To start learning PHP, you first need to set up a web server to work on. This tutorial will show you how to setup an Apache server with EasyPHP. This is a small and easy to use application that runs a web and MySQL server, with the PHP module installed.

1. Download

You can find the latest version available at http://easyphp.org (opens in new window), or you can download EasyPHP 5.3.0 from here (15MB).

2. Install

After you agree with the terms of agreement, choose the installation path, and click a bunch of nexts, the installation is finished without much sweat.

3. Usage

After installation is over, it should have started. You can find it’s icon (  ) in system tray. When you click it, you see the applications main window, while right clicking it sows a configuration menu.



EasyPHP main window

From here you can manage the two servers: Apache and MySQL.

To run PHP scripts, locate the folder {path_to_easyphp}/www and copy your PHP files there. To run them, simply type in the address bar of your browser http://127.0.0.1/ or http://localhost/, 127.0.0.1 being the default IP address for localhost.

Therefore, if you want to run the file example.php, copy it to the www folder and then call in your browser http://127.0.0.1/example.php.