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Installing and Testing Apache Web Server 2.2
on Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2
The machine specifications used in this task are:
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OS: Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition SP2.
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Memory: 2 GB.
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HDD: 160 x 2 GB
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Processor: Intel Xeon 3.66 GHz
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Apache 2.2.4 web server for Windows.
Make sure you disable the IIS’s web server else the Apache cannot run if the IIS web server using the same default port 80 or you can change the IIS’s http port to different port other than 80. If there is no Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, then the IIS is not installed on that machine, so that is OK else you have to make sure web server is disabled or you need to use port other than 80. Well, that is not good.
As seen in the following Figure, the IIS was installed but the web server was disabled.
1. Download latest stable version of Apache for Windows fromwww.apache.org. Current Windows binary file is apache_2.2.4-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi. Double click the file will launch the installation wizard. The following is the welcome page. Click Next.
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2. Accept the license agreement terms and click Next.
3. Read the Readme first and then click Next.
4. If you don’t have domain name or DNS services is not functioning or your machine is just a standalone computer, put localhost for Network Domain and Server Name fields. In this case, Apache won’t fill the fields as seen in the following Figure automatically. For the Administrator, put any valid email to act as domain administrator email. Click Next.
5. We just select a Typical Apache setup, and let the setup wizard do all the rest for us. Click Next.
6. Change the destination folder if needed. In this case we just accept the default destination folder given. For example, if you want to change the default Apache path and folder, then do it here, click the Change button.
7. Change the installation folder accordingly if needed and click OK.
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8. The Apache installation would like to begin. Click the Install button.
9. The installation is in progress.
10.If there are error(s), you need to correct it. For example, the following error message means the port 80 has been bind to other service. In this case you need to unbind the service(s) and later on, restart Apache.
11.The Apache installation is completed. Click the Finish button.
12.If there is no error(s) you should see the Apache icon with green arrow in the icon tray shown below. The green arrow means Apache is active and alive. The red square means something wrong with your Apache or it is in stop mode.
13.You can see, reconfigure Apache service start up such as setting the service to Automatic, Manual or Disable and stop, start or restart the service (similar to other Windows services) in the Windows Services snap-in as shown below.
14.Normally you control the Apache service through the Apache HTTP Server 2.2.x in the Windows start up menu shown below.
15.For example you can monitor, restart, stop or start Apache service using the following menus.
16.By assuming your Apache service is installed and configured properly; test your Apache by typing the http://localhost URL in your browser address bar as shown below. The “It works!” page means your Apache is working and running properly at this stage.
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17.More fine tuning for the Apache based on your web service requirements is done by editing the httpd.conf file. This is Apache configuration file and can be edited in any unformatted text file such as notepad or WordPad. The file resides under the %Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/conf folder (for default path installation).
18.As usual, make sure you create a backup of the httpd.conf file before doing any editing so that when your Apache gone crazy, you can restore the original config file and restart the Apache service. I think it is also good practice to read and try to understand the comment parts in the file before you do any editing. Don’t forget to save the file after doing editing. You need to restart the Apache service if there are changes done to the httpd.conf file.
