Question about PHP

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is the right place so mods feel free to move if required.

I have been asked at work to look into setting up an apache / tomcat / php server. Tomcat I know about, apache I've heard of and the only exposure to PHP I have is here.

Can anyone point me to a resource describing how to set up the above?

Thanks,

Michael.

Michael, The documentation which comes with the PHP distro is very good and goes into setting it up in a wide variety of environments. Goto www.php.net download the latest distro and check out the documents. You'll have no trouble with it

BTW what O/S will the server run on?

Tomcat and PHP are very different beasts.

Tomcat is a web server which can serve Java based web apps. PHP is a language which can be served by something like the Apache web server.

Basically, the first thing you have to do is decide is whether you're going the Java route or the PHP route.

If you go Java then Tomcat is a good choice of server. It's often a good idea to stick Apache in front of it using something like ModJK because running Apache on the standard web port requires giving it full administrator/root access and that's no so wise.

If you choose PHP then you'll have an easier time of things. You can get something called WAMP which basically gives you a fully functional PHP stack for Windows. It gives you Apache, MySQL and PHP with just a single installer. There is also a version for the Mac called MAMP. If you run Linux then you'll basically get LAMP (Linux Apache Mysql & PHP).

Either way, the skills and resources required for a Java solution are very different to those required for a PHP solution.

Good luck!

Bart.

Thanks guys.

Dave:
No platform has been decided on yet but it will probably be linux of some sort on a PC platform.

Bart:
We will have to run both java and PHP. Do you know if this will cause problems?

Thanks,

Michael.

Bart:
We will have to run both java and PHP. Do you know if this will cause problems?

Nope, not at all.

In that case my advice would be to install apache and PHP in the normal way for what ever version of Linux you choose to use, i.e. using the relevant package management system so you can keep it all up to date, VITAL for PHP for security reasons.

Then, make sure you are using Sun's JVM and not some third party one like GCJ. Then go ahead and install Tomcat and let it run on a high port like it's default 8080. Don't open this port up to anything but the local host and maybe some developer and test machines. Instead have Apache serve your Java content using Tomcat via a connector like ModJK. This means that you don't have to expose your users to funny ports like 8080, that there won't be any conflict between Apache and Tomcat and that you can server PHP and Java stuff off the one domain, and that you are only exposing Apache to attach which is good because it's a robust server.

I have this setup running on a number of machines and it works like a charm.

Bart.