Installing Apache for Windows is a simple task, due in great part to the installation wizard distributed by the Apache Group. While running any web server on a Windows operating system is not as fast, stable, or secure as running a web server on a Linux/Unix machine. However, installing and configuring a development web server on a Windows-based operating system is perfectly acceptable, and is how most users get their start.

To download the Apache distribution for Windows, start at the Apache Server website, http://httpd.apache.org/, and follow the Download link. As of this writing, the current version is 2.0.49, so the file used as an example throughout this section is apache_2.0.49- win32-x86-no_ssl.msi. Once you have downloaded the installation file to your hard drive, double-click the file called apache_2.0.49-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi to start the installation wizard.

Note: When you are ask how to run Apache, choose the Run as Service for All Users radio button.

To run a basic test before moving forward to configuring your server, choose Program Files, Apache HTTP Server 2.0.49, Configure Apache Server, Test Configuration from the Windows Start menu. This will launch a console window showing a successful installation.

Configuring Apache on Windows
The master configuration file for Apache is called httpd.conf, and it lives in the conf directory, within the Apache installation directory. So if your installation directory is C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\, the httpd.conf file will be in C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\.

Two values you usually want to change are the listen on port and the document root.

#Listen 12.34.56.78:80
Listen 8080
ServerName localhost:8080

By default Apache is installed to listen of default HTTP port 80. However, your Windows might has IIS (Internet Information Server) installed and takes that port already. The alternative port other developers love to use is 8080, like what I configured for my Apache.

DocumentRoot "D:/projects/www"

By default, the document root where we will serve data for web client is Path_to_apache/htdocs. You may want to change it to an easier to access location on your development environment. Remember that Apache protect your hard drive data from web user, thus you have to change the permission for users to access your new DocumentRoot.

</directory><directory "D:/projects/www">
#
# Possible values for the Options directive are "None", "All",
# or any combination of:
#   Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks SymLinksifOwnerMatch ExecCGI MultiViews
#
# Note that "MultiViews" must be named *explicitly* --- "Options All"
# doesn't give it to you.
#
# The Options directive is both complicated and important.  Please see
# http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#options
# for more information.
#
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI

#
# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
# It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
#   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
#
AllowOverride All

#
# Controls who can get stuff from this server.
#
Order allow,deny
Allow from all

</directory>

Restart your apache so that your new configuration can take effect. Now, you can test connect to Apache web server from web browser.

http://localhost OR
http://localhost:8080 if you modify port that Apache listen.