The market of free products for self-creating sites and their testing is constantly replenished and supported by enthusiastic developers. Two such systems - Denwer and Joomla will be discussed in this article. All stages of installing Joomla on Denwer will be discussed in detail, as well as their setup and configuration.
Description of Denwer - a "gentleman's set" of a web developer
Denwer is a free software for installing on your local computer your own instance of a web server with all the features of real hosting.
The product is free and available for free download. It usually includes:
- Apache web server. Local instance of a real server used on hosting. It is he who is responsible for managing all site nodes and the interaction between them;
- MySQL server. Database management tool that allows you to quickly and conveniently handle stored values of both users and site settings;
- PHP5 interpreter. It is necessary for converting PHP-code into the necessary machine code, understandable to the server;
- phpmyadmin is a convenient database management tool.
Install Denwer on a computer
For security reasons, it is recommended to download the distribution kit from the official website. After starting, the installation process will begin. The first question will be asked to the user regarding the installation path. The default is C: \ WebServers. If you press Enter, then this value is saved.
Then it will be offered to choose a letter of a virtual disk on which the link to the installation folder will be placed for faster access. The next step will be the process of copying the necessary files for Denver.
First start of server configuration
After a successful installation, three icons will appear on the desktop:
- Start Denwer. Serves to launch all the necessary services.
- Restart Denwer. Restarts Denver.
- Stop Denwer. Stops the system.
Double-clicking on Start Denwer will launch all the services. Now you need to use any web browser. In the address bar you need to type localhost / denwer. A successful message will be notified about the successful installation with the heading “Hurray, it worked!”. This means that all services have been installed and are running.
Installing Joomla 3 on Denwer - A Detailed Guide
Joomla has long held a good position among content management systems. Largely due to its free distribution and open source code. At the moment, the third version has already been released. However, the previous ones can also be found on the Internet.
First you need a clean distribution of the latest version of Joomla. You need to download it only from the official site.
On the path C: \ WebServers \ home, you need to create a folder for the future site, for example mysite. It contains the www directory.
After downloading, you need to unzip the archive and put all the files and folders in the www directory located in mysite. Now you need to restart the server.
Before installing Joomla on Denwer, you need to create and prepare a database. The phpmyadmin tool built into Denver will help to do this. Going to it from the localhost main page, you need to turn to the "Databases" tab.
Here you will see the Create Database section and a field for the name. Create a name, click the "Create" button. Now the database is ready, you just need to remember its name - it will be needed in the future.
Starting the installation process of Joomla 3 on the local Denwer server
Now in the browser you need to type the address of the local site, in this case mysite.
The first step in installing Joomla on Denwer will open. It contains several fields that need to be filled:
- tongue. A drop-down menu will allow you to select the necessary localization of the site and the administrative panel;
- Name of the site;
- description. Represents a description for the entire site. Search engines are guided by it, therefore it is worthwhile to indicate in detail all the information about the resource;
- administrator e-mail;
- administrator login. The name by which the user will log into the Joomla admin panel;
- administrator password and confirmation;
- turn on the site. The options are yes or no. Allows you to immediately start viewing the site in real time.
The Next button will take you to the next step. It is called Database Configuration and contains the following fields:
- type of database. Almost always MySQLi is indicated;
- database server name. Here you need to install localhost;
- Username. Here you can specify the root value;
- password. The field can be left blank for now. In the future, when transferring the site to real hosting, it will need to be specified;
- database name. It has been specified in phpmyadmin;
- table prefix. Allows you to use multiple databases in one, focusing on this particular value. You can not change;
- actions with existing tables. You can leave the default value.
In the next window, you do not need to change anything, just click the "Install" button.
Final stage
The last stage of installing Joomla on Denwer will be marked with the message "Congratulations, you have installed Joomla!"
Now it remains to delete the directory with the installation files installation. This must be done in order to restrict the access of attackers to the site files. Installing Joomla 3 on Denwer can be considered complete! It remains to check everything and visit the administrative panel.
Site testing
On the last page of installing Joomla 3.3 on Denver, there are two buttons - the Site and the Control Panel. The first will lead to the newly created site and allow you to evaluate how it works and what it has. The second will open a window asking you to enter the administrator login and password. They were indicated during the installation of Joomla.
After entering his data, the user will be taken to the administrative control panel. In it, you can make the necessary settings, create the first material, change the template, configure modules and menus.
Conclusion
The article described in detail the step-by-step installation of Joomla 3 on Denwer. In fact, there is nothing complicated in it. The main thing is to follow the instructions and read what the system offers.
After installing these two free products, you can safely begin to create your own sites of almost any complexity. The Joomla community is quite large, the mass of various modules, plug-ins and components greatly simplify the life of the webmaster.
A bunch of Joomla + "Denver" will allow you to test the site on your PC, without affecting the main site on the hosting. For example, when adding a new feature or feature. After successfully running it on the local server, you can upload data to the remote one.
You can safely conduct a pentest (vulnerability check) without fear that it will cause real harm. Knowing the structure of your own database and file location, this will be quite simple.
It is worth saying a few words about the defense. By default, any site on Joomla has an entrance to the administrative panel at the address my_site / administrator. To avoid illegal visits by potential attackers, it is recommended to hide it. This can be done using special plugins and components. After their installation, the entrance to the admin panel will be available only at one address, known only to the administrator.