Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL - Part 1: Installation

**lostinireland** · Nov 23, 2006 19:27

I have a similar problem. When I click on the link in the welcome1.html I get presented with a dialog box to open or save the file. I am using PHP 5.2, with Apache 2.0.55 on Win2K

**Kevin Yank** · Nov 23, 2006 20:10

If your browser is offering you the PHP file as a download, and the download you receive contains the PHP code, this means that your web server has not been correctly configured to process PHP scripts before sending them as web pages to the browser.

You should go over the instructions in Chapter 1 again to make sure you followed all the steps. In particular, make sure you followed the section on editing httpd.conf to the letter, and that the resulting file was saved as httpd.conf, not httpd.conf.txt (as Notepad sometimes likes to do).

**sardoman** · Nov 29, 2006 07:58

Just like to say that after a lot of hair pulling and shouting at the monitor all is working fine with Apache installed instead of IIS.

Onto the good stuff....

**chronic** · Nov 29, 2006 23:11

I'm having loads of troubles while trying to install Apache. I just need a few things straigtened out.

I've installed MySQL but waited on PHP until Apache was setup, but thinking I screwed it up, I just deleted the MySQL folder. When I thought Apache was up and running, I did everything I needed to do in order to install PHP, but when I realized Apache wasn't working, I redid everything I did for the PHP and deleted that folder. Now I'm in a bind. I've reinstalled Apache (different versions and stuff) about 4 times now, without any useful help from the Apache.org documentation. Now, I feel like I've completely screwed up my computer by just removing Apache from my computer via Add & Remove programs and deleteing remaining files. I just want to install it right without screwing anything else up and so far I haven't had a reply in the forum in which I posted my problem.

I am on a Windows XP (Pro, but I don't want to use IIS) machine, with a copy of PHP 5.2.0, MySQL 5.0.27 win32, and the Apache 2.2.3 msi installer. If you can at least link to a straightfoward list of exactly what I need to do, that would be great. I love your article/book, but it jumps around from Windows to Unix to Mac too much too keep me focused on what I need to do. Just gets me confused.

I've spent the entire day trying to get this up and running, and honestly, it shouldn't be too hard, should it?

Any help is very appreciated.

Also, when looking through the httpd.conf file when I was editing when I thought I had Apache running, I couldn't find the line which said: "session.save_data" as the only ones I found were commented and just showing an example.

**Kevin Yank** · Nov 29, 2006 23:32

Hi Chronic,

I'll be happy to walk you through the process, but rather than writing out all the instructions for you again, let's follow the steps in the book. I'll assume you're working from the 3rd edition ("Latest Edition: June 2006" on the credits page), starting with the "Windows Installation" section on page 2.

Pages 2-4 step you through installing MySQL and modifying the my.ini file to use the old-passwords format for PHP compatibility.

Pages 4-5 talk you through downloading the correct version of PHP (the ZIP package), then setting up IIS. You can ignore the instructions for installing IIS, since you plan to use Apache.

Pages 5-6 give 4 steps that must be completed to install PHP on your system before configuring your web server to use it. In particular, this involves copying two vital files to your Windows SYSTEM32 folder and a third file (php.ini) to your main Windows folder. You must then edit the php.ini file to modify session.save_path (not edit httpd.conf to modify session.save_data, as your post asked).

Next, you need to download and install Apache, and then verify that it is running on your system by attempting to load http://localhost/ in your browser.

Then you can follow the steps on pages 9-10 to configure Apache to work with your copy of PHP.

With that done, skip over the Linux and Mac OS X instructions to page 21, where you're guided through a few final tasks: set a MySQL root password, double-check a couple of settings in your php.ini file, and then restart Apache (which you can do in Windows using the shortcuts that the installation added to your Start menu).

Now, obviously you're having trouble with one of these steps. If you follow these steps exactly, let me know precisely when something happens that you don't expect, and which might indicate a problem. Tell me what you expected to happen, and what happened instead. I should be able to assist you from there.

**chronic** · Nov 29, 2006 23:40

First off, reading through your post, it pointed out a mistake I made. In my post, I mentioned I was looking for a line in the httpd.conf file when infact it was php.ini as your post pointed out. I still didn't find it (using ctrl+f).

Also, I'll have to work through it tomorrow as it is late here and should be going to get some sleep. I'm sure that if I follow them correctly in order again and just double check what I am doing, I should be able to get it.

Thanks again.

However, if Apache doesn't work again, what is a good resource to troubleshoot it? I haven't had a good look through the help file that comes with Apache in the start menu, so i'm not sure if it's in there.

**Kevin Yank** · Nov 30, 2006 00:05

Originally Posted by chronic

First off, reading through your post, it pointed out a mistake I made. In my post, I mentioned I was looking for a line in the httpd.conf file when infact it was php.ini as your post pointed out. I still didn't find it (using ctrl+f).

What is the exact string you're searching for? In your question, you indicated you were searching for session.save_data, when in my message I pointed out it's actually session.save_path you should be looking for.

Thanks again.

However, if Apache doesn't work again, what is a good resource to troubleshoot it?

The best way to troubleshoot Apache is to launch it from the command prompt so you can see any error messages. I'll talk you through that if it's required.

**chronic** · Dec 1, 2006 17:51

Okay, I got MySQL and Apache working, but now I'm still having one small issue with PHP.

I am looking for the following string in php.ini: session.save_path, however, I only find 4 tokens, all are commented out.

I find:

; session.save_path = "N;/path"

; session.save_path = "N;MODE;/path"

;session.save_path = "/tmp"

; (see session.save_path above), then garbage collection does *not*

Those are the only ones that use that phrase.

Any ideas? (PHP 5.2.0)

**Kevin Yank** · Dec 3, 2006 17:14

The third one is the one you're supposed to uncomment (by removing the semicolon) and then adjust the value of to suit your system. In previous versions of PHP, this line was not commented by default. I'll make a note to update the book accordingly.

ace · May 29, 2007 03:18

I have problem with the Apache when i type the command LoadModule....php4apache2.dll and when i restart Apache it says: The reqested operation has failed!
why i cant load it?

**Kevin Yank** · May 29, 2007 17:28

ace,

The Apache error log may have additional information on why the error has failed.

Some things to check:

Is php4apache2.dll in the location you indicated in your httpd.conf file? Is it definitely named php4apache2.dll (if you've installed PHP 5, for example, it's called php5apache2.dll). Are you running Apache 2, and not Apache 1.3? Have you copied php4ts.dll to your Windows SYSTEM32 directory?

**RalphGault** · Jun 7, 2007 09:29

Originally Posted by ArticleBot

This is a dedicated thread for discussing the SitePoint article 'Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL - Part 1: Installation'

On line 486 of httpd.conf the following error is referenced.
Connot load c:'php/php5apache2.dll into server: The specified module could not be found.

Before installing PHP I downloaded Apache 2.2, installed it and confirmed that it worked.

I then downloaded PHP 5.0 as instructed in the book starting on page 6. I then performed steps 1-5 from page 7 and top of page 8.

I then skipped pages 8-10 because my XP Professional does not have IIS.

I performed the steps 1-5 on page 11. Step 5 failed because Apache would not restart.

I disabled the last 3 statements in the httpd.conf file and was able to start Apache.

I am running on Windows XP on the HP Pavilion dv2040ca Notebook. The last 3 lines in the httpd.conf file are:

LoadModule php5_module c:/php/php5apache2.dll
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

I have confirmed that the file c:/php/php5apache2.dll does exist. Have I missed a reference to php5_module somewhere? Any assistance would be appreciated.

... Ralph

**Kevin Yank** · Jun 7, 2007 17:29

Ralph,

From the page numbers you're quoting, it sounds like you don't have a slightly older version of the book, perhaps the October 2004 reprint (the latest version was printed in June 2006). You can see which version you have on the credits page at the start of the book.

Assuming you're working with the October 2004 edition, you may have missed a step in the installation of PHP 5 that was left out of that version, and is documented on the errata page for the book:

p.7 step 2
In PHP 5 or later, you must copy the libmysql.dll file from the PHP installation directory to your system32 directory along with php5ts.dll.

Let me know whether copying that file solves your problem or not. Hopefully it should get you going!

**RalphGault** · Jun 8, 2007 13:01

Originally Posted by Kevin Yank

Ralph,

From the page numbers you're quoting, it sounds like you don't have a slightly older version of the book, perhaps the October 2004 reprint (the latest version was printed in June 2006). You can see which version you have on the credits page at the start of the book.

Assuming you're working with the October 2004 edition, you may have missed a step in the installation of PHP 5 that was left out of that version, and is documented on the errata page for the book:

Let me know whether copying that file solves your problem or not. Hopefully it should get you going!

Thank you for the reply but...
I had used the online instructions that included the instruction of moving libmysql.dll to the Windows/system32 folder. The pdf file I used for follow up reference is the October 2004 version. In any event this is not the problem.

Without the PHP references, MySQL and Apache2.2 are operational. I re-installed PHP 5.2.3 (using zip file) from the PHP download site. I still have the error that the module cannot be loaded by Apache.

Do you have any other ideas?

... Ralph

**Kevin Yank** · Jun 11, 2007 18:51

Originally Posted by RalphGault

Do you have any other ideas?

Nothing leaps to mind. Can you confirm the exact revision of Apache you're using (e.g. 2.2.4) so that I can run through the instructions on my end with the exact same versions to confirm that they work?

-Kev.

**RalphGault** · Jun 12, 2007 05:10

Kevin,

Yes, I have installed Apache 2.2.4.

**Kevin Yank** · Jun 19, 2007 20:17

Hi Ralph,

I've just gone through the setup process on my own system and I can confirm that something has indeed changed. With the release of Apache 2.2, you now need to point to the file php5apache2_2.dll (not php5apache2.dll) when editing your httpd.conf file.

Give this a try and let me know if it works for you.

**RalphGault** · Jun 21, 2007 05:58

Thanks. I made the change to php5apache2_2.dll and now I am operational. After doing the samples in the first 4 chapters I am now ready to buy the book. Thanks again... Ralph

**Pure L** · Oct 21, 2007 20:29

Originally Posted by vicki

I am following the tutorial that walks you throught the steps of how to install mysql and php. I have installed both and I am now at the step of :

To set a root password for MySQL, open a command prompt (or Terminal window) and type the following command in the bin directory of your MySQL installation:

mysql -u root mysql

Once I enter this into the terminal window, it says that there is no such command. I am running OSX 10.4. I have made sure that mysql server is running. Can you tell me what my problem is?

I'm having this exact same problem. I'm on 10.3.9, however.

Has anyone figured this out yet?

**logic_earth** · Oct 21, 2007 20:46

Originally Posted by Pure L

I'm having this exact same problem. I'm on 10.3.9, however.

Has anyone figured this out yet?

Is the MySQL binary with in your path? On Mac I don't know how to set it.
But perhapes if you run the command in the MySQL binary directory.

**Pure L** · Oct 21, 2007 21:49

Code:

ThisHereComputer:/bin Pure L$ mysql -u root mysql
-bash: mysql: command not found

I'm no expert at this (quite a newbie, in fact) but, from what I can tell, it's not working from /bin either.

**ldp** · Sep 10, 2008 15:50

I'm just starting to look at PHP/MySQL and I've tried the installation offered in the opening chapter of the Sitepoint book under XP Pro. All appears to be running but the last step to configure passwords for MySQL has thrown up a problem: I can't seem to log onto the server.

Trying the 'mysql -u root mysql' command gives me "ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)". I'm going word-blind checking that I've not missed something in the configurations of the various components (MySQL 5.0.51b, PHP 5.2.6, Apache 2.2.9).

Can anyone shed some light as to what I'm missing?

Thanks

**Kevin Yank** · Sep 10, 2008 22:57

Hi ldp,

It sounds like you have successfully set up a root password on your MySQL server. To log in with that password, you need to add -p to the mysql command:

Code:

mysql -u root -p mysql

The -p tells MySQL that you wish to provide a password with your connection request.

**ldp** · Sep 11, 2008 00:55

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the very quick response.

I sort of worked out that the server was wanting a password, but the problem was that I couldn't remember setting one! I tried a number of usual suspects but no joy. When I tried the configuration wizard and wanted to see what happened when I tried the password setup there it was asking me again for the password...

Anyway, its a new day and determined to solve this one I have just embarked on installing MySQL on my notebook. I'm going through the configuration wizard and I get to the 'Network Options' and scrutinise the text of your book and begin to wonder whether I unchecked 'Strict Mode' previously as per instructions ......?

Viola! I can get in. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a problem and do something else (i.e. sleep). I'm making an assumption that 'Strict Mode' has a bearing on security/passwords. Is this true?

Anyway thanks for confirming my suspicions, and focusing my attention. On with the rest of the book ........

L