Starting Out... Need Information 3

[FLASHfreak1021]

Hey Everyone
Over the months of developing my website, I soon figured out how much free webservices sucked! So, I said to myself, why not create your own webserver. But, unfortunatly, I don't know where to start. How unsafe is running apache on a DSL connection? Hackers, crackers, viruses oh my! Does apache come with a firewall? Ahhhhhhhhhh! All these little unanswered questions in my head.
Well, any reply would be helpful
Thanx,
FLASHfreak

 

[RhythmAce]

If security is a major issue, then Windows would not be a platform of choice. Your best bet it to get your hands on an older box and install linux on it. Most linux distros come with everything you need to setup all your servers including web, mail, telnet, and ftp. Since most linux software is open source, that means it's free. You can pay for boxed sets but then you are just paying for the media and support. If you are not willing to go this route, You can get windows versions of what you need online. For your webserver to be of much use, you will want at least these packages: apache, MySQL, php and perl, sometimes refered to as LAMP for linux and WAMP for Windows. Here is a list of where you may want to get these:

http://www.apache.org

http://www.php.net

http://www.mysql.com

http://www.cpan.org

In all cases, be sure to get the correct one for your OS. If the joy of learning how to get these to work together is not your bag, there are a couple projects that have put packages together for you. You can find them here:

http://www.firepages.com.au

http://www.devside.net

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Thanks a lot!

But, what about name servers?
Soemone told me to get on the web myself instead of getting a free host. Does apache come with one, or do you need to enter in an IP?

 

[RhythmAce]

DNS servers point a domain name to an ip. You can use a made up name. You have to pay to have your name registered. When you register your domain name, you will be asked for 2 dns servers. Some registrars will let you use theres. This is usually fine unless you have a dynamic ip (one that changes from time to time). If your ip changes, then you have to change your dns record(s). Most of the time the changes will take up to 72 hours to propagate. This is not good if you are running a busy webserver or mail server. If you ip changes all the time, you may want to look into a dns pointer service such as dyndns, noip or dns2go. If your ip only changes every few months, you may want to look into a service called Zone Edit. Here are a couple addresses you maybe interested in. I mean, in which you may be interested.

http://www.godaddy.com

http://www.zoneedit.com

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Is there any way I could register a free domain name or something?

 

[siberian]

No, you must always pay to register a domain.

Fortunately companies like godaddy.com will do it for $9.

 

[RhythmAce]

You can get a sub-domain name from one of the dns pointer services I mentioned but it will look kinda funky:

http://mydomain.theirdomain.net.

C'mon man. Don't be so cheap. We're talking eight bucks a year.

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Yea, you're right! I thought it would be more expensive than that... Man, It is such a pain installing Apache, then PHP, the MySQL... I am having trouble installing PHP 4.2.0 to Apache 2.x. Con someone give me some documentation on how to do this or something? Please? I havn't even got PHP running yet!

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

And, how do you uninstall apache? Because I want to install one of those altogether packages someone mentioned at the top, and it says to uninstall any previosly installed apache software. It doesn't come with an uninstall!

 

[siberian]

Under windows you should be able to use the Add/Remove programs to uninstall.

 

[RhythmAce]

If you installed apache as a service where you used a command like "apache -k install" , then you need to uninstall the service before removing the software. "apache -k uninstall". You may also need to edit your "path" in autoexec.bat. Other than that, you should just make sure nothing is running and delete the files and directories.

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Thanks guys! Now, for the next question...
How can I figure out my IP address? Its something like [c ode]ipconf[/code] in the command prompt, but I don't remember. I need to test out my apache server from a remote system.

 

[siberian]

ipconfig /all

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Ok, I just installed one of those project packages above, and Apache/PHP/MySQL are working awesome. Now, on to the next step. How do I make my site public? Is it somewhere in the httpd.conf file? I just want to make it so if you type in "123.45.67.89" or whatever my computers IP is, that you will get my index.php page. I'm really sorry if I am annoying you guys, but since I just bought Flash MX 2004, my budget is kind of low, so I can't afford even $5 a month for a hosting company right now (surprised I can afford my DSL!). And I thought I was Getting Macromedia Director also! There programs are way too expensive... By the way, I am on a home network using a linksys router, will I need to change the port configuration for people to access my website? Thanks for any replies, waiting anxiosly for some to come!

 

[RhythmAce]

If your router is acting as a dhcp server, you will need to give your server an ip ouside the range dhcp uses. You will need to assign a static ip to the server then forward all http traffic to that ip. Apache should already be setup to listen for all addresses on port 80. For ServerName in httpd.conf, use localhost or the hostname of the machine. If you use the machine's hostname, then users will be able to access the webserver from your network by typing the server's hostname in their browser's location bar. From the local machine, you would use localhost.

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

So, if I register a domain on godaddy.com, like theflashexperience.com, and under httpd.conf in the "ServerName" line, replace localhost with theflashexperience.com? And with the router, in the advanced settings, it has an IP filter? Before I touch it. is this what I need to tinkle with?

 

[RhythmAce]

On the ServerName issue, you are correct. Some people also use the the ServerAlias directive and put

http://www.domainname

there. On the router issue, I can only speak in generalities because I was born good lookin' rather than rich. I can't afford a linksys. You should have a way to forward port traffic. For example, all http traffic will come into your router on its public ip. The router in turn, will forward the http request to an ip of your choosing. Apache is listening on port 80 so when a request comes in on that port, it will handle the request. Likewise, if you were running a mail server. SMTP traffic would be forwarded to that ip on port 25 and POP3 on port 110.

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Oh, ok, I get it now. I found out how to use "port forwarding" on my linksys router. Onto the last thing before my site is all set up. How can I find out what the IP that I type into the browser for my website to come up is? And also, if I post my site on the web, how prone to hackers am I? I read somewhere that there are 65,800 ports on your computer. When I get an http request, it opens port 80, which leads it to only a certain folder on my computer. Is my full C:/ drive hackable if I do it this way? Thanks for helping me along so far!

 

[siberian]

GO here to get your IP address:

http://www.whatismyipaddress.com/

If your webserver is properly configured you are secure, port 80 is only 1 of the 65000+ ports.

 

[FLASHfreak1021]

Are there programs for dynamicly changing ip addresses?