Installing Apache, MySQL, and PHP in OS X Maverick

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osx logoWith the new OS (Maverick 10.9), getting the AMP stack (Apache, MySQL, PHP) runnig is pretty much the same as it was in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8. This tutorial will go through the process of installing Apache, MySQL, PHP, and phpMyAdmin running on Maverick OS X.

If you had your local development already set up on OS X 10.8 and simply did an upgrade to 10.9, then your MySQL, Apache, and phpMyAdmin settings should all be good, you just need to enable PHP.

 

Apache Install and Setup

Apache is pre-installed in the OS and needs to be enabled via the command line - this needs to be done in Terminal which is found at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal

For those not familiar with the Terminal, it really isn't as intimidating as you may think, once launched you are faced with a command prompt waiting for your commands - just type/paste in a command and hit enter, some commands give you no response it just means the command is done, other commands give you feedback.
lets get to it....

to start it: sudo apachectl start

to stop it: sudo apachectl stop

to restart it: sudo apachectl restart

To find the Apache version: httpd -v

The version installed in OSX Mavericks is Apache/2.2.24

itworks

After starting Apache - test to see if the webserver is working in the browser, http://localhost you should see the "It Works!" text.

Setting up the Document Root

Document root is the location where the files are shared from the file system and is similar to the traditional names of 'public_html' and 'htdocs', OSX has historically had 2 web roots one at a system level and one at a user level - you can set both up or just run with one, the user level one allows multiple acounts to have their own web root whilst the system one is global for all users. It seems there is less effort from Apple in continuing with the user level one but it still can be set up with a couple of extra tweaks. It is easier to use the user level one as you don't have to keep on authenticating as an admin user.

System Level Web Root

The default system document root is still found at http://localhost/ and the files are located in the /Library/WeServer/Documents/ directory.

User Level Web Root

The other web root direcroty which is missing by default is the ~/Sites folder in the User account. You need to make a "Sites" folder at the root level of your account and then it will work. Upgrading from a previous OS X version preserves the Sites folder but removes the ability to web serve from it - this is where you need to add in a 'username.conf' file.

sites user folder osx mavericks

Create a Sites folder at the account root level

Check that you have a “username.conf” filed under: /etc/apache2/users/

If you don’t (very likely), then create one named by the short username of the account with the suffix .conf , it's location and permissions/ownership is best tackled by using the Terminal, the text editor 'vi' would be the best tool to deal with this. Open the Terminal application and follow the commands below, first one gets you to the right spot, 2nd one cracks open the text editor on the command line (swap 'username' with your account's shortname, if you don't know your account shortname type 'whoami' the Terminal prompt):

cd /etc/apache2/users
sudo vi username.conf

Then add the content below swapping in your 'username' in the code below:

<Directory "/Users/username/Sites/">
  Options Indexes MultiViews
  AllowOverride All
  Order allow,deny
  Allow from all
</Directory>

Permissions on the file should be:

-rw-r--r--  1  root wheel  298  Jun 28 16:47  username.conf

If not you need to change...

sudo chmod 644 username.conf

Restart Apache for the new file to be read: sudo apachectl restart

Then this user level document root will be viewable at: http://localhost/~username/

 


 

PHP Setup

PHP 5.4.17 is loaded in the latest preview of OSX 10.9 Mavericks and needs to be turned on by uncommenting a line in the httpd.conf file.

sudo vi /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

Search for 'php', this will land you on the right line, then uncomment the line (remove the #).  This is what the line should look like:

LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so

Save the file and reload apache: sudo apachectl restart

To see and test PHP, create a file in your document root and name it "phpinfo.php". Edit the file and put the following line in it:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Browse to the following page and you should see all the php information: http://localhost/phpinfo.php

 


 

Install/Setup MySQL

MySQL is not installed on OS X Maverick 10.9 by default and needs to be downloaded from the MySQL site. When downloading you don't have to sign up, look for the No thanks, Just take me to the downloads!.   Once downloaded, install the 3 complonents. You may need to adjust the Security and Privacy System Pref to allow installing of 3rd party apps because of the new security feature in Mountain Lion. To get around this without changing the global preferences (best) right click or command click the .pkg installer to bring up the contextual menu and select open, then you will get a warning, click Open.

mysql install osx mavericks

Install all 3 ...

  • mysql5.6.xxx.pkg
  • MySQLstartupitem.pkg
  • MySQLPrefPane

mysql prefernce pane osx mavericks

The first install is the MySQL software, the 2nd item allows MySQL to start when the Mac is booted, and the third is a Systems Preference that allows start/stop operation and setting of preferences.

You can start MySQL server from the System Preferences or via the command line.

start mysql

To start MySQL from the command line use: sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server start

To find out the MySQL version: /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -v  (type \q to exit)

After installation, in order to use mysql commands without typing the full path you need to add the mysql directory to your shell path. This is optional but does save some typing. This is done by appending the mysql directory onto shell path in the .bash_profile.  The following command will put the path at the end of the .bash_profile file.

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile

Set the MySQL root password

This password is not the same as the admin password for OS X, this is a unique password for the mysql root user. Use one and remember it.

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -u root password 'yourpassword'

User the single 'quotes' surrounding your password.

Fix the 2002 MySQL Socket error

MySQL and OS X do not agree on where the MySQL socket should be placed.  MySQL wants to see it in /tmp and OS X looks for it in /var/mysql. To fix this error, just create a sym link to the correct location.

sudo mkdir /var/mysql
sudo ln -s /tmp/mysql.sock /var/mysql/mysql.sock