapted for other distributions
Assuming you have an active Internet connection...
Installing Apache2
Part 1 - Configuration
1. open a terminal
2. enter the following - enter 'Y' to any questions, and your password if prompted
sudo apt-get install apache2 sudo chmod 777 /var/www
3. if you're using GNOME on Ubuntu
3.1 Click on 'Places' on your task bar, then 'Home Folder'
3.2 In the menu bar click on 'Go' then 'Location...' and enter /var/www in the box and hit enter, and you should see something like this:
3.3 Click on 'File' then 'New Folder' on the menu, and rename the folder created as 'cp1079www' (lowercase)
3.4 Open the 'cp1079www' folder
3.5 TO MAKE LIFE EASIER: Click on 'Bookmarks' then click 'Add Bookmark' - this will create a shortcut in your 'Places' at the bottom of the left hand pane, that will be useful later.
3.6 Close the file manager window
Part 2 - Create a test file
3.7 Open your preferred text editor
3.8 Create a new blank file if one has not been automatically created for you
3.9 Enter the following into your new file
<HTML>
Hello WWW World!
</HTML>
3.10 Click on 'File' then 'Save' - change the filename to 'index.html' and click on 'Save in Folder' - at the bottom of the drop down list should be 'cp1079www' - the shortcut you created earlier - select this, and click 'Save'
Part 3 - Testing your installation
3.11 Open firefox (or your preferred browser)
3.12 enter the following URL:
http://localhost
You should see two hyperlinks (folders) - one should say 'apache2-default' and the other 'cp1079www' - click 'cp1079www'
3.13 You should see a wepage that says Hello WWW World! - CONGRATULATIONS - your Apache webserver is up and running.
Installing PHP5
1. open a terminal
2. enter the following - enter 'Y' to any questions, and your password if prompted
sudo apt-get install php5
3. open your preferred editor
4. create a new file (if one hasn't automatically been created) and enter the following:
<? // if php and apache are playing nicely together // you should see only the words - WOO-HOO! when // you visit this page in firefox echo 'WOO-HOO'; ?>
5. Save this file into your 'cp1079www' folder with the name 'test.php'
6. Open firefox (or preferred browser), enter the following URL:
http://localhost/cp1079www/test.php
7. You should the words WOO-HOO! if PHP and Apache are working correctly.
Installing MySQL
MySQL is a database server, much like Oracle and similar, not like Access - usually, it is a program that is running continually in the background whilst your Operating System is running. We will install the server application and a popular client application you can use to interact with the MySQL Server.
Installing MySQL Server
1. open a terminal
2. enter the following - enter 'Y' to any questions, and your password if prompted
sudo apt-get install mysql-server sudo apt-get install php5-mysql
3. Once the installation process has finished, enter the following
gksudo gedit /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
4. Search/Find the string mysql.so
5. You should find it on a line that looks like the following:
;extension=mysql.so
6. Delete the ; from the beginning of the line and save and exit
7. Restart Apache by entering the following:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
AT THIS POINT: MySQL is installed, connected with PHP and Apache, but in order to test and manipulate databases we will also install a popular MySQL client application called phpmyadmin
Installing phpmyadmin
1. open a terminal
2. enter the following - enter 'Y' to any questions, and your password if prompted
sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin
3. Once finished, open Firefox (or preferred browser) and enter URL:
http://localhost
4. You should now see a new folder here titled phpmyadmin - click it
5. A screen will prompt you for your MySQL account and password - by default, the user is 'root' and the password is not set (i.e. blank) - THIS IS NOT SECURE, AND IS USUALLY BAD PRACTICE, but as you are writing code that runs only on your computer, it is OK - if you intend to distribute any PHP/MySQL work, you need to create new users/passwords to improve security - more on this in MySQL Teaching Resources, but outside the scope of the CP1079 PHP module.
6. You should see a screen like this - CONGRATULATIONS - Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP are all working correctly together - this is commonly referred to as a LAMP installation.
