How to Create a Test Web Environment

Creating a test web environment on your workstation allows you to easily edit your website files and check changes, develop and test your new applications without worrying about security, and keep your new content secure until you're ready to publish. Having a fully functional web testing environment behind your firewall lets you experiment with software upgrades and new technologies, try out server configuration changes, and test your web applications without breaking your production website. Using XAMPP, you can quickly and easily set up a test environment with the most popular software for web servers.

Things You'll Need

• Windows computer workstation
• XAMPP
• Tomcat add-on for XAMPP
• Web browser
• Notepad or Notepad++

Instructions

Install XAMPP

1. Run the XAMPP for Windows installer.

2. 

   Choose an installation drive and directory. The installer will create a directory called "xampp" in this location. The default installation directory is C:\. Use the default to have XAMPP install to C:\xampp. The installer will automatically start the configuration script in a command prompt window after the files are installed.

3. 

   Follow the instructions in the configuration script. Enable or disable XAMPP options as you desire from the menu. Select the "Exit" option from the menu to complete the XAMPP configuration.

Install Tomcat (optional)

1. Run the Tomcat for XAMPP Windows installer.

2. Choose C:\xampp for the installation directory (or, the location where you installed XAMPP). The installer will automatically start the configuration script in a Command Prompt window after the files are installed.

3. Follow the instructions in the configuration script. Enable or disable XAMPP options as you desire from the menu. Select the "Exit" option from the menu to complete the XAMPP configuration.

Start and Administer the Servers

1. 

   Launch the XAMPP control panel from the desktop icon.

2. Select the "Svc" check box beside each application you want to run as a service. This will allow the selected applications to run automatically on your computer all the time, even when you are not logged in.

3. Start Apache and each of the other services you'd like to run. Filezilla is an FTP server that allows you to and others to FTP into your workstation. Mercury is an SMTP server that provides email services. If a Windows Security Alert windows informs you that your workstation firewall is blocking a service, follow the instructions to unblock the service.

4. Click the Admin button for Apache in the XAMPP control panel. The XAMPP administration page will open in your default browser. Choose your preferred language to continue.

5. 

   Select the "Status" option from the menu. Check that all the components are enabled or disabled to match your desired configuration. Modify the running services in the XAMPP control panel by starting or stopping services. Click the Setup button to enable or disable options in the configuration menu.

6. 

   Select the "Security" option from the administration page menu. Any potential security issues will be identified. Follow the instructions to secure your test site and services as needed.

7. 

   Click the Admin button for MySQL in the XAMPP control panel. The phpMyAdmin web application will open in your default browser. This tool allows you to query, modify, and manage databases; view the server status; and administer MySQL.

8. 

   Click the Admin button for Tomcat (if you installed it) in the XAMPP control panel. The Tomcat administration panel will launch in your browser. The default username/password is xampp/xampp. Edit the file tomcat-users.xml located in C:\xampp\tomcat\conf to change the username and password. The Tomcat administration panel allows you to start, stop, and deploy applications, and manage the Tomcat configuration. Test drive the example servlets and JSPs installed with Tomcat.

Tips & Warnings

• Customize your test web server to be as similar as possible to your production environment. Install additional Apache add-ons, programming languages, database management systems, and other software as needed. Use virtualization to create a disposable test environment. Install XAMPP on virtual machine running the operating system of your choice. Once you have everything configured perfectly, save a snapshot of your virtual machine so you can create a clean test environment whenever you want. Create a directory in C:\xampp\htdocs for your website content, for example, C:\xampp\htdocs\mywebsite. The web address to test your website will be http://localhost/mywebsite.

• Your test environment is not a hardened, secure server. Protect your test environment on a local area network behind a firewall. If your workstation is directly connected to the Internet, your workstation could be exploited through your web applications or the server software.

References

• Apache Friends: XAMPP

Resources

• Apache Web Server Documentation and Tutorials
• MySQL Reference Manual and Documentation
• Apache Tomcat User Guide and Documentation