Installing for local server

[buster52]

I received my book this morning and I am trying to set up a local store on my pc I have installed xampp and its working the next bit was to open the local.com page wich was fine the next bit is where I am getting stuck I opened notepad as administrator and the opened
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

the file opens ok and I can save the changes but when I add the lines suggested

# 127.0.0.1 www.example.com # For browser access
# 127.0.0.1 mail.example.com # For email access
# 127.0.0.1 example.com # For mercury mail server

I have tried with and without the hash but it does not work with either

127.0.0.1 www.example.com # For browser access
127.0.0.1 mail.example.com # For email access
127.0.0.1 example.com # For mercury mail server

this is the file

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
# 127.0.0.1 www.example.com # For browser access
# 127.0.0.1 mail.example.com # For email access
# 127.0.0.1 example.com # For mercury mail server

can someone tell me what I am doing wrong
when I try localhost .com without the above it opens the page as suggested

[Vger]

If you are able to go to: http://localhost and you get the XAMPP landing page then XAMPP is installed fine and you don't need to alter the hosts file. The only time you need to alter the hosts file is when you have another server running on Port 80 and want XAMPP to run on another Port e.g. 8080 or where you want to use domain aliases on your PC e.g. http://localhost/yourdomain.com (this is not necessary to install a local copy of your website on XAMPP).

The next thing to do is to set up a folder called 'zen' inside the xampp/htdocs folder and then drop all of the Zen Cart folders and files inside it (except for the folder containing all those files and sub folders).

Then go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and create a blank database.

Then go to http://localhost/zen/zc_install and begin installing Zen Cart.

Vger

[buster52]

thanks for replying I dont know how but the above file alteration now works
I unistalled the xampp program and reinstalled it re-edited the file and know it works so for know I will carry on following the book as I am totally green at this so betting sticking with what is in front of me
although I did create the file and data base that you suggested before uninstalling the program and then did not know what to do next.
so I am back to following the book untill I understand a bit more
thanks again for answering

this is the working file

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 www.example.com # For browser access
127.0.0.1 mail.example.com # For email access
127.0.0.1 example.com # For mercury mail server

[Vger]

I think what may have happened the first time is that you didn't shut down and reboot the Apache server after making the changes.

Vger

[buster52]

Hi Vger

Yes I think you are right
I have setup the local store and webmail server so now I am getting on quite well still a lot to learn but I am enjoying the process and I am looking forward to having the whole test shop working on our own computer
thanks again for answering it is helping to give me the confidence to try this project My wife is very good at making hand made greetings cards and other things she had 30,000 visitors to her blog last year so we are trying to see if we can sell some online long way to go yet
but I think I can learn enough to get it working now
tom whitfield

[philip56]

Hi.

I'm trying to install a copy of my established site on a local server to use as a "test bed". Apache is running successfully on my Windows PC. I naively thought that all I had to do was install a file backup of my live site on the local server, tweak the two configure files and off I would go! However browsing to http://l o c a l h o s t/ t e s t s i t e / just gives a listing of files and folders in /testsite/. Browsing to a specific page such as shipping gives an error 404 - The requested URL /testsite/zc_install/index.php was not found on this server.

What else do I need to do?

Also where in the structure do I put the database?

Regards

Philip

[Vger]

You need to go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and ste up a new blank database, and then use the Import tab to browse to a backup of your online db on your PC and Import it.

Then you need to reset the two configure.php files correctly for your local install, with the correct db name, db user name and password etc.

Vger

[philip56]

Thanks Vger. I'm in the process of installing phpmyadmin at the moment.

Am I on the right track with the fileset?

Philip

[Vger]

If you had installed XAMPP then you would have phpMyAdmin and everything else all set up at one go.

With regard to the fileset - you download a backup of your websites folders and files to a folder on your PC, call that folder 'testsite' if you wish, and then drop that folder into the 'htdocs' or 'webpages' folder which your server install uses as its base directory.

After installing phpMyAdmin you will need to shut down and reboot your PC before the login to phpMyAdmin will work.

Vger

[philip56]

Thanks for your help Vger.

Philip