Not long ago I had a project with a final requirement a bit different from what I usually do. I was asked to make a server copy and put it on a CD so it can be showed at a presentation. At first I though to install Apache, Php and Mysql separately. And so I did only to notice that httpd.conf links are not as dynamic as they might seem. Putting them on a disk or usb, would have obliged me to copy them to a hard-drive or edit the configuration file each time. So after a long session of brainstorming and Google-ing around, I’ve found the solution. (and a very good one).
The application is called Server2Go and of course it’s free-ware. In the next steps I will guide you on installing it to a CD (The steps for installing on a USB drive are the same, I’ve chosen to write this tutorial for CD because of the read-only factor, which makes things a little harder).
- For starters we should download the mini package, when I wrote this it was: PHP 5.2.10, SQLITE, MYSQL 5.0.41.
- Install the application to a local partition
- Enter htdocs and delete the whole content of this directory
- Copy your project in the now empty htdocs
- Run Server2Go.exe
- After successfully loading, you can access http://127.0.0.1:4001/phpmyadmin to import your project’s database.
- To close the server: close the browser that was opened by the application.
- Now you can copy everything on the stick, DVD or CD.
This program is very customisable. I invite power users to use pms_config.ini with confidence.
