How to install XAMPP on Debian

XAMPP is a free and open source cross-platform web server package, consisting mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MySQL database, and interpreters for scripts written in the PHP and Perl programming languages.

The program is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License and acts as a free web server capable of serving dynamic pages. XAMPP is available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X, and is mainly used for web development projects.

Please keep in mind that these are the notes that I came up with when I was trying to figure this out for myself. If anyone finds any errors or a better way to do this just let me know, and I will add it to this guide.

Installing XAMPP

debian:~# wget http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/xampp/xampp-linux-1.6.5a.tar.gz

(command downloads XAMPP to the server)

(command extracts the downloaded archive file to /opt:)

Starting XAMPP

(Apache, PHP, MySQL, & ProFTPD will start)
Starting XAMPP for Linux 1.6.5a…
XAMPP: Starting Apache with SSL (and PHP5)…
XAMPP: Starting MySQL…
XAMPP: Starting ProFTPD…
XAMPP for Linux started.

Test XAMPP
Check to see if your installation was successful. Navigate to http://yourdomain.com. You should see the XAMPP splash page.

XAMPP Start Page

XAMPP Security
XAMPP is setup to be used in a development environment. The base configuration of XAMPP has NO SECURITY and should not be used as a live web server.

Missing security in XAMPP:

• The MySQL administrator (root) has no password.
• The MySQL daemon is accessible via network.
• ProFTPD uses the password “lampp” for user “nobody”.
• PhpMyAdmin is accessible via network.
• Examples are accessible via network.
• MySQL and Apache running under the same user (nobody).

To fix or close all these matters simply call

The command will start an interactive program.
XAMPP: Quick security check…
XAMPP: Your XAMPP pages are NOT secured by a password.
XAMPP: Do you want to set a password? [yes] yes
XAMPP: Password:
XAMPP: Password (again):
XAMPP: Password protection active. Please use ‘lampp’ as user name!
XAMPP: MySQL is accessable via network.
XAMPP: Normaly that’s not recommended. Do you want me to turn it off? [yes] yes
XAMPP: Turned off.
XAMPP: Stopping MySQL…
XAMPP: Starting MySQL…
XAMPP: The MySQL/phpMyAdmin user pma has no password set!!!
XAMPP: Do you want to set a password? [yes] yes
XAMPP: Password:
XAMPP: Password (again):
XAMPP: Setting new MySQL pma password.
XAMPP: Setting phpMyAdmin’s pma password to the new one.
XAMPP: MySQL has no root passwort set!!!
XAMPP: Do you want to set a password? [yes] yes
XAMPP: Write the password somewhere down to make sure you won’t forget it!!!
XAMPP: Password:
XAMPP: Password (again):
XAMPP: Setting new MySQL root password.
XAMPP: Change phpMyAdmin’s authentication method.
XAMPP: The FTP password is still set to ‘lampp’.
XAMPP: Do you want to change the password? [yes] yes
XAMPP: Password:
XAMPP: Password (again):
XAMPP: Reload ProFTPD…
XAMPP: Done.

Check the XAMPP Security page

Controlling XAMPP for Debian Linux

XAMPP Directories
/opt/lampp/bin/

Start XAMPP with this command

Stop XAMPP with this command:

Uninstall XAMPP with this command:

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