OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 Set Apache and PHP Web-Server

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I am using Apple OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 on my Macbook pro. For my school project I need to write an app in PHP 5 and Apache. However, I am unable to find the Web Sharing option from the Sharing panel in System Preferences. How do I install Apache and PHP5 in OS X version 10.8.4? How do I enable HTTPD and test my web app?

Apple removed the web-sharing option from the Sharing panel in System Preferences in OS X version 10.8.x. But worry not, Apple still ships Apache+PHP5 and it is disabled by default for security reasons. In this tutorial, you will learn how to enable and run Apache server with PHP 5.

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Configuration files

  1. Apache configuration file – /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
  2. PHP 5 configuration file – /etc/php.ini

Finding default Apache DocumentRoot

Open the Terminal and type the following command:

grep --color DocumentRoot /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

OR

grep --color '^DocumentRoot' /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

Sample outputs:

DocumentRoot "/Library/WebServer/Documents"

You need to store or create php/html/images/js/css app files at DocumentRoot i.e. /Library/WebServer/Documents directory.

How do I start / stop / restart Apache server?

Type the following command to start / stop / restart apache web-server in OS X:

sudo apachectl start
sudo apachectl stop
sudo apachectl restart
sudo apachectl graceful

Test your setup

Fire a browser and type url:
http://127.0.0.1/
OR
http://localhost/
OR
http://ip-address-of-your-mac-os-x/
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Running Apache for the first time
Fig.01: Running Apache for the first time

How do I change the default index.html?

Type the following command to create or edit the index.html file:
sudo vi /Library/WebServer/Documents/index.html
Sample code:

<html>
<head>
	<title>My first html page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hi, User</h2>
<p>This is a test web-page. It was created on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion using the following:</p>
<ol>
	<li>Vim text editor</li>
	<li>Apache 2.x</li>
	<li>PHP 5.x</li>
	<li>Gimp</li>
</ol>
<hr>
<center>
	<small>&copy; 2013 nixCraft.</small>
</center>
</body>
</html>

Save and close the file. Fire a browser and type url:
http://127.0.0.1/
Sample outputs:

Fig.02: Updated index.html file
Fig.02: Updated index.html file

Configure and Turn on PHP 5 support for Apache

Edit the file /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
sudo vi /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
OR better try vi/vim syntax to open file and go to line called php5_module:
sudo vi +/php5_module /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
Find and make sure the following line is uncommented:

LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so

Sample outputs:

Fig.03: Enabling php5
Fig.03: Enabling php5

Type the following command to restart apache web-server in OS X:
sudo apachectl -k restart
OR
sudo apachectl restart
Create a test php script as follows:
sudo vi /Library/WebServer/Documents/phpinfo.php
Add the following code:

<?php
 //Display the configuration info, line, php.ini location, build date, Web Server, System, Version and more.
 phpinfo(INFO_GENERAL);
?>

Type the following url:
http://localhost/phpinfo.php
Sample outputs:

Fig.04: Testing PHP 5 in OS X v10.8.x
Fig.04: Testing PHP 5 in OS X v10.8.x

How do I start/reload Apache on boot?

Make sure Apache+PHP5 get reloaded when you reboot the system:
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

And, there you have it, the Apache and PHP 5 installed, configured and working correctly on the latest version of Mac OS X 10.8.

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Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

7 comment

  1. The better option is to install a virtualization product and run your development code there. I would check out virtualbox and vagrant.

  3. Hi, I have been struggling for a while trying to configure my MAMP, I’ve work with Linux before and I manage to configure my LAMP pretty well. But MAC is ginving me a hard time. What I’ve could do so far is starting the apache serve although i dont know if the apache server I started is the one that i am seeing on my browser, that because when i go to localhost i see the It Works! message, but if i change the index.html in /Library/WebSever/Documents/ and reload the browser or open another browser and search the address localhost, I am still getting the same It Works message and not the one i’d change. I have try different browsers, clearing cache, incognito windows. I getting crazy here. I would appreciate some help

  4. Followed your tutorial exactly as written.
    However, when I run the url http://localhost/phpinfo.php all that displays is:

    Seems for some reason either Apache and/or my localhost are not executing the php code but just displaying the contents????

    Is a chmod required??
    Have thrashed a bit on this with no luck.

    Any thoughts???
    I am running Mac OS X 10.8.5 on a MacBook Pro.
    I am using Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox as browsers for testing.

    Thanks
    Michael

  5. Hey there,
    This worked well. There are a bunch of instructions out there for using PHP + Apache on Mac OS X with their default install libraries (or XCode or whatever installs it), and they all seem dated.

    This one worked perfectly. Very easy.

    Thanks!

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