How to start XAMPP and localhost project with one click

 

Let's clear basic idea first what is XAMPP and localhost in terms of computer and non computer knowledge.

XAMPP is a software package that contains Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl. It is commonly used to run web servers on a local machine for development and testing purposes.

Apache is a web server that is responsible for handling and routing incoming HTTP requests. It listens on a specific port (by default, port 80) and when it receives a request, it routes the request to the appropriate location on the local machine.

MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that is used to store and manage data for web applications. It runs on a separate port (by default, port 3306) and can be accessed by the web server (in this case Apache) to retrieve and store data.

PHP is a server-side scripting language that is used to create dynamic web pages. It is integrated with Apache and can be used to create web applications that interact with the MySQL database.

"localhost" is the domain name that refers to the localhost IP address (127.0.0.1) that is used to access the local machine. When you type "http://localhost" in a web browser, the browser sends a request to the local web server (Apache) on port 80. The web server then looks for the appropriate content to return to the browser.

When you set up a project on localhost, it means you're making that project available on your local machine for testing and development purposes. Instead of having to upload the files to a remote web server to test them, you can test the project on your local machine by accessing it through "http://localhost/<project_name>" in the browser.

In summary, XAMPP is a software package that allows you to run a web server on your local machine, with Apache handling incoming requests, MySQL managing data and PHP handling the dynamic content, when you access localhost, your browser sends request to Apache which then uses PHP and SQL to retrieve the data and display it on your browser.

 

So, Now Here comes the main deal of how we can run this project.

If we follow the above steps we have to whenever we need to run the project we have to start XAMPP as well since provides the main services to for the project.

So for window users there is one language which can be use to make this process more automated and easy to use on regular basis.

This will allow you to make project who don't want to run this on public hosting instead run only in local machine like you personalized application most of people might already know about the BATCH files.

 

A batch file is a type of script file that contains a series of commands that are executed in a specific order by the command prompt (cmd.exe) in Windows. The commands are typically used to automate repetitive or complex tasks, such as starting or stopping services, copying or moving files, and running other programs.

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Batch files have the file extension .bat or .cmd and can be created using a text editor such as Notepad. The commands in a batch file are written in a specific syntax, and each command is executed one after the other, in the order in which they appear in the file.

Some common commands used in batch files include:

• echo: displays a message on the screen
• dir: displays the contents of a directory
• copy: copies one or more files
• xcopy: copies files and directories, including subdirectories
• del: deletes one or more files
• start: starts a new program or opens a new window to run a program
• netstat: displays active network connections and their status
• tasklist and taskkill: displays or kills running tasks or processes
• if and goto: used for conditional statements and branching

 

Batch files can be used to automate a wide variety of tasks and can be scheduled to run at specific times using the Windows Task Scheduler. They are commonly used in system administration and can be used to perform repetitive tasks, such as backups, data processing and automated software installations. 

So, Following code and instruction may help you in this type of solutions which answers these following problems :

 

To do that follow these steps:- 

1.    Open a text editor (e.g. Notepad) and create a new file.

2.    At the top of the file, add the following line: @echo off. This will prevent the command prompt from displaying the commands as they are executed.

3.    Next, add a line to check if the XAMPP control panel is already running. You can use the tasklist command to check if the xampp-control.exe process is running, and the find command to check if the process is listed in the output of tasklist

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tasklist /fi "imagename eq xampp-control.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "xampp-control.exe">NUL

 

4.    If the XAMPP control panel is already running, you can stop all the XAMPP services using the xampp_stop.exe utility that comes with XAMPP by adding the following line:

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start /B "C:\xampp\xampp_stop.exe"

 

5.    Now you need to start the XAMPP control panel in a new window by adding the following line:

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start "" "C:\xampp\xampp-control.exe"

 

6.    If you want to open a browser with your localhost project you can use the start command again and add the url you want to open

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start "" "http://localhost/<project_name>"

 

7.    To close the command prompt window after the batch file has finished executing, you can add the following line:

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start /B exit

 

8.    Save the file with a .bat file extension, for example "startxampp.bat"

9.    Now you can double-click on the batch file to execute it. It will check if the XAMPP control panel is running and stop it if it is running, then it will start the XAMPP control panel and open the specified localhost project in the browser.

 

Note: Please keep in mind that this is just a basic example, and you can customize it to fit your specific needs.

 

To make it more usable I have created one sample below with more customizable.

Keep in mind the <rem > at what ever line you find that is just comment use in batch.

@echo off

rem Check if XAMPP control panel is already running

tasklist /fi "imagename eq xampp-control.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "xampp-control.exe">NUL

if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" (

    echo XAMPP control panel is already running

    rem Stop the running XAMPP control panel

    TASKKILL /F /IM xampp-control.exe

) else (

    echo XAMPP control panel is not running

)

rem Check if Apache is already running

netstat -ano | find ":80" > nul

if not errorlevel 1 (

    echo Apache is already running, Stopping the process

    TASKKILL /F /IM apache.exe

) else (

    echo Apache is not running

)

rem Check if MySQL is already running

netstat -ano | find ":3306" > nul

if not errorlevel 1 (

    echo MySQL is already running, Stopping the process

    TASKKILL /F /IM mysqld.exe

) else (

    echo MySQL is not running

)

rem Start the XAMPP control panel in silent mode

start "" "C:\xampp\xampp-control.exe"

rem Open the project URL in the browser

start "" "http://localhost/myproject"

rem Add a delay of 3 seconds to allow Apache to start

timeout /T 3

rem Close the command prompt window

start /B exit

That's all Now you can make any launchable file in offline either user know what software to run or not just like any other apps you can click and run the project as your personalized tool in offline server.

Follow the steps and create many other automation ideas using batch of your own.

Ex.

1.    Backup files and folders: Create a batch file that copies important files and folders to a backup location on a regular schedule. The batch file could include commands to compress the files and encrypt them for added security.

2.    Automate software installations: Create a batch file that installs a list of software programs on a new computer. This can include silent installations and configuration of the software.

3.    Shut down or restart the computer: Create a batch file that automatically shuts down or restarts the computer after a certain period of time. This can be useful for scheduling overnight maintenance tasks or for remote shutdown of computers in a network.

4.    Creating a shortcut for frequently used commands: Create a batch file that contains a set of frequently used commands and then create a shortcut to it on the desktop for easy access.

-Thank you for reading.