If you want to use WordPress MU on your site, but wanted to test it thoroughly before making it live on the server, the best way is to create a local server and test the installation in your computer first. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create local sever on Windows (using Xampp) and install WordPress MU.

Installing Local Server

1. Go to Xampp For Windows and download the Windows installer.

Run the installer. When it comes to the installation options page, select Install Apache and MySQL as a service.

2. Once the installation is completed, go to Start -> Program -> Apache Friends -> XAMPP -> XAMPP Control Panel. Press the Start button beside Apache and MySQL.

Your local server is now running. Open your browser and go the URL: http://localhost. It should show the following page:

Installing WordPress MU

3. Download the WordPress MU zip file.

4. Extract it to the folder: C:\xampp\htdocs\ (if you have installed Xampp in different location, you have to extract the WordPress-MU folder to the htdocs folder in the Xampp directory)

Setting up database for WordPress-MU

5. In your browser, go to the URL: http://localhost/phpmyadmin

In the “Create New Database” field, enter a name for your database. Press Create.

Configuring virtualhost

6. To install WordPress MU in localhost, we need to set up virtual hosting in Windows system.

Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc and open the file “hosts” with notepad (you need to have administrator privilege to edit the file. Right click the Notepad application in the Start menu and select Run As Administrator).

Insert in the line

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain

to the end of the file. Save and close the file.

7. Back to your browser, go to the URL: http://localhost.localdomain/wordpress-mu. You should see the WordPress MU installation page.

In the field where it asks you to choose between Sub-domains or Sub-directories, select Sub-directories. This will save you plenty of trouble later on.

If you insist on choosing Sub-domains, whenever you create a new test blog (with the sub-domain test1), you will need to update the hosts file with the sub-domain entry.

127.0.0.1 test1.localhost.localdomain

In the database section, enter the database name that you have created just now. Under the Username field, enter ‘root‘ and leave the password field blank.

When you are done filling in the rest of the details, click the Submit button to finish the installation. If everything goes smoothly, you should see the “Installation Finished” page.

That’s it.

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LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. It is the most widely used combination for setting up a Web Server. By far, the easiest way to install LAMP server is simply installing the Ubuntu Server Edition itself. However, many of us have installed the Ubuntu Desktop edition, only to find that we need to set up a LAMP server later on. In the following tutorial, I am going to show you how to install and configure a LAMP server in your Ubuntu Hardy Heron in less than 10 minutes.

Installing Apache, Php and MySql

In your Ubuntu desktop, go to System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager.

Scroll down the list to search for apache2. Check the box beside it and select ‘Mark for installation‘. This will also install other dependency packages. When prompted, click ‘Mark‘.

Next, scroll down the list and search for php5. Similarly, place a check beside the box and select ‘Mark for installation‘.

Do the same for ‘mysql-server‘ and ‘phpmyadmin‘

Once you are done, click ‘Apply‘ on the top icon bar.

The Synaptic Package Manager will now fetch all the files and install it in your Ubuntu.

When installing MySQL, you will be prompted to enter and reconfirm your password. Make sure that you enter a password that you can remember.

Also, the phpmyadmin will ask you which version of apache to use. Select apache2

Testing your installation

Once you have finished installing the LAMP, you will need to test if it is working.

Open your browser and point the URL to http://localhost

If you see the words ‘It works’, then apache is working fine.

Next, you want to create a php file to test your php setting.

gksu gedit /var/www/testphp.php

paste the following line to the file

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Save and close the file.

In your browser, point the URL to http://localhost/testphp.php. You should see all the php information on the browser. If it prompt you to download the file, then your php configuration is not successful. Go to Synaptic Package Manager and reinstall php5

Testing of phpmyadmin

On your browser, go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin. It should loads up the phpmyadmin login page. Log in with the user name root and the password you supplied when installing.

This will bring you to the main screen of phpmyadmin.

Putting it all together

To test if the apache, php5, MySQL and phpmyadmin are working together, we can test it out by installing WordPress.

Download WordPress here.

Extract the wordpress folder to your home folder.

Inside the folder, open up the wp-config-sample.php file. Edit the following information.

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘wordpress’);    // The name of the database
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘root’);     // Your MySQL username
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘yourpasswordhere’); // …and password

Remember to change the ‘yourpasswordhere‘ to the password that you supplied during the MySQL installation.

Save the file as wp-config.php.

Next in your phpmyadmin, create a new database call wordpress.

Open a terminal, copy the wordpress folder to the apache working directory (the working directory is located at /var/www)

sudo cp -R wordpress /var/www/

Once done, on your browser, go to http://localhost/wordpress. The famous 5 minutes installation will show on screen. Follow the instructions. If is your LAMP configuration is good, your wordpress will be up in 1 minute.

That’s it. Enjoy!

[Reference: Lijamex's Blog, Howto Forge]

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