Windows Vista and a web developer (Installing Apache, PHP and MySQL)

For the past couple of days I migrated to Windows Vista Ultimate and I was struggling to set up everuthing like I want to so I can resume work on my project. The installation was smooth, my programs installed correctly, Photoshop CS2 and Notepad++ all work just fine. So when it was time to install Apache2, PHP and MySQL I was wondering if there was going to be a problem with Vistas’ new security features. And there was. Vista will not let the installers to set up Apache as a service.

So after “a few” failed attempts I thought to try to install PHP on IIS7 which is bundled with Vista. A little Googling later and I found two very good blog entries with step by step instructions.

Firstly there is Blond R’s post which walks you through every step of the installation process, including MySQL for both 32 and 64 bit versions. If for any reason something goes wrong and you can’t get things to work check out Can Erten’s post which has some further steps including permission changes and ISAPI and CGI restrictions.

After reading the above posts you should be able to set everything up correctly. So off to work again…

Update: I have managed to install XAMPP under Vista. The User Account Control (UAC) in Vista causes problems with the installation. If you disable UAC the installation is completed successfully and everything works ok.

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You’re currently reading “Windows Vista and a web developer (Installing Apache, PHP and MySQL),” an entry on netchri.com

Published:: 01.02.07 / 11am

Category:: General

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I am currently working as a Software Developer at Ten20 Information Solutions Ltd and, at the same time, I am studying for my Masters Degree at the University of Cyprus. I obtained a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Birmingham at June 2007.

Previously I have obtained a Higher National Diploma in Computer Science at the Higher Technical Institute Cyprus at June of 2000 and after a compulsory 2 year service in the Cyprus National Guard stationed at GEEF/DEPLI (the army’s computer services administration department) I was admitted at the UoB as a direct entry student in the second year of the BSc Computer Science course.

I design web pages and various programs, I really enjoy it, especially in the end when you can see what you have created and the reactions of the people the website/program was intented to.

You can see sites designed by me on my portfolio and on W3CSites. I work as a freelance web designer and develop from simple informatory web pages to online stores. I always try for my pages to comply with W3C standards as I believe they will lead as to a better web for both, the developer and the end user.

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You can always reach me by using the Contact Me page.

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Ben O'Neill 01.03.07 / 2pm

If you disable UAC, install Apache, install MySQL and then re-enable UAC everything works.

It’s just a problem with Apache’s installer and creating the service, once it’s created all is well.

Christos Christodoulou 01.03.07 / 2pm

I believe the problem is with UAC prohibiting the installer(s) to create services under Vista and not the installers fault. That is why you must install Apache and MySQL with UAC disabled, both installers need to create a service. In fact, any Apache, MySQL, PHP bundle (like XAMPP) installs correctly with UAC off and fails with UAC on.

Axel Eckenberger 22.03.07 / 6pm

To be honest I believe it is not the Installer but the command line scripts it starting. The installer is run under admin privileges, however the batch files are not. Therefore, the system installs but it is not configured and the services are not available.

Tech Support 01.11.07 / 11pm

This had us stumped - for a while at least. OS - Vista Home. We downloaded the .msi file and installed it. Had problems “Apache2″ service not found and port 80 error. Resolved the first problem by ensuring that we opened up the CMD shell as ADMINISTRATOR, the second problem was caused by SKYPE which was holding open port 80. To resolve the second problem we simply reconfigured SKYPE to not use port 80. The apache services then started up fine - this had us going for hours! We hope we save you some time.

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Windows Vista and a web developer (Installing Apache, PHP and MySQL)

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