WSU - Spring 2007 - CS 4350

"The Uniform Server package is impressive, however, what makes it stand out from the rest is the fact that the servers are portable. You can run them from any folder on any hard drive including a memory stick (allowing you to run them on another machine).
One key advantage of this portability the installation does not integrate or place additional software components on your computer. Just delete the folder containing your servers and they are gone, no dross left behind, hence the reason why there is no install and un-install package for this software".
[Ref.]

The DNS problem
For people to find your web server you need an entry in one of the DN servers. You can use a free service like no-ip.com or dyndns.com. Open a free account, setup is a breeze.

Or buy a domain name through a registrar for like $9.99/year.
If you going to use Yahoo, they are NOT registrar, plus they attach a banner at the end of your pages. To avoid that, open a free account on freedns.afraid.org and in the Yahoo admin page change the name servers to point to afraid.org, which points to your IP.
If your IP is dynamic follow the instructions on their website and download an IP updater.

Abstract

The combined installation of Apache, MySQL, PHP & extensions, Perl and several other optional modules (tomcat, awstats, phpMyAdmin, and ftp server + client if the webserver is not personally hosted) can be very painful if you do not know what you are doing.
The setup and configuration, as well, can take several hours. Sometime also a couple days.
This paper is aimed to cut installation and setup time up to 70% [for Windows platforms]. If you run any *nix probably you do not need this.

Installation Instructions

  1. We are going to make a global install through The Uniform Server, which is used in Production in the Industry. The benefit is one can start and stop Apache and MySQL servers with a couple of clicks.
    Uniform Server includes in a single shot Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, phpMyAdmin and some other modules. Later, in the Admin panel, you can choose what to run.
    Please note that although everything runs smooth, some executables are not updated; if you want the latest security patches, you can update by hand.
  2. Go to Introduction and read the documentation !
    • Download the installation file, whose checksum is
      bbd8f9ef94e2ba03498a2bcef85d4fd6
    • Run the self-extracting file.
    • Move the root '/Uniform Server' wherever you want.
    • If you do not see something similar to installation screenshot you are in trouble :-D
    • Change whatever you need in '/usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf'.
    • Assign the root of your web documents to '/www'.
    • Keep going in the config process. If you don't know what you are doing, absolutely read parameters values at Apache Docs.
    • Now read them again
    • If you mess up in the conf file, not only Apache could not work properly, but you also could expose the whole machine to security breaches !!
  5. Security !!
    • Optional: change the username:password for the Admin Panel by editing '/htaccess/home/admin/www/.htpasswd'
    • Mandatory: change the root password for mysql by editing '/home/admin/www/mysql_password'
    Do not even think to run anything on Internet without a firewall.
    Not even a brewing machine.
    If you don't have a firewall and don't want to use the one included in Windows XP (for which I don't blame you), pick any freeware at this link. Do not shoot yourself in the foot.
    • Download these 2 files: index.html and feather.jpg
    • Rename 'index.html' into 'index.php'.
    • Put them in your documents root.
  7. Start the webserver and you get the Admin Panel; if you do not see this image "we need to talk"
  8. In your browser type: localhost
    you should see the page of the previous point 6