Moving WampServer from C to D drive?

{I note that Tom has added a new entry. However, the following is meant to be general help to anyone who crosses these pages by chance in search of how to change the path of the DocumentRoot. There are zillions of forums where the question is posed but not answered, or is not adequately answered... while the coding itself is simple, the supplementary commentary requires a lot of words is ambiguities are to be avoided, or if a "hands-on" approach is desired by the seeker.}

How to Re-specify the Path of DocumentRoot in EasyPHP

To make this change, you must open the httpd.conf file in an editor such as Editra (free) or phpDesigner8 (free to try for 21 days, but it is good enough (and cheap enough) to buy, so I wouldn't download it and waste the trial period just for this task!) – or good ol' Notepad, which is already on your system if your OS is Windows (this, for noobs!).

Here's WHERE your httpd.conf file is located, depending on the name of your actual virtual server (mine is EasyPHP-12.1) and depending on the letter of the system drive where you have installed said server:

C:\Program Files\EasyPHP-12.1\conf_files

In the httpd.conf file, you will see several references to DocumentRoot of this type:

"${path}/blah-blah-blah"

That is NOT what you are looking for (the above is a symbolic reference to the actual path, which we will find – and change! – presently). Instead, the full path of the DocumentRoot (hereafter: DR) is located near the bottom, or end, of the httpd.conf file in something called "Directory", written with paired tags, like so: "<Directory>", "</Directory>" (in my file, it is located just above the "<VirtualHost>, </VirtualHost>" entry, but this may simply be because I added the VirtualHost module to my EasyPHP folder).

NB! If you have not provided a password to your MySQL database, it is vulnerable to outside attack, therefore I will end these instructions below with an appended section on how to set up the password. (Note that the actual coding here, as always, is as compact as a grain of sand, it's just that in order to dispel any and all ambiguities, one has to employ an ocean of descriptive-supportive words!) I mention this because you probably shouldn't be surprised if, once you have added a password, Apache will automatically change the access parameters reflecting the limited access implicit in the setting up of a password – in fact, the httpd.conf file is not etched in stone, it reflects the status of the Apache system at any given point in time. Oh, I almost forgot, I'll also tell you how to have EasyPHP spit out an Installation Information page that will confirm that the ALTERED DocumentRoot path specification has indeed been ACCEPTED!

Here is what my "Directory" entry looks like now:

# <Directory "C:/Program Files/EasyPHP-12.1/www">

<Directory "D:/EZPHP-Desktop/www/Tim-Berners-Lee">

Options FollowSymLinks Indexes

AllowOverride All

Order deny,allow

Allow from 127.0.0.1

Deny from all

Require all granted

</Directory>

All that got changed is that the default DR address, or path, "C:/Program Files/EasyPHP-12.1/www", was altered. By me, in phpDesigner8. Following instructions that I found elsewhere, I, at the same time, attempted (unsuccessfully, more on this in a jiffy) to change the contents between the "Directory" tags as follows:

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride All

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

and though I saved the file, and though Apache did indeed accept my DR path change (note that I didn't delete the original path, I – for safety's sake until I get it all running smoothly – chose to just "comment it out", i.e., I prepended hashtags), Apache did NOT accept my changes in the safety parameters, presumably because I had already set a MySQL password.

If the "VirtualHost" tags (below the "Directory" tags near the bottom of the file, or the place we are describing) are present, then you need to change their "contents" as well, so that the contents will look similar to this (substituting the DR path of your choice, of course, and with A MAJOR CAVEAT mentioned below):

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1>

DocumentRoot "D:/EZPHP-Desktop/www/Tim-Berners-Lee"

ServerName localhost

# DocumentRoot "C:/Program Files/EasyPHP-12.1/www"

# ServerName localhost

</VirtualHost>

Note that also here I chose to "comment out" the original DR path, and don't fret if your VirtualHost says "localhost" instead of 127.0.0.1.

THE MAJOR CAVEAT:

My Apache setup surely violates at least some protocols here (EasyPHP > Administration generates a lot of pesky but non-fatal errors in the VirtualHost module that I installed as an add-on, but which I have not yet configured... it was important to first get the change in the DR path ironed out). Namely, w.r.t. the naming of the DR and the Alias, which, I'm pretty sure, aren't supposed to be one and the same (the Alias, if on the path of the DR (you can put Aliases anywhere), should be a subdirectory, or subfolder, under the DR folder; certainly not, as I have done here, the exact same folder!).

Note that Apache is looking for the DR to end in "www" or a variant thereof, such as "wwwtim-berners-lee"; I have named the DR in my setup precisely as one would name an Alias, which, if placed in the DR, would belong to a subfolder there, like so: (DR name/path)/Alias.

As soon as I rename my DR to "www something-or-other" (all in one word) and make my "project folder" – my website project, or my Tim-Berners-Lee (all in one word not necessary here) folder – the Alias, then I am confident that the pesky messages in VirtualHost will cease & desist. At that point, when I am sure that I have gotten all the snags ironed out, I will clean up my httpd.conf file, deleting the superfluous, "commented out" DR paths entirely.

How to Set a Password in MySQL DBMS:

("DBMS" stands for "database management system", and note that I found the template for this somewhere online and naturally altered it to suit my computer environment):

To set a password of, say, "Comanche", assuming that you have EasyPHP or something similar installed on your computer, choose the Run option in the Start Menu and enter:

"C:\Program Files\EasyPHP-12.1\mysql\bin\mysqladmin.exe" -uroot password Comanche

{EXACTLY as written above, though note that you will need to name the actual virtual server program you are using if you are not using EasyPHP-12.1, and the actual password will be one invented by you unless you like the name "Comanche" and are very foolhardy!}

Click OK and a window will rapidly open and close, and, if you have typed the command correctly, you will hear... NARY A SOUND (not the slightest beep)! Record your password in your Little Black Book!

Each time you start your virtual server program, you can make use of the MySQL command line interpreter by logging onto the MySQL DBMS, using your password, in the following way (which is altered slightly from the path listed above, so pay attention!):

Click on Run in the Start Menu, then paste the following (copied) path (eventually making a substitution for "EasyPHP-12.1" to reflect your actual virtual server, and substituting your own password, of course):

"C:\Program Files\EasyPHP-12.1\mysql\bin\mysql.exe" -uroot -p[your_password (whatever it is), eg., "Comanche" (like so: -pComanche), though without the quotes around "Comanche", and of course the password itself must NOT have gaps/ white space!]

Click OK, and a Command Prompt window belonging to the MySQL database will appear. When you are finished using the MySQL command line interpreter, you can exit the Command Prompt by typing "quit" (less the quotes, of course) at the cursor to the right of "mysql>".

Don't be a DUMMY; write your password down in your Little Black Book (do you realize just how many nincompoops – as we speak, as it were – are trying to find out how to reset their respective MySQL DBMS passwords because they forgot them?!)!!!

How to Access Your PHP Installation Information:

To test your Apache and PHP, create the file phpinfo.php in the directory D:\EZPHP-Desktop\www\Tim-Berners-Lee (YES, backslashes here!) and type in the following PHP contents {I simply created an HTML template in phpDesigner8, added the php string listed below in the "body" section, then saved it with a name ("My EasyPHP Installation Info") as a *.php file IN THE "Tim-Berners-Lee" folder mapped out above.}:

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

To access this file, follow the usual procedure, making your very own personal substitutions where relevant:

1) Right-click the EasyPHP icon in SysTray and choose "Administration", then

2) Once inside "Administration", click on "Tim-Berners-Lee" under "Local Files" and a new tab will open, showing all of the contents of the "Tim-Berners-Lee" folder, then

3) Click on the name of the file in question ("My EasyPHP Installation Info") and a complete installation information sheet will open in a new tab, including the address/ path or your altered (moved) DR.

Voilà! (If the DR path didn't get changed, then you have erred somewhere, so you should recheck everything, and if that fails, have a second set of eyes run through it... it is amazing how the brian corects our erors wthout us evn regestring thm! : -) )