WordPress, PHP, MySQL, Apache

1. It says “recommended” – not “required (Apache).
2. For some people it works even on IIS (without Apache).
[but do a search for IIS and Win server to be aware what is ahead of you]
3. Your “network tech” should know all the answers, otherwise he should work in another field ??

“Your ‘network tech’ should know all the answers, otherwise he should work in another field :)”

Thanks for the compliment. We get that all the time! ??

Because of that, i tend to have to do my own research so my projects aren’t shot down.

I don’t know why they wanted to make a big deal about Apache because I didn’t think it was required. It was not in the list of requirement. Nevertheless, i did do some research.

The following link explains how Apache and IIS could run together, so i’m assuming the two don’t typically work alongside each other.

https://www.prismix.com/blog/2006/06/running_apache_and_iis_6_toget.cfm

If Apache isn’t used, they might ask how much better is Apache is than if we didn’t use it.

I’m also trying to install WordPress on my laptop just to get familiar with it. They also don’t know what a blog is so i have to demonstrate what it is and why we need it.

The problem i am having is that i must stop IIS on my laptop with Win XP Pro. I don’t use it anyway, but Microsoft’s website says that it is a SEVERE task. If i ever wanted to use it again, would i have a hard time starting IIS again? I see the list under “What do you want IIS to do?” in the drop down menu. My main concern is what MS says below.

“Restarting or stopping IIS, or rebooting your Web server, is a severe action. When you restart the Internet service, all sessions connected to your Web server (including Internet, FTP, SMTP, and NNTP) are dropped. Any data held in Web applications is lost. All Internet sites are unavailable until Internet services are restarted. For this reason, you should avoid restarting, stopping, or rebooting your server if at all possible. For a list of features designed to improve IIS reliability and remedy the need to restart IIS, see Restarting IIS.”

I’m assuming that since I’m not using this anyway, all i have to do is restart it if and when i ever want to use IIS on my laptop.

Thanks very much!

I am not a server guru by any means… but I assume all that stuff MS is saying refers to the case IF and WHEN you are using your laptop as a server that can be accessed from the internet. This not being the case – I think you could just kill that IIS server.
I also have a local install on my Win PC, and I am using XAMPP > https://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html – it works very well. I test all my themes, tweaks, everything there first.
If you need more info about installing it:
https://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress/xampp/

You can have Apache running at the same time as IIS, with just a small config change to Apache.

The problem is that by default, both want to “listen” on the same “port”[1]. Changing this for IIS may be possible, but it’s likely to upset Windows, so it’s easier to change Apache.

In the Apache installation folder, you will find a “conf” folder, and in there you will find a file called “httpd.conf”. Edit this with your choice of text editor.

Look for a line beginning “listen”.

Think of a number other than 80 – 808 is one I use.

Change the line to read:

Listen 808

Save the file. Restart the Apache service.

You can now use websites running from Apache by using the port number in the URL, for instance:

https://localhost:808/wordpress

[1] If you’re familiar with the concepts of ports, you’ll understand why this won’t work. If you’re not, just accept that this is a Bad Thing