Setting up a web server

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Need some Help with setup of windows 2008

I have a copy of windows 2008, i am not a I.T professional so server environments is not a strong point for me right now as im only a student. However im a fast learner and i have decided to get my head around the uses of a server and getting a head start getting to know how to create a fully functional multi-purpose server.

The first few things i have managed to do is create a backup procedure for my home network along with the setup of a teamspeak server for friends.

The next step would be to setup FTP services and Web Services

Im interested in hosting a forum using PHP im not really interested in ASP just HTML and PHP. However i have no idea how to go about setting it all up. Along with hosting a website which would be coded in html.

Could anyone point me in the direction to a tutorial on how to setup a website and FTP in windows 2008? or if anyone could take the time to walkthrough how to do so that would be great.
 
Xammp is what you need, most IT pro's will normally install PHP, MYSQL, Apache and mail servers speratly. You can try Xammp it will do you what you need. Then signup for a no-ip.com domain unless you buy one. Then setup phpBB3 forum which is a lot better than phpBB2.
 
I'd maybe take a look at something like EasyPHP which install Apache, MySQL and PHP for you and comes with a nice and simple GUI to control the services. Then get something like MySQL Query Browser and install that to edit your MySQL databases. Make SURE you chat the root passwords however if you install EasyPHP as by default it makes the root user + pass as, user: root and no password which is a major security risk.

Then download PHPBB3 and drag it to your www folder inside the EasyPHP installation folder and run it from a web browser (ie. http://localhost/phpbb) and it'll run the setup program so you can set that up.
 
I'd maybe take a look at something like EasyPHP which install Apache, MySQL and PHP for you and comes with a nice and simple GUI to control the services. Then get something like MySQL Query Browser and install that to edit your MySQL databases. Make SURE you chat the root passwords however if you install EasyPHP as by default it makes the root user + pass as, user: root and no password which is a major security risk.

Then download PHPBB3 and drag it to your www folder inside the EasyPHP installation folder and run it from a web browser (ie. http://localhost/phpbb) and it'll run the setup program so you can set that up.

OK so i downloaded EasyPHP and its all working, ive moved the PHPBB3 files to the local host and im now in the install menu's now i have never done this before so i need some help just knowing what i should be doing.

My main problem is the database settings i dont know how to obtain the server hostname or DSN where do i go to get that?

I basically need to know where to get the details for that page in the PHPBB3 install.

Im guessing you have to create a database in mysql

Oh btw thanks for the help guys
 
I can't understand why you didn't use IIS on 2008? The FastCGI module in IIS7 makes it run really fast. Why bundle an extra web server on when you can safely use the onboard one?

Okay, Xampp makes installing PHP and MySQL easy but that doesn't let you learn the guts of it all - it is a piece of cake to install both for use with IIS.

Not being picky or flaming, just wondering that's all :)
 
well i was looking into it, but as i say i have never setup web hosting as i have always paid for it/ Sure i could use the build in web server but i want something very easy to install so i can get to know the basics.

IM stuck with the install of PHPBB3 at the moment on the database settings, not sure how to obtain the details needed
 
I have gone into phpmyadmin

Created a database called database1 and its a collation

anything i need to do after this?

What i have in front of me is the following:

Database Type: MySQL

Database server hostname or DSN: No idea what this is

Database Server Port:

Database Name:

Database Username: Root?

Database Password: (I guess i leave this blank)

Prefix for tables in database: phpbb_
 
ok i got a forum all up and working, just need to know how i give it a domain so others can see it, i have a domain which i paid for from a provider how do i assign that to the forums?
 
You got a static ip address or dynamic? Dynamic just do what 1337z0r said in #2. If its static you can still do what 1337z0r said or you can buy a professional domain and point it to your own static address.
 
Running EasyPHP i have installed PHPBB3 on a windows server 2008 operating system, right now all i can do is view the forums local how do i allow other people on the wan to access the forums? I want to assign a domain to the forum but how do i do this? my domain is on another server from another provider
 
You are not really going to learn very much at all doing this, except how to click 'next' a few times (which presumably you already know). How about setting up a virtual server and having a play around with linux. Certainly if you are going to be using a PHP forum application, LAMP is the way to go!
 
Am I missing something? Windows 2008? WTF?
IIS7 has been given a go live license by Microsoft, meaning that they consider it as a forward enough point to deploy in production. We are evaluating it all at work, we are a MS-centric company and everything is MS(IIS,SQL Server, .NET etc) so it's something we have to look at by order of Da Management.

I am running the latest CTP at home under VMWare as well to run it through it's paces.

Bash it as much as you want, it's here to stay and whilst I am not a MS fanboi (not by any stretch of the imagination) it *will* get used. Therefore people need to start evaluating it!

If they can get the .NET stuff working in 2008 Server core it will be pretty fast (core is with all the desktop stuff ripped out, something akin to running a *nix server with no gui).. and yes, I run linux and solaris boxes too so I'm not wildly swinging round promises. It looks like they will make the core version able to be a virtualization server like ESX, totally headless and stripped down to the bare bones..

Yes it ISN'T free, it's MS but at the end of the day some of us have *no* choice to use it (well, we do - could quit my job I suppose) and make the best of it :(

^^ That all sounds distinctly fanboi-like, definitely not the case believe me- just what I have gleaned from many hours of testing and reading the technet forums!
 
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