[2013-02-02]

XAMPP: Fix automatic script installs

I use XAMPP as a local test server on my Mac for testing and debugging. I mean, nothing is more embarrassing than making file changes to a live site and bringing it down. One thing always bothered me, but not to the point of solving it. WordPress, Drupal, and other CMS software provide built in automatic updates or installation - but out of the box it does not work on XAMPP. It's a simple fix, just first hunt down your httpd.conf If you need help finding the httpd.c0nf, take a peak at /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/etc/, and the file is located there. Use your terminal and vim the file, or TextEdit if you prefer. You're going to want to look for the text below:

#
# If you wish httpd to run as a different user or group, you must run
# httpd as root initially and it will switch.  
#
# User/Group: The name (or #number) of the user/group to run httpd as.
# It is usually good practice to create a dedicated user and group for
# running httpd, as with most system services.
#
User nobody
Group none

Apache is running as 'nobody' while your files are owned by your user account, therefore throwing a permissions error - despite how much you chmod. Go ahead and change User to your username (ex: Users/<yourfolder>/) and Group to "Staff". My XAMPP is a development server with no outside access, so I'm okay with this. However you may want to rethink the security implications if you're allowing remote access to your server.

📘 Understanding Drupal: A Complete Guide to Caching Layers — my new book is out now!

Want more? Sign up for my weekly newsletter