Creating a Web/File Server

AppServ Installation

Appserv is the program we will be using to set up the web server. It installs Apache, MySQL, PHP, and CGI for you. Apache is the web server, MySQL is a database program, PHP and CGI are server-side web programming languages. I am going to go step by step through the install process because it is VERY important that you get it configured correctly.

Steps to Install AppServ (click next on the installer after steps 1-6):

Double click the AppServ executable file that you downloaded and the installer will launch

This screen will ask you which directory to install AppServ. I recommend leaving it
set to default, C:/AppServe.

At this screen, you will be able to select which installation type you want. Select custom.

If you want to install any kind of forum software or anything that requires a database, you will need to check MySQL, PHP, and phpMyAdmin. You must install Apache for the server to function. I recommend all four, just in case you decide to use databases later.

The next screen asks for a Server Name, administrator’s e-mail address, and HTTP port. For the server name, I recommend the default of localhost, unless you know what you are doing. For the administrator’s e-mail, you need to put your e-mail address. I highly recommend that you put a valid e-mail address, you will not need to worry about it spamming you. As for HTTP port, I also highly recommend the default port number of 80.

This screen is the MySQL setup screen, if you chose to install MySQL. If you did not install MySQL, please skip this step. You will now need to create your MySQL username and password. Please write this information down, as it is unrecoverable and you will not be able to use MySQL without it! You can leave the default charset as latin1.

Let the install begin! It may take a few minutes depending on the speed of your computer.

When the install is done, it will ask you if you wish to start Apache and / or MySQL. Make sure both are checked and click close. A DOS window will come up saying something about starting Apache, don’t worry about it, it will go away when it is finished starting. You will notice that if you installed MySQL you now have a new icon in your system tray that looks like a traffic light. Not to worry, its not the FBI tracking you, its just the MySQL monitor.

The first step in creating your own web server is now complete! We are now going to move on to the basics of AppServ and how to use it.

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http://geelhoed.servebeer.com/MG.html mike
Not exasctly sure if I did it ok. The website works locally on my router, but firefox has a connection time out while trying to access the website. Any suggestions?
kyle
you need to enable port forwarding on your router
http://www.helioslive.net felipe
Works Perfectly.
Nice tutorial.
Once i did this, i also used “Mono” so Apache could take the ASP.NET. And that, is also preaty interesting.
A tutorial on that would be absolutely great.
Thanks a lot.
albana
Where can i find this article pls?
lukwsa
need a soft ,upload ,download freely,named ‘web file server’,
Jamie
I have done everything as said but when i goto my subdomain it just takes me to my router setup page. I have enabled port forwarding.

Justin
I can’t say for sure if this is the cause as I haven’t set up my server yet, but the first question I had was, ‘What about the router’s IP and the DUC?” If the DUC queries your computer’s IP then it gets the one for your router as the gateway and would update no-ip with that IP. Again, haven’t set up the DUC on my server so it may have a way around this. All I know is my computer only shows the router assigned IP and not the pubic one unless it is through a third-party website.

DrJon
@Jamie – if you are trying to access your subdomain while you are on the LAN, you will always only get to your router. To access your subdomain by CNAME you need to be on a different network.
Access your subdomain by its internal IP address while on the LAN.