Introduction (V1.1):
There are plenty of articles and forums describing how to work with Apache (via an Xampp install, etc). However, if you are running XP Pro and want to use IIS 5.1 (the highest version available for XP Pro) in setting up your development WordPress web-site, you are mostly out of luck. This TechNote is the first in a series that will show you how to setup and configure a website on your desktop.
Prerequisites:
See TechNote: 0-WordPress Install Sequence On XP Pro plus Reference Links
My Development Environment:
See TechNote: 0-WordPress Install Sequence On XP Pro plus Reference Links
Verification:
IIS
There is almost no way you shouldn’t have IIS 5.1 on XP Pro but to verify it, use the MMC 3 test below, or enter the following in Internet Explorer:
http://localhost/
If you get a working web page something like below, or a “Connect To …” Login window, then IIS is setup. Note: once you start tweaking IIS, etc., you may no longer get this display but don’t be concerned if you don’t.
IIS 5.1 Localhost Display - Click on image to enlarge
MMC 3.0
To verify if you have MMC 3.0 (and you may already have it via MS auto updates):
Start –> Programs –> Administrative Tools –> Internet Information Services
Or
Start Settings –> Control Panel –> Administrative Tools –> Internet Information Services
This will open a pop-up that will look something like this (depending on how you’ve named your desktop):
IIS 5.1 MMC 3.0 Display - Click on image to enlarge
You will note that it is also verifying that you have IIS V5.1. Now, to verify the MMC version:
Help –> About Microsoft Management Console
You should see a pop-up that looks something like this:
IIS 5.1 MMC 3.0 Version Display - Click on image to enlarge
If you do NOT have MMC V3.0 (Note: XP SP2 or higher is required for MMC 3.0) you can download it from Microsoft’s web-site:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907265/en-us
You want Article ID: 907265 “MMC 3.0 update is available for Windows Server 2003 and for Windows XP”. This will contain usage data, included DLLs and a link to the update page. If you’re running XP, make sure you select the one for XP!, which is about half way down the page.
Once you have MMC 3.0 installed (or verified), check out Microsoft’s “What’s New in MMC 3.0″. In this section you will see a bullet for “New Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box”. This is where you want to go if you need to add it or verify that it is present.
Note: for future reference, if you have install issues with the snap-in, see the “Known Issues” section in the above MS Article (907265).
IIS 5.1 MMC 3.0 Help Display - Click on image to enlarge
If you ever need to add/remove snap-ins, you must do so in Author mode. To be in Author mode you must either (a) have logged on as Administrator or (b) logged in with Administrator rights. To change the mode, read the following in the MMC Help section “Create a new snap-in console …”. (note: there is a lot of good data in the help on Security and so forth but, for this TechNote, we’re going to stay focused):
IIS 5.1 MMC 3.0 Help Display 2 - Click on image to enlarge
Note: initially I thought I would need to add an ISAPI Rewrite Snap-in. However this proved not to be the case.
You should now have IIS 5.1 and MMC 3.0 installed and verified.
Next Step:
The next activity is to install FileZilla, a top-flight FTP utility. If you wish you can use a different utility, of course. If you do, I would recommend scanning this next document to catch important notes. See TechNote: 2-WordPress Install – FileZilla 3-2-3-1 Setup.
DP Harshman
