Mamp Local Server
On my macOS devices I use MAMP app by appsolute GmbH for local web development. So far, this is the perfect app for me to have a local server environment. How to Set Up Local Web Server on Windows 10 and MAMP? For a new installation of MAMP/MAMP PRO on Windows 10, do the following: Navigate to and download MAMP PRO from www.mamp.info.
How to download and install MAMP in Windows 10. This local server environment offers a free version and a paid PRO version. The paid version allows you to separate the projects you have worked on, as well as display settings such as Joomla, Drupal, or WordPress. However, the free version is complete enough to mount the local web server. It’s very easy to set up a local server on macOS with the help of MAMP. Yes, you heard right it’s very easy. Don’t do hectic steps, just follow the right simple steps and it’ll be done.
In my developer toolbox post, I’ve covered that I prefer to use to MAMP for local development. For the most part, the default settings (or some variation thereof) work just fine; however, if you end up needing to do some work on a secure site, then you’ll need enable SSL in MAMP.
On production-level servers, you’ll need to have purchased an SSL certificate; however, MAMP makes it trivially easy to setup a certificate in your development environment.
Enable SSL in MAMP
The only caveat to setting up SSL on your development machine is that you have to define a local server other than localhost (but this is easy to do).
Php Local Server
Other than that, it’s just a few simple steps.
1. Load MAMP
First, load MAMP and make sure that you’re on the homescreen. If you’re more comfortable with MAMP, then it doesn’t really matter which screen you start on – this step ensures that we’re all on the same page.
2. Define a New Host
Click on the “Hosts” tab to view the list of the hosts you’ve configured. Some of you will only have ‘localhost’, others of you will have more.
Regardless, click on the ‘+’ button right below the list of hosts to add a new host. This will automatically insert a new line item into the list of hosts and will display a set of fields for you to populate:
Make sure that you click on the ‘SSL’ check box:
Then select the directory out of which your site, application, or files will be served:
3. Generate an SSL Certificate
After that, click on the ‘SSL’ tab. Initially, you should see two fields each of which have an exclamation point beside them:
Next, click on the ‘Create Self-Signed Certificate’ button and a new dialog will appear prompting you to populate it with certain information:
Fill out this information. Feel free to be as accurate – or inaccurate) – as you want as this information is kept on your local machine:
Finally, click on ‘Generate’ and you’ll be asked where to save the certificate file. Feel free to choose any location. I’m a fan of keeping the certificate file in the same location of the project just to keep things organized.
4. Done!
Once you’ve generated the certificate, MAMP will automatically populate the fields with the locations of both the certificate file and the key file.
Finally, restart your server.
Once the server has restarted, you can navigate to your secure site using the host you defined earlier in this process. In my case, it would be https://examplehost.net. Remember to prefix the location with https; otherwise, it won’t load.
And that’s how you enable SSL in MAMP. Easy enough, right?
Free web development utility
MAMP is a local server environment that is free to use. The application is small, and you can set it up within minutes without damaging any existing files or programs on your computer. The utility has all the tools you need to run WordPress on your computer for testing and development purposes.
Local server environment
MAMP is a great free local server environment that has many useful features available after its installation. The tool lets you work on your website without saving the changes directly to it. You can test your code before the data syncs to your site, and possibly breaking a critical feature.
The app readily gives you many useful tools that you can use to run a WordPress server on your Windows computer. You can start coding after the few short moments needed to install the application.
Cloud syncing
MAMP Cloud is a useful tool that lets you back up and saves your data and information, allowing you quick access should anything happen to the files. The software can back up all of your information with just one click.
However, this is an add-on feature that comes with MAMP Pro, or you can purchase it separately for the free version. The Cloud tool works for both versions of MAMP.
Multiple development languages supported
MAMP’s core components are the ones that make up its abbreviation. Macintosh, Apache, MySQL, as well as PHP, form this. However, the application uses more than just these options for your local server environment.
You can choose to use Nginx in place of Apache, the leading HTTP server. You can also choose to use Ruby, Python, and Perl instead of a popular web development language such as PHP. This aspect provides great utility as Python is an easy-to-learn language that others already use for many projects.
Our take
MAMP is a fantastic LSE, supporting multiple development languages. It’s a great option if you can’t afford MAMP Pro’s extra tools, and it has more usability than its other alternative, XAMPP. As the application functions on almost any device, you can quickly take a project on the go with the added cloud feature.
Should you download it?
Yes. If you need a robust free local server environment, this application is an ideal choice.
Highs
- Cloud sync feature
- Supports multiple development languages
MAMPfor Windows
Mamp Local Server Commands
4.2.0