Skip to main content
T
The Un-dr.
Known Participant
April 24, 2011
Question

Virtual Hosting on local server for PHP using Apache (xampp) in Windows 7

  • April 24, 2011
  • 2 replies
  • 8464 views

WARNING!: Total rookie here.

I'm trying to follow the author's advice in "Dreamweaver CS5: The Missing Manual" to set up virtual hosting in Apache via the XAMPP software on a Windows 7 machine.

I've searched the web and tried the solutions I've discovered, but I still can't get it. Does anyone have step-by-step instructions for beginners on tweaking the "windows/system32/drivers/etc" file, the "httpd.conf" file (which, in Windows 7, is not found where all the solutions on the web say it should be) and then opening up an "index.php" file (among others) in an Adobe template I downloaded for a Wordpress site? (Whew! Sorry about the sentence!).

Any help or links would be appreciated!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

T
The Un-dr.Author
Known Participant
May 29, 2011

Well, I finally got everything working! Many thanks to David Powers and his book "Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP: Training from the Source" and his replies to my posts! Also, a couple of folks over at Apache Friends forum was very helpful, as well! (http://www.apachefriends.org/f/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=46848 )

Now that my virtual hosting and an installation of WordPress is working, time to really dig in and work on and tweak a web site...which means more challenges and questions for all you experts out there!

As Arnold would say, "I'LL BE BACK!"

T
The Un-dr.Author
Known Participant
June 12, 2011

Oh, boy, just when you thought it was safe to forget all about this thread.....

I guess I was wrong (again!) and I don't have it all figured out.

I've spent a couple weeks trying to figure out why, even though I can see my Wordpress template in my browser and in the "Live View" of DW (file that's open is C:\vhosts\phpdw1\wordpress\index.php ), DW still indicates "Dynamically related files could not be resolved because the site definition is not correct for this server." 

I have checked and recheck many, many times all my settings relative to David Powers' instructions in his book "Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP: Training from the Source" and his replies to my posts. I've even tried different settings such as adding "wordpress" after "phpdw1" in all my xampp files and the "hosts" file in Windows' "System32/drivers/etc/hosts" file, but no luck.

So, I don't know how I can edit the Wordpress template from DW. I guess I can make settings changes from the browser as any Wordpress user would do online--and I will make the changes there appropriate for that stuff, but as far as more complex design changes, that seems to defeat the whole purpose of setting up virutal hosts and downloading Wordpress--not to mention buying DW in the first place! I should also mention I bought templates from Studiopress. I installed their "Genesis Framework" as the parent and then installed one of the Child Themes. As I said, I can now see the basic Child Theme in my browser and in Live View.

I won't be surprised if there's something pretty basic I'm missing, but I don't know what to do next.

Except for one thing: uninstall xampp 1.7.4 and try 1.7.3. because David alluded to the fact that it might be buggy, but such a lot of work.....

EDIT: Well, now I've done it: I was in the Wordpress Dashboard in my browser and I went to "Settings." I saw the Site name and URL were both "http://phpdw1/wordpress" So I decided to try something and took out "wordpress" and hit "save." Now I get the "page no longer exists" message. I hit "back" in the browser and got back to the Dashboard and put "wordpress" back in the definitions, but it still doesn't work.

I do get a white page that looks like this (but I cannot log in):

*****************************

Not Found, Error 404

The page you are looking for no longer exists. Perhaps you can return back to the site's homepage and see if you can find what you are looking for. Or, you can try finding it with the information below.

Pages:

Categories:

Authors:

Monthly:

Recent Posts:

Footer #1 Widget

This is an example of a widgeted area that you can place  text to describe a particular product or service. You can also use other  WordPress widgets such as recent posts, recent comments, a tag cloud or  more.

Footer #2 Widget

This is an example of a widgeted area that you can place  text to describe a particular product or service. You can also use other  WordPress widgets such as recent posts, recent comments, a tag cloud or  more.

Footer #3 Widget

This is an example of a widgeted area that you can place  text to describe a particular product or service. You can also use other  WordPress widgets such as recent posts, recent comments, a tag cloud or  more.

***********************

What have I done? I've tried to restart everything and what not, but to no avail....

T
The Un-dr.Author
Known Participant
June 13, 2011

O.K. once again, I think I've fixed it..

I simply uninstalled everything and started over. PLUS: I installed xampp 1.7. 3 instead of 1.7.4.

1.7.4. seems to have been the problem, but who knows?!

At this point (cross your fingers), I do not get the dreaded "Dynamically related files could not be resolved because the site definition is not correct for this server" error message.

We'll see how it goes from here.....

Thanks for your patience--perhaps all this will be of some help to someone else.

David_Powers
David_Powers
Inspiring
April 26, 2011

I have seen your messages in the Adobe Developer Connection, so there is no need to repeat everything here. What I need to know is what the Apache error log says. If it gives a line number for a configuration file, paste the contents of the config file in here (if it's relatively short). Otherwise, attach it to your post.

T
The Un-dr.Author
Known Participant
April 26, 2011

O.K., thank you so much, David: as you can tell, I have been really frustrated trying to make this work.

Anyway, I just started the xampp control panel: upon startup, only MySql is running. The error message reads: "ERROR: Status check failure [6] This program must be run from your XAMPP root directory."

Then, when I click on the "Start" button for Apache, it reads: "Busy..." and on the next line: "Apache service started" but the green "running" indicator is not present as it is for MySql.

Thanks for all your help!

David_Powers
David_Powers
Inspiring
April 26, 2011

The Un-dr. wrote:

Anyway, I just started the xampp control panel: upon startup, only MySql is running. The error message reads: "ERROR: Status check failure [6] This program must be run from your XAMPP root directory."

That error message doesn't tell me anything useful. As I understand it, you installed XAMPP and Apache and MySQL both worked successfully until you tried to create virtual hosts. If that's the case, the problem lies with the changes you have made to the configuration files.

Open C:\xampp\apache\logs\error.log in Notepad, and scroll to the bottom.The most recent error message should indicate where the problem lies.

Other things to check:

  1. Do the folders for the virtual hosts exist?
  2. Did you make the changes to the Windows hosts file?
Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices