Installing Apache 2.0

The first thing we need to do is download the Apache installation program.  We are going to be using the automated version (windows installer MSI) - you can also download the source files but that gets a little complicated.

You can it from this list (apache 2.0.35-win32...msi): http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/
Or more specifically here: apache_2.0.35-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi

1)  Download this file to your desktop then double click on it.  

2)  This will start to run through some setup options.  When you get to a screen that asks for some Server Information.  Use "localhost" for the Network Domain and Server Name (you can change this later).  Then enter your email address in the Administrator's Email field. 

3)  Select the 'Typical' installation option on the next screen.

4)  On the next screen select the default Destination Folder - this will be 'C:\Program Files\Apache Group\'  you can choose a different folder if needed but we will be working with this one.

5)  After this the setup should be complete - Hit the install button and you'll get a success message when it's complete.  Click finish.

6)  A couple of options should have been added to your start menu.  Find the Apache option on the Start menu and then the 'Control Apache' Submenu.  Press the Start option from that submenu.  The apache services monitor should also have been added.  With this you can easily start, stop, and restart the Apache Web server. 

Then open up a web browser and type in the address:  http://localhost/  You should see a default Apache page appear in your web browser.  It easiest if you create a shortcut to this URL on your desktop for future use.  (In the off chance that you have a different web server running such as PWS or IIS running on your computer - make sure to stop that service before starting apache).

Since we want to display are own page instead of the default page - find your way to the htdocs folder located at: C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\htdocs folder.  You can just delete all of the default index.html.lang files and all the other files in this directory and replace this with your own index.html page you want to display as the default.  Personally I like to make this my startup page and just have a bunch of links to either Projects in different folders I'm working on or to sites on the internet that I often visit.  The htdocs folder is your main web directory - you can use this just as if you where uploading files to a server somewhere else.  It sometimes makes things easier if you place a shortcut to this folder on your desktop as well.

Are next task will to become familiar with the httpd.conf file (Located: C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf).  This contains a set of directives and configuration settings for your server.  For the most part you will not have to change this much when just using apache for testing/development.  It is however a good idea to become familiar with this file and look it over.  So open it up with Notepad and have a look.

Well go into details of all this on the next page