Local server setup

A local server provides a pivotal role for most developers. It allows development and testing on a local machine without the concerns of a consistent Internet connection, the worry of creating temporary security holes, or the bother of constantly uploading files via FTP. Setup can be difficult, but it is a necessary foundation for your development environment.

There are two main approaches you can take for setting this up. One option is to manually install Apache, MySQL, PHP, etc and configure it yourself. The other option is to do it automatically using a special package.

The solutions are different for each operating system so read on...