How To Install WordPress Locally Using XAMPP

A local web server is a server running locally on a computer. Through a local server, you can conduct unlimited tests on a website before it goes live or gets deployed on a live production server.

XAMPP, WAMP, MAMP, and LAMP are well-known stacks that work well with PHP-based content management systems like WordPress. Please note their differences below:

• XAMPP is a free and open-source cross-platform web server solution stack package developed by Apache Friends, consisting mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MariaDB database, and interpreters for scripts written in the PHP and Perl programming languages. It works on Windows, Linux, and macOS. XAMPP is our recommended stack. 
• WAMP or WampServer refers to a software stack for the Microsoft Windows operating system, created by Romain Bourdon and consisting of the Apache web server, OpenSSL for SSL support, MySQL database and PHP programming language.
• MAMP is a solution stack composed of free and open-source software running with proprietary commercial software, to run dynamic web sites on computers running macOS or Windows.
• LAMP is an archetypal model of web service stacks, named as an acronym of the names of its original four open-source components: the Linux operating system, the Apache HTTP Server, the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), and the PHP programming language. As the name implies, LAMP is intended only for Linux users.
  

​How To Install XAMPP On Windows? 

To begin your quest, visit the official ApacheFriends.org website to download the latest version of XAMPP. Choose your right operating system from the list then click download.

• Step 1 - After downloading the file, click the XAMPP setup file for installation. Run it as an administrator.

• Step 2 - If a warning pops up, all you need to do is click the OK button. The message is only asking permission to perform the right administrative tasks since you are running the XAMPP installation.

• Step 3 - Click the Next button on the welcome prompt.

• Step 4 - Several components can be installed along with XAMPP. It is recommended to keep the default options and click the Next button.
  

• Step 5 - Select the folder of your choice to install the server settings. Hit the OK button or keep the default folder then click Next.

• Step 6 - Uncheck the option of “Learn more about Bitnami for XAMPP”. You can keep it if you wish to learn more about Bitnami. 

• Step 7 - Click the Next button to begin the installation process.

• Step 8 - The firewall may ask for permission whether you want to unblock the server. You have to allow access for XAMPP to work. 

• Step 9 - Click the Finish button.

• Step 10 - Select a suitable language and save.

• Step 11 - The main control panel will launch for any further configurations you may need.

​How To Run XAMPP On Windows? 

• Step 1 - The XAMPP control panel has three main sections. Find Modules to check its elements. On the left side of Apache and MySQL you can press "start" to run them. You are free to choose whether you want to start other components or not depending on your requirements. 

• Step 2 - Choose "config" to configure which components you want to launch each time you are starting XAMPP on desktop. Click Save when done.

• Step 3 - If you want to check activities of which services have current access to TCP then click "Netstart".

​How To Install XAMPP On Linux? 

Start by going to ApacheFriends.org official website to download the latest version of XAMPP for Linux.

• Step 1 - After downloading the file, click on it to start the installation process. 

• Step 2 - Open the Terminal program that you are using on your Linux system.

• Step 3 - Navigate to the directory where you have downloaded the file. You can navigate using the "cd" command on your terminal. 

• Step 4 - Make the file executable by typing chmod +x followed by the file name then press Enter. Please note that some file managers under Linux allows you to make any file executable without using the terminal.

• Step 5 - Execute the file as administrator or use the "sudo" command in your terminal. Enter your password to grant permission and start the installation process.

• Step 7 - Follow the on-screen instructions and continue with your installation.

• Step 8 - Uncheck the option to “Launch XAMPP” then press the Finish button. Afterward, the installation window will close and XAMPP will be ready to run.

​How To Run XAMPP On Linux?​

• Step 1 - Launch your Terminal Emulator program.

• Step 2 - Use the cd command to navigate to the /opt/lampp directory.

• Step 3 - Enter the following command to start up XAMPP:
  sudo ./manager-linux-x64.run

• Step 4 - Enter your password when asked.

• Step 5 - Find the "Manage Servers" tab and click on it.

• Step 6 - Turn on the Apache Web Server. Then click the "Start All" button to activate all components of XAMPP.

• Step 7 - Open your web browser then type 127.0.0.1 or localhost. Your XAMPP stack should be ready in operational mode.

How To Install XAMPP On macOS? 

Similar to other operating systems, you have to download the right installation file from the official ApacheFriends.org website. Choose your preferred version and download it to your machine.

• Step 1 - Download XAMPP for macOS.

• Step 2 - After downloading the file, open it then select the XAMPP icon to continue.

• Step 3 - Follow the on-screen instructions by clicking Next.  

• Step 4 - A list of components to be included during installation will be shown. Make sure to select both XAMPP Core Files and XAMPP Developer Files then click Next.

• Step 5 - Uncheck the option “Learn more about Bitnami for XAMPP” if it is not relevant in your case then proceed ahead.

• Step 6 - Once the installation is complete click Finish. You will also have the choice to tick the “Launch XAMPP” option in order to start XAMPP directly after the installation.

​How To Run XAMPP On macOS? 

Step 1 - Find the XAMPP folder on your Dashboard and open it. 

Step 2 - The application manager will ask for your password. Enter the password and proceed.

Step 3 - Look for "Manage Servers" and view its options. 

Step 4 - Press the "Start All" button. An alert window may popup asking for a permission for connectivity. Click "Allow" to proceed.

Step 5 - Once everything is running, open your browser and type in the address bar the following: Localhost/dashboard

> If everything is working well, you should be able to see the page loading properly with all the information about XAMPP.

How To Download & Install WordPress Locally? 

Step 1 - Visit the WordPress.org website and download the latest version of WordPress.

Alternative Method: There is also a Bitnami WordPress Stack for installing WordPress on all operating systems.

Step 2 - Go to the XAMPP file location where you installed it. Access the htdocs then create a new folder. On some systems, you need root permission to create folders. The folder name will serve as the name of your local site. For example if the name is "mysite", then the local address for accessing it will be: localhost/mysite

Step 3 - Extract the WordPress (.zip) file inside the newly created folder inside htdocs.

Step 4 - Finally, open your web browser and enter the URL (which is localhost/mysite in our example above) to load the WordPress installer. Follow the on-screen instructions and your WordPress installation should be ready in few minutes.

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Last but not least, you might also be interested to check our complete guide for increasing your WordPress memory and system limits. You can view it by clicking here. This will be beneficial in both local and live WordPress installations.