Installing Apache Webserver on Windows XP

If you want to try out WordPress or any other blogging software locally, the first thing you should have is the Apache Web server. In this tutorial I will show you how to install Apache Web server on Windows XP.

1. Download Apache Windows MSI (installer) file from http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi. I have downloaded version 2.2.4 from http://www.devlib.org/apache/httpd/binaries/win32/apache_2.2.4-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi. This download is about 5MB.

2. Install Apache using the MSI installer. During installation fill in network domain, server name and email. These need not be valid if you plan to use Apache for local use. Note that I have decided to install on port 8080 and use manual startup. I want to start the server only when I need it. You may get an error saying the port is in use which means that something else is running on port 8080 or 80. Correct this by uninstalling or changing the configuration of the conflicting program.

In the next screen select “Typical” as the setup type. For destination folder I have used “c:\apps\apache”. You can decide to go with the default if you want – which is typically “C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\”

3. Run Apache from the program menu. By default this appears under Apache HTTP Server 2.2.4=>Control Apache Server=>Start Apache in Console. You may get an alert from your firewall program saying that a program is trying to listen to 8080. Allow apache to continue.

4. Open a browser session and point to http://localhost:8080/. You should see the following screen.

This file (index.html) we are seeing is located under “C:\apps\apache\htdocs” (note that you may have installed Apache somewhere else). If you edit this file and refresh browser, you will see the changes reflected!

Now you are all set with your Apache Server installation. In the next tutorial, I will show you how to install and enable PHP on Apache Web server.