Technical Notes

Installation of Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin on a MacBook Pro 2023

2024-03-10

Here's how I managed to install Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin on a MacBook Pro 2023 (Apple M2).

Installation of Homebrew

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

xcode-select --install
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
brew doctor

Adding local domains to /etc/hosts

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

cd /etc
sudo cp hosts hosts_bak
sudo nano hosts

In the /etc/hosts file, add the following local domains:

127.0.0.1    macbp01.local
127.0.0.1    macbp02.local

Save the /etc/hosts file and clear the cache:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Installing and configuring Apache and PHP (step 1)

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

sudo apachectl stop
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist 2>/dev/null
brew install httpd
brew install php
brew services start httpd
which apachectl
sudo apachectl -k start
php --version

From your browser, enter the following URL to check the proper functioning of Apache:

http://localhost:8080

Installing and configuring Apache and PHP (step 2)

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

sudo apachectl -k stop
cd /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd
cp httpd.conf httpd_bak.conf
nano httpd.conf

Edit the httpd.conf file as follows.

Search for:

Listen 8080
User _www
Group _www

Replace with:

Listen 80
User myusername
Group staff

Uncomment the following directives:

Include /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
LoadModule rewrite_module lib/httpd/modules/mod_rewrite.so

Add the following directives at the end of the file:

LoadModule php_module /opt/homebrew/opt/php/lib/httpd/modules/libphp.so
Include /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/extra/httpd-php.conf

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

cd /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/extra
nano httpd-php.conf

In the httpd-php.conf file, integrate the following directives:

<IfModule php_module> <FilesMatch \.php$> SetHandler application/x-httpd-php </FilesMatch> <IfModule dir_module> DirectoryIndex index.html index.php </IfModule> </IfModule>

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

cd /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/extra
cp httpd-vhosts.conf httpd-vhosts_bak.conf
nano httpd-vhosts.conf

In the httpd-vhosts.conf file, add the following virtual hosts:

<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName macbp01.local ServerAdmin webmaster@macbp01.local DocumentRoot /Users/myusername/WebServers/macbp01/ ErrorLog "/opt/homebrew/var/log/httpd/macbp01.local-error_log" CustomLog "/opt/homebrew/var/log/httpd/macbp01.local-access_log" common <Directory /Users/myusername/WebServers/macbp01/ > Options Indexes FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All Require all granted </Directory> </VirtualHost> <VirtualHost *:80> ServerName macbp02.local ServerAdmin webmaster@macbp02.local DocumentRoot /Users/myusername/WebServers/macbp02/ ErrorLog "/opt/homebrew/var/log/httpd/macbp02.local-error_log" CustomLog "/opt/homebrew/var/log/httpd/macbp02.local-access_log" common <Directory /Users/myusername/WebServers/macbp02/ > Options Indexes FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All Require all granted </Directory> </VirtualHost>

If you eventually have to manage a project that takes up a lot of disk space, you could configure a virtual host (macbp02.local) from an external disk.

Start the Apache server:

sudo apachectl -k start

From the browser, enter the following URL addresses to check the proper functioning of Apache and PHP:

http://192.168.50.105
http://macbp01.local
http://macbp02.local

Installing MySQL

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

brew install mysql
brew services start mysql
mysql --version

Test the correct functioning of MySQL:

mysql -u root

In MySQL, create a new user:

CREATE USER 'myusername'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'myusername'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Installing phpMyAdmin

From the terminal, enter the following commands:

brew install phpmyadmin

Create a phpMyAdmin configuration file.

nano /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/extra/phpmyadmin.conf

In the phpmyadmin.conf file, integrate the following code:

Alias /phpmyadmin /opt/homebrew/share/phpmyadmin <Directory /opt/homebrew/share/phpmyadmin/> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride All <IfModule mod_authz_core.c> Require all granted </IfModule> <IfModule !mod_authz_core.c> Order allow,deny Allow from all </IfModule> </Directory>

Open the httpd.conf file.

nano /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/httpd.conf

Add the following directive to the end of the file.

Include /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/extra/phpmyadmin.conf

Restart the Apache server:

sudo apachectl -k restart

From the browser, enter the following URL address to check the proper functioning of phpMyAdmin:

http://localhost/phpmyadmin/