Complete server package?

Hello,

I'm doing a quick search on google as I type this, but would much appreciate
some others' views on this subject.

I am searching for a package similar to easyPHP, which includes an apache
server, PHP, and a mySQL database, but I would like a pretty up-to-date
package, with PHP 4.3.8 or later - or is PHP 5 actually stable now, as last
time I heard this wasn't exactly recommended. MySQL 4 or later, and Apache
1.3.30 or later.

OR would you possibly suggest I install everything myself, grabbing the
latest versions from their respective sites and install them that way?

I would like usability, but also ease-of-upgradability and installation... I
am very capable of installing the separate packages, etc. BUT I would much
rather have a complete package.

Thank you for any insight you can give me.

--
=========
Comp Whizz
=========
(The C++ beginner)

Take a look at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html, perhaps
you like it.
I've to admit I've never used it though.
Regards,
j.

"johannes m.r." <psychosos@gmx.at> wrote in
news:1cd2yq598h69z$.1gne0lipndurv.dlg@40tude.net:

> Take a look at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html,
> perhaps you like it.
> I've to admit I've never used it though.

I'm using it, and am quite happy with it. It's still actively supported, so
it's possible to get help if something doesn't work quite right.

--
Terry Austin
www.hyperbooks.com
Campaign Cartographer now available

> I am searching for a package similar to easyPHP, which includes an apache
> server, PHP, and a mySQL database, but I would like a pretty up-to-date
> package, with PHP 4.3.8 or later - or is PHP 5 actually stable now, as last
> time I heard this wasn't exactly recommended. MySQL 4 or later, and Apache
> 1.3.30 or later.
>
> OR would you possibly suggest I install everything myself, grabbing the
> latest versions from their respective sites and install them that way?
>
> I would like usability, but also ease-of-upgradability and installation... I
> am very capable of installing the separate packages, etc. BUT I would much
> rather have a complete package.


You should take a look at the Guides and the Web-Server Suite at...
http://www.devside.net

"johannes m.r." <psychosos@gmx.at> wrote in message
news:1cd2yq598h69z$.1gne0lipndurv.dlg@40tude.net.. .
> Take a look at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html, perhaps
> you like it.
> I've to admit I've never used it though.
> Regards,
> j.

I was looking into XAMMP... I thought I'd search sourceforge instead of
google, and found that... Does look mighty interesting... Comes with an FTP
server too, which might be a little better than my older easyPHP.
Thanks for the info.

--
=========
Comp Whizz
=========
(The C++ beginner)

"Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:co08fq$f65$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk:

>
> "johannes m.r." <psychosos@gmx.at> wrote in message
> news:1cd2yq598h69z$.1gne0lipndurv.dlg@40tude.net.. .
>> Take a look at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html,
>> perhaps you like it.
>> I've to admit I've never used it though.
>> Regards,
>> j.
>
> I was looking into XAMMP... I thought I'd search sourceforge instead
> of google, and found that... Does look mighty interesting... Comes
> with an FTP server too, which might be a little better than my older
> easyPHP. Thanks for the info.
>
I can't speak for the security of the FTP server, but it's certainly easy
to set up.

One note: it comes with the current version of Mercury for a mail server,
but there's something wonky in the installer, so it might be better to get
it from www.pmail.com if you need it.

--
Terry Austin
www.hyperbooks.com
Campaign Cartographer now available

"No 33 Secretary" <taustin+usenet@hyperbooks.com> wrote in message
news:Xns95AA87AD5138Ftaustinhyperbookscom@216.168. 3.50...
> "Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:co08fq$f65$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk:
>
>>
>> "johannes m.r." <psychosos@gmx.at> wrote in message
>> news:1cd2yq598h69z$.1gne0lipndurv.dlg@40tude.net.. .
>>> Take a look at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html,
>>> perhaps you like it.
>>> I've to admit I've never used it though.
>>> Regards,
>>> j.
>>
>> I was looking into XAMMP... I thought I'd search sourceforge instead
>> of google, and found that... Does look mighty interesting... Comes
>> with an FTP server too, which might be a little better than my older
>> easyPHP. Thanks for the info.
>>
> I can't speak for the security of the FTP server, but it's certainly easy
> to set up.
>
> One note: it comes with the current version of Mercury for a mail server,
> but there's something wonky in the installer, so it might be better to get
> it from www.pmail.com if you need it.
>
> --
> Terry Austin
> www.hyperbooks.com
> Campaign Cartographer now available

I was planning on customising everything, and looking into the settings to
see how custom I can get it (I do remember adding an entry to my old apache
settings file somewhere - to restrict something... I think it was IP address
banning... Don't think that'll work as I'm behind a router now... Anyway.
Thanks for the heads up... Is it easy/trouble free to upgrade at all?

--
=========
Comp Whizz
=========
(The C++ beginner)

"Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:co237p$j5l$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk:

>
> "No 33 Secretary" <taustin+usenet@hyperbooks.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns95AA87AD5138Ftaustinhyperbookscom@216.168. 3.50...
>> "Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
>> news:co08fq$f65$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk:
>>
>>>
>>> "johannes m.r." <psychosos@gmx.at> wrote in message
>>> news:1cd2yq598h69z$.1gne0lipndurv.dlg@40tude.net.. .
>>>> Take a look at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html,
>>>> perhaps you like it.
>>>> I've to admit I've never used it though.
>>>> Regards,
>>>> j.
>>>
>>> I was looking into XAMMP... I thought I'd search sourceforge instead
>>> of google, and found that... Does look mighty interesting... Comes
>>> with an FTP server too, which might be a little better than my older
>>> easyPHP. Thanks for the info.
>>>
>> I can't speak for the security of the FTP server, but it's certainly
>> easy to set up.
>>
>> One note: it comes with the current version of Mercury for a mail
>> server, but there's something wonky in the installer, so it might be
>> better to get it from www.pmail.com if you need it.
>>
>> --
>> Terry Austin
>> www.hyperbooks.com
>> Campaign Cartographer now available
>
> I was planning on customising everything, and looking into the
> settings to see how custom I can get it (I do remember adding an entry
> to my old apache settings file somewhere - to restrict something... I
> think it was IP address banning... Don't think that'll work as I'm
> behind a router now... Anyway. Thanks for the heads up... Is it
> easy/trouble free to upgrade at all?
>
Apache is one of the most customizable pieces of software ever written.
There's a recommended procedure for upgrades that needs to be followed, but
it shouldn't be a big deal. (Make a copy of everything. Uninstall the
previous version, which will leave configuration files in place. Install
the new version in the same place. Test thoroughly.)

There are entire books written on how to customize Apache, and thousands of
web pages.

--
Terry Austin
www.hyperbooks.com
Campaign Cartographer now available

"No 33 Secretary" <taustin+usenet@hyperbooks.com> wrote in message
news:Xns95AB57BE7F346taustinhyperbookscom@216.168. 3.50...
> "Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:co237p$j5l$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk:
>
<snip>
> Apache is one of the most customizable pieces of software ever written.
> There's a recommended procedure for upgrades that needs to be followed,
> but
> it shouldn't be a big deal. (Make a copy of everything. Uninstall the
> previous version, which will leave configuration files in place. Install
> the new version in the same place. Test thoroughly.)
>
> There are entire books written on how to customize Apache, and thousands
> of
> web pages.
>
> --
> Terry Austin
> www.hyperbooks.com
> Campaign Cartographer now available

Hiya - I take it you have some experience in XAMPP?
I installed it a while ago, left it on, to make sure both my PC and the
software was fairly stable (going to do some testing later on - not exactly
a "professional" setup).
Anyway, I've just printed out the apache configuration and XAMPP readme, can
you give me any other files which would help with configuration etc, apart
from the FAQ (just going there now).

And any hidden config files anywhere? And anything else you could throw my
way regarding this would be extremely helpful.

Thanks for putting up with me so far.

--
=========
Comp Whizz
=========
(The C++ beginner)

"Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:co7j11$3tf$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk:

>
> "No 33 Secretary" <taustin+usenet@hyperbooks.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns95AB57BE7F346taustinhyperbookscom@216.168. 3.50...
>> "Computer Whizz" <old486whizz@hotmail.com> wrote in
>> news:co237p$j5l$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk:
>>
> <snip>
>> Apache is one of the most customizable pieces of software ever
>> written. There's a recommended procedure for upgrades that needs to
>> be followed, but
>> it shouldn't be a big deal. (Make a copy of everything. Uninstall the
>> previous version, which will leave configuration files in place.
>> Install the new version in the same place. Test thoroughly.)
>>
>> There are entire books written on how to customize Apache, and
>> thousands of
>> web pages.
>>
>> --
>> Terry Austin
>> www.hyperbooks.com
>> Campaign Cartographer now available
>
> Hiya - I take it you have some experience in XAMPP?

A little. A little more with Apache. Quite a bit more with Mercury.

> I installed it a while ago, left it on, to make sure both my PC and
> the software was fairly stable (going to do some testing later on -
> not exactly a "professional" setup).
> Anyway, I've just printed out the apache configuration and XAMPP
> readme, can you give me any other files which would help with
> configuration etc, apart from the FAQ (just going there now).
>
> And any hidden config files anywhere? And anything else you could
> throw my way regarding this would be extremely helpful.

About the only gotchas I've run across so far is that some of the SSL
configuration stuff is in ssl.conf (in the conf directory) and some of it
is in http.conf, and that some people have trouble with Mercury if they use
the install file that comes with Xampp. Also, it installs PHP 5 by default,
which isn't 100% backwards compatible with older scripts, but there's an
easy way to switch it to PHP 4. (Do this before you do any configuration in
http.conf, however, as it will replace that file completely with a
different version. Switching back restores the original http.conf.)

If you are going to have much real traffic on the server, you'll also want
to figure out how to use rotatelogs.exe.
>
> Thanks for putting up with me so far.
>
Figuring apache out is painfull enough to be worth some bragging rights. :)

--
Terry Austin
www.hyperbooks.com
Campaign Cartographer now available