Do you ever wish you could inch away from IIS and migrate towards Apache on Linux or some other UNIX operating system? Well, in this article we will install Apache on our NT server. Another advantage to using Apache is it is a cool way to get a full fledged web server on your workstation. We’ll be wusses and grab the binary from: http://httpd.apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/

A good place to start for info on the Win32 version of Apache is: http://www.apache.org/docs/windows.html
We’ll do a quick and dirty install here. Note that this version is not quite ready for prime time. But, it can get you used to how Apache works as you prepare for migration.

Make sure that your full host name is entered on the DNS tab on Microsoft TCP/IP Properties. Both the Host Name and the Domain need entries or Apache will not start correctly. After you run the executable and do an install, change into the apache directory and run apache:

C:Program FilesApache GroupApache>apache
Apache/1.3.12 (Win32) running...

Go to another workstation and browse to your server, and you should see this.

If you enter netstat on the server:

C:>netstat

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP krull:80 DIVINE:2329 ESTABLISHED

So, we can see that Apache is listening on port 80 on krull.

Type a ctrl-c in the window you are running Apache in, and select “start>programs>Apache web server>Install Apache as a Service” if you want to have Apache start with the server.