Creating a Web Test Environment in Windows - Configuring Apache Security
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At this point your web server is installed and running which means it is serving pages. You can access your website locally by either using a hostname or a direct IP address. Opening your browser and navigating to http://localhost or http://127.0.0.1 will do the trick.
If you are on a network, you can also use your machine's hostname or IP address. In fact, you can use any network addressing method that points to your computer. You should keep this in mind if you are on a network or connected to the Internet for obvious security reasons. You are running a web server just as public as any other out there.
It should be obvious at this point that it's time to take some security precautions. Don't worry. The guys over at ApacheFriends took this into consideration too. With everything installed correctly you should see the screen above when you navigate to your web site.
Once you know everything is functioning properly, click the Security link in the menu on the left. XAMPP provides a built-in security check to make your life easier. With the default installation, the majority of things on the list will be marked as Unsecure. Click the link provided and run XAMPP's Security Console to begin fixing these vulnerabilities.
On this screen you'll be able to set the root password for your MySQL installation. This will prevent outside sources from accessing your databases. You're also given the opportunity to password protect the XAMPP directory so that no one else will be able to access this security console.
All remaining security fixes will have to be made manually, but it's not too hard.
Next: Final Security Considerations >>
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