Okay so far. Find your favorite application in our catalog and launch it. Nice group of people. "Local" by Flywheel, is a great alternative. Ive recently started using Laragon for Windows. Ive been putting it off because I dread once again going through all the Homebrew scripts, conf file edits, virtual host setup, etc. One-click apps defaulting with WordPress, Drupal, and Laravel, but you can create more. I swear I read it somewhere, but that doesnt mean I was right. Or are they all just slow as molasses? Choose from 50 popular open source applications, including SugarCRM, Alfresco, Drupal, WordPress, Redmine, JasperServer, Joomla! The experience around this could be better. I normally use mamp but used local for first time recently and got some ajax errors pushing the theme to a remote server (database was OK), of course these errors may not be down to local could be plugins etc but just wondered if you knew of anything that might be a problem such as the way local stores the sites in a app folder? Is there anything else youd like to know more about when it comes to setting up your local development environment? MAMP is a pretty general-purpose offering and the free version doesnt package installers for WordPress or any other applications. It doesnt come with WP-CLI, but it is two steps to install and the it is available from any terminal window including phpStorms terminal. https://sridhar.blog/tag/valet/ https://sridharkatakam.com/browsersync-in-laravel-valet/, Loved the review, and more importantly your sense of humor (were all too serious sometimes). It was super easy, and worked. Select the XAMPP folder to install; Enter the desired login username and the newly-changed MySQL password (see above). Bitnami Cloud Images extend stack appliances to run in a cloud computing environment. Its really not a limit in that you can actually create as many sites as you want, but you ARE limited to the number of sites you can manage at one time. XAMPP also has SSL feature while WAMP doesnt. Ive run sfc scan now and dism.exe. Ive been using MAMP Pro for a number of years and have found it to be reliable, adequately configurable, and a bit slower than Local. Timely post as currently looking at different options. If you were to Bing installing a local WordPress, the results would most likely direct you to an XAMPP tutorial. SymLink is not working. Not only because Ive been using it for years and Im already entrenched, but also because I often need to access my dev sites via the CLI. I cant say enough nice things about Local. Select English : Setting up a site in Local usually takes 60-90 seconds for me, and using the site feels fast too. Take a look here at the ridiculously long, drawn-out process for installing XAMPP plus Wordpress on your machine. DesktopServer is super easy to use and gets you up and running with WordPress in a snap, but might be a little too basic for developers who need to test in different server environments. Add your name, email and login info you want for the blog. XAMPP installation is complicated but Bitnami offers instant results when installing WordPress locally. I also wanted to clear up what the "3 site" limit really is. However, with MAMP Pro, you get a package installer for WordPress (and other apps) which really makes it easy to create a site in seconds. WAMP provides support for MySQL and PHP. Following the same suite as XAMPP, DesktopServer doesnt allow you to switch between different PHP versions which makes it less interesting for me. Thanks for this post I thinks its sort of funny that Im reading this while in the background Migrate DB Pro is migrating stuff from a Local Im also so over this "by Flywheel" stuff to a MAMP Pro install. You also have to name things like databases, and answer questions relating to those names. Thats why the XAMPP tutorial is so darned long. Finding PHP installation path did confuse me, but if you open up Site shell and enter where php, it should point you to the right path. Ive always felt better running in a virtual environment outside of the mac ecosystem. The process isnt fun and its entirely possible to make mistakes. Platform-specific notes are included where necessary in the following sections. I started with MAMP a long time ago, then DesktopServer, then Pressmatic / Local. As a non masochist Ubuntu Linux user (#imwithian) I fart in your general direction! Have you tried running WP using Parallels Desktop VM? It has a bit of a load time, but after loading, it is the fastest local wordpress server of the various methods Ive tested. Timely reviews since Im looking for a dev environment for a couple of future projects. XAMPP stands for X-platform Apache MariaDB, PHP and Perl Its definitely the only local server that still touts Perl support as a major feature, so if you like to keep it TMTOWTDI, then this is definitely the one for you. Honestly, Im only withholding the last semicolon because I still have two more reviews to do and I dont want to have to refactor this highly intuitive rating system. I dont want to create a new website, I want to work on an existing one, that has a Git repository. Its like I am driving an easily controlled manual car now. Thanks for sharing that, Benjamin. These websites can all have unique domain names and can be customized by their owners, while sharing assets such as themes and plugins that are made available by the server admin. Some seeminly simple things like finding where PHP is installed on Local can melt you mindit took me 2 hours to set up VSCode to use Local on Windows. FYI There are also tabs for Manage Servers where you can see that MySQL and Apache are both running. Thx. Go to Database bitnami_wordpress then export as .sql then go. Back to Local, I guess. When Local came around I jumped and I have been very happy. What was the solution if you did? You can also configure different MySQL/PHP versions per site while creating it, with the option to download different versions. "Local by Flywheel" could not. Just upload the file to your WP site from the DASHBOARD. I was lucky enough to have a friend do my XAMP installation for me (hes an actual web developer). I first tried installing XAMPP under a new user on my Mac laptop. Im in total agreement with Guy about Desktop Server. Heres a taste of how easy it was for me to install it on my laptop. Get rid of your existing XAMPP installation and start fresh with the one Bitnami will install for you. Ignore this recommendation. You can probably chalk this up to MAMPs focus on the Mac platform because the installer looks and feels at home on MacOS. Its true that most of these things have workarounds, but the idea is to be efficient with time and thats our focus. Yeah, updates on MAMP Pro are always at least a bit stressful made worse by the fact that theyve been releasing quite a bit lately. Take a look here at the ridiculously long, drawn-out process for installing XAMPP plusWordpress on your machine. Meanwhile you can sit back and be glad youre not going through this part yourself, the way you would have to if you were installing via XAMPP. Then, youll be setting up your database, etcyou know the drill (and if you dont, refer to that tutorial link I gave you at the beginning of this section). It can be customized via a wide selection of themes, extensions and plug-ins. Interestingmany of you seem to recommend Laragon, I might give it a shot at some point. MAMP (free) is definitely easy to install and use, but will fall short for devs who need to set up multiple sites. kkkk. X - This is used because XAMPP is a cross-platform tool that can be used in conjunction with all major operating systems. Right before I renewed in 2016 they told me via Twitter that PHP version switching was on the roadmap for 4.x. Until recently, DesktopServer has been the only GUI-based local environment built specifically for WordPress developers. Instant WordPress. For example, with XAMP, you have to pick and choose which components you want to install, which means you have to know what they are. Download virtual machines or run your own wordpress server in the cloud. Sometimes upgrading from version to version can be a little challenging, things change with permissions and things like that between the versions, but Ive been happy with it. I am looking to create two database sites. . Setting up a new site in Local is quite quick and can be made even quicker by setting up a blueprint which essentially copies all files, databases, config files, and Local settings. I havent worked with Valet too much yet, but I think Im kind of put off by the zero-config aspect I want a little bit of config Let us know how you fare with Valet if you do make the switch! If you use HyperV on Win10, Windows virtualization suite (which is rock solid virtualization), you cant run Local and unfortunately Local just hangs on startup No error message, no progress, no log, it just hangs on the startup screen. Especially for non-technical people who rely on WordPress for their livelihood, Bitnami makes a ton of sense because its worlds easier than the alternatives. https://fishing-en.com/why-are-my-carp-dying/. Im a 65 year old web developer newbie. It seems more lightweight and was easy to add phpMyAdmin instead of the rather odd DB tool it shipped with. As a long-time MAMP Pro user, I do wish that DesktopServer had a better site management UI. Its just tough when something breaks, but they do have a really good community of people who can help. Thanks for the reply. WordPress packaged by Bitnami for Microsoft Azure. Windows is and always will be poorly supported for PHP development, because hardly anyone deploys PHP projects to Windows servers. But with so many approaches, wouldnt be nice to give Docker a try? You alsohave to name things like databases, and answer questions relating to those names. turning off antivirus, firewall, put it in airplane mode, turned off my backup, changed adjusting the minimum processor state, excluding xampp in Windows defender, changed the max_execution time on php.ini, but its still slow and even with Internet disabled and one drive sync turned off. While it does give you a couple of options for server environments (you can use Apache or Nginx, as well as select between a couple PHP and MySQL versions), it doesnt let you run multiple types of environments at the same time or do any of the legwork of setting up new sites for you. (more errors of this kind) (( change owner of /usr/local/opt )) Error: Directory not empty /usr/local/opt/php70 composer global require weprovide/valet-plus dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/libcrypto.1.0.0.dylib Referenced from: /usr/local/bin/php Reason: image not found Abort trap: 6 at which point I gave up and started deleting all the Homebrew stuff, again. I stand corrected. I started using Local (By Flywheel) a few months ago and like being able to easily match my local PHP version to my live one. I too use MAMP Pro myself, as well as Local for quick playgrounds. Then it launches the stack and you get five options, the first of which will be the one you want. Valet is something Im looking forward to trying in near future too, been hearing nice things about it. The default is to install phpMyAdmin, which is the admin panel you would use if you were going to go in an monkey with your WordPress database. If you do, youll getport conflicts as well as some MySQL errors. This time the server started up as expected. Ive been using Laragon for the past year on Windows and have been very impressed with it. Powerful yet simple, everyone from students to global corporations use it to build beautiful, functional websites. Installing WordPress on XAMPP is an easy task with Bitnami. Desktop Server runs under PHP5.5. As far as I can tell, DesktopServer bundles XAMPP and serves as an extension to the XAMPP server that automatically installs WordPress and handles creating virtual servers and hosts file entries for you automatically. Local by Flyweel is also a great tool. For a WordPress developer who doesnt want to fuss with too many settings, DesktopServer is a great option. It's a great resource for anyone who wants to get detailed info on branding, target audience, and goals from their new customers. Take a deep breath. System Requirements Bitnami XAMPP modules require either XAMPP or a Bitnami LAMP, MAMP or WAMP stack already installed. . I like to use WAMP Server for Windows because its easy to configure the advanced settings for the applications. I personally make use of WP-CLI on a daily basis and this is whats keeping me from switching to Local completely from MAMP Pro. I was so happy with DesktopServer and got so disappointed when their promised new version just never released. In the application password, you can select any new password and retype the same (note the login and application password). This is useful for developers but for writers not so much. In order to use hostnames other than //localhost, you have to dive into XAMPPs Apache config and define them yourself. I might do a review for Windows only applications soon, and Ill be sure to include WAMP in the process. The rest of the applications offer paid versions with more features. (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) Very helpful article. In case you were wondering, the stack consists of the following components: Now, if you werent using the Bitnami Stack, youd be installing each of those components separately. When ServerPress is asked when they intend to support modern PHP, they seem to skirt the issue and shut the conversation down, so it is clearly a bit of a sore point for them. Ive tried Local by Flywheel on my Mac, but Migrate DB Pro constantly errors for me with Local by Flywheel, which caused me to reluctantly move back to Desktop Server. Login as root + the password that you set on wordpress installation. You have to know to choose Apache, phpmyadmin, mySQL etc, which means installation is no walk in the park. Noties: WordPress will install phpmyadmin and Apache, therefor it will not need Xampp. You can do this via phpMyAdmin (easily accessible from MAMPs webstart page http://localhost), and then follow the normal WordPress install instructions. I first tried VVV but I found it to complicated for my requirements so I ended up creating a customised version of Scotch Box that suits my needs. I use DS, and I like it enough to speak well of it, but it irks me that you boast that the Premium version facilitates easy migration when a free plugin like All In One Migration does this brilliantly already so well, I cant imagine that any other method could better it lest they get it down to like 1 or 2 clicks or something. Advantages of WAMP: It is easy to Use. For MacOS, youll need to install WordPress directly in XAMPPs site directory as recently OS X native modules have been deprecated. The bitnami installer worked well enough. Sure git can sync /wp-content easily enough, but what about the db? I use VmWare with full stack servers running inside of some kind of Vagrant Box, usually an Ubuntu 16 (LTS) Bento Box. So we need something thats easy to use and will do most of the heavy lifting for us. Once the install was complete and I found the app that I needed to run (hint for users of Alfred/Spotlight as app launchers: its not called XAMPP, it is intuitively called Application Manager), I couldnt get the server to start up. Select your language now (default English). Not quite sure what all DesktopServer does behind the scenes but Local usually needs to update /etc/hosts file for the custom domains to work. Ive recently discovered Laragon for Window, which has taken all my problems away. I had been working with MAMP Pro for years, but wanted something that gave me more control and found a great post on setting up the whole gamut via Homebrew. I tried it a year ago but it was still too immature, now apparently they are releasing a 3.0 version (called Lando) so maybe its time to give it another try. Updates to all sites can be pushed at once, ensuring . Good info. I'd suggest you download and install xampp. please do not use Local. Nice to see mention of alternatives to Vagrant. The software is . I always thought that was overkill for WordPress dev. Do you want to configure email support? Ive been a long time user of MAMP Pro, but have had issues using it on Windows and clashing with antivirus software, so have set up Xampp on our PCs. In my research the main advice is SSD (of course) and Not Windows 10 because of bloatness and notorious for background services. The default is to install phpMyAdmin, which is the admin panel you would use if you were going to go in an monkey with your WordPress database. Flywheel was also recently acquired by WP Engine, so Local is now a WP Engine product. Uncheck this unless you want to learn about cloud hosting through Bitnami. At minimum, look into Laravel Valet , Composer , and Bedrock . It has a GUI for installing WordPress as well as lots of other software. Then select which folder you want to install it in, or leave it at the default (Programs). We have another complete article covering Laravel Valet, VVV ( Vagrant), Chassis, etc. I love the ease of use of Local, but find it occasionally slow. Maybe its because Im used to a more app-based approach but it took me a bit to realize that most of XAMPPs interface exists as a web app on localhost. https://github.com/jonathanbossenger/scotch-box I also prefer vagrant because it just works across any platform, including you poor souls who are forced to use Mac. Reading your MAMP Pro "slow as molasses" aside as well as the comments here, Im half way inclined to try Laravel Valet again, despite the ridiculously incontrollable amount of stuff that gets installed by Homebrew and Composer, and some rather mysterious errors and white screens I had when last testing it. This (Windoze & 3rd party workarounds) are probably exactly the reason that there are "some kind of Linux users". Otherwise, Id have been lost at sea. MAMP Pro, on the other hand, does all of this and more via an easy-to-use, albeit ugly, native application. Not really problematic, and less hassle than chasing down the components and installing them manually. Thanks for the rundown, Id gone from WAMP, to XAMPP, to MAMP, to VirtualBox, to Vagrant/VB, to Docker, and now Homebrew services (nginx, mariadb, php) on my mac has been pretty turnkey for getting all these things running. Step 1: Install WordPress using the Bitnami WordPress Stack Thats OK, so hit next. Ive always found using a Vagrant box to be the best option for an as close as possible to an actual server set up. You should then be able to visit that local wordpress files by typing http://localhost into your browser. MAMP Pro also provides Python, Perl, and Ruby via the command line. I also enjoy being able to switch PHP versions on the fly when necessary and not having to pay for MAMP PRO. ;;; ; ; (3/5 semicolons) Step 3: Add the WordPress files. Notice how wonderfully short it is. I only use Windows at Home and use Mac at the Office. The default installations of Bitnami and XAMPP on the same computer will cause some conflict between the two, unless special care is taken to address this. DS keeps promising a patch, even an update. Thanks for the Mamp mysql warning. I knew there are always some good comments after a review. The best dev environment available for Windows today is Ubuntu on Windows, free for Win 10 by Microsoft. Ive been using AMPPS for years. It consists mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MariaDB database, and interpreters for scripts written in the PHP and Perl programming languages. No more cowboy coding . Its a Docker environment working on Mac, Linux & Windows. Thanks for the reviews! Sandbox. http://downloads2.mamp.info/MAMP-PRO-WINDOWS/releases/3.3.1/MAMP_MAMP_PRO_3.3.1.exe. You cant use anything above PHP 8.0.0 (they have been promising an update for a long time), if on windows using Apache you must have it installed on drive C, and any sites you add must be on Drive C for it to work. Most of all though, you shouldnt have to be a sysadmin in order to be able to spin up, maintain, and tear down development environments on your local server. Im a big fan of this Docker setup: https://github.com/10up/wp-local-docker/ You just check it out a copy for you project, do "docker-compose up", and you very quickly have WordPress running at localhost. Agreed, excellent rundown however Im running the same setup as smcrtv. So many choices! Activate the "All-In-One WP Migration" plugin. Definitely worth exploring if you are using Windows no Mac or Linux version available. Im beginning to think that this installation section is a bit superfluous as the install process for DesktopServer is pretty much the same as MAMP or XAMPP. and many more. Actually, I started installing Valet (Plus) right away. Bitnami WordPress Stack. In this #tutorial walk you through installation of #wordpress on your local computer with the Bitnami #WordPress Stack and #XAMPP. The plugin I made to the fish site works fine, I worked with mysql Their features and supported versions of software are at least worth to look at. This setup has actually made me better at understanding the complexities of the server and therefore helped me in my development path.