I'm a noob to Linux, I only installed Ubuntu a couple of weeks ago. So earlier today I installed PHP and mySQL on my machine, but I can't get to them through the applications menu. Also, I tried just making a sample php file and opening it in Firefox, and it just showed the text of the script. I want to be able to experiment with and learn PHP without having to put it on a webserver, does anyone know how this would be done? Thanks in advance for your help.

Have you installed apache? Read:
http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu_da...he_HTTP_Server
http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu_da...he_HTTP_Server
http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu_da...atabase_Server

Put your php files in /var/www
Yau can view them, when you open http://localhost/ or http://127.0.0.1/ with web browser


Apache can start by typing apache2 in terminal window, but it should start automaticaly.

But I don't want to use Apache, I want to only be able to access the files from my machine. And I have installed PHP and mySQL, although I'm pretty sure I still need to create a mySQL DB, and I don't know how to go about doing that.

edit: actually I think I might be able to figure this all out from that link you gave me. Thanks!

edit2: thanks, I think I'll definitely have it all figured out soon.

What I think he means is that in order to view the PHP files without putting them on a server you have to have apache installed. I think that its because PHP runs on apache servers, if its not on apache(or other supported ones) then i dont think it will work.

But you will need apache to work with php and mysql (OK, you can view PHP output in terminal, but it's really not the easyest and best way, how to do it).

Oh ok, thanks for the heads up. I'll install it then.

Yes - Apache or even IIS if on a windows workstation.

FYI - Apache (or even IIS), MySQL and PHP are all server/services that run in the background that serve requests made through http

Originally Posted by mgraphic

Yes - Apache or even IIS if on a windows workstation.

FYI - Apache (or even IIS), MySQL and PHP are all server/services that run in the background that serve requests made through http

I knew that, I just wanted to know if there was a way to use MySQL and PHP without using Apache, as my internet upload is capped at only 40 kb/s ;( and I just wanted to practice PHP.
Thanks though

Running these services from localhost (running in the background of your workstation) is independent from your internet connection, in fact, it can run successfully without any internet connection on your computer (or even networked computer)!

Yep, I've got it working. Right now I'm just going over beginner stuff at the w3schools.com tutorial to see the difference between PHP and C. I've got extremely basic scripts running and stuff, now I've just got a bit of confusion about creating a database, with the DB>Table structure. It seems to be a bit of a pain to have to add variables to the database itself instead of just being able to initialize them like in C... oh well, so far its a cool language

A database is only for storing information. You don't have to use your variables from a database, it's is perfectly fine to use a flat file system if that is your preference.

There is a really good and easy tool to work with for working with mySQL databases that will also show you php code and how the SQL command is constructed:

phpMyAdmin