Make XAMPP / Apache serve file outside of htdocs folder [closed]

Solution 1:

Ok, per pix0r's, Sparks' and Dave's answers it looks like there are three ways to do this:

Virtual Hosts

Open C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf.
Un-comment ~line 19 (NameVirtualHost *:80).

Add your virtual host (~line 36):

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot C:\Projects\transitCalculator\trunk
    ServerName transitcalculator.localhost
    <Directory C:\Projects\transitCalculator\trunk>
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Open your hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts).
Add
```
127.0.0.1 transitcalculator.localhost #transitCalculator
```
to the end of the file (before the Spybot - Search & Destroy stuff if you have that installed).
Save (You might have to save it to the desktop, change the permissions on the old hosts file (right click > properties), and copy the new one into the directory over the old one (or rename the old one) if you are using Vista and have trouble).
Restart Apache.

Now you can access that directory by browsing to http://transitcalculator.localhost/.

Make an Alias

Starting ~line 200 of your http.conf file, copy everything between <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs"> and </Directory> (~line 232) and paste it immediately below with C:/xampp/htdocs replaced with your desired directory (in this case C:/Projects) to give your server the correct permissions for the new directory.
Find the <IfModule alias_module></IfModule> section (~line 300) and add
```
Alias /transitCalculator "C:/Projects/transitCalculator/trunk"
```
(or whatever is relevant to your desires) below the Alias comment block, inside the module tags.

Change your document root

Edit ~line 176 in C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf; change DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs" to #DocumentRoot "C:/Projects" (or whatever you want).
Edit ~line 203 to match your new location (in this case C:/Projects).

Notes:

You have to use forward slashes "/" instead of back slashes "\".
Don't include the trailing "/" at the end.
restart your server.

Solution 2:

You can relocate it by editing the DocumentRoot setting in XAMPP\apache\conf\httpd.conf.

It should currently be:

C:/xampp/htdocs

Change it to:

C:/projects/transitCalculator/trunk

Solution 3:

A VirtualHost would also work for this and may work better for you as you can host several projects without the need for subdirectories. Here's how you do it:

httpd.conf (or extra\httpd-vhosts.conf relative to httpd.conf. Trailing slashes "\" might cause it not to work):

NameVirtualHost *:80
# ...
<VirtualHost *:80>  
    DocumentRoot C:\projects\transitCalculator\trunk\
    ServerName transitcalculator.localhost
    <Directory C:\projects\transitCalculator\trunk\>  
        Order allow,deny  
        Allow from all  
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

HOSTS file (c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts usually):

# localhost entries
127.0.0.1 localhost transitcalculator.localhost

Now restart XAMPP and you should be able to access http://transitcalculator.localhost/ and it will map straight to that directory.

This can be helpful if you're trying to replicate a production environment where you're developing a site that will sit on the root of a domain name. You can, for example, point to files with absolute paths that will carry over to the server:

<img src="/images/logo.png" alt="My Logo" />

whereas in an environment using aliases or subdirectories, you'd need keep track of exactly where the "images" directory was relative to the current file.

Solution 4:

You can set Apache to serve pages from anywhere with any restrictions but it's normally distributed in a more secure form.

Editing your apache files (http.conf is one of the more common names) will allow you to set any folder so it appears in your webroot.

EDIT:

alias myapp c:\myapp\

I've edited my answer to include the format for creating an alias in the http.conf file which is sort of like a shortcut in windows or a symlink under un*x where Apache 'pretends' a folder is in the webroot. This is probably going to be more useful to you in the long term.