How to Install Drupal 7 Locally (using XAMPP)

In this step-by-step, you will learn how to install drupal locally (on localhost / your computer) usingXAMPP program. I use XAMPP 1.8.1, Drupal 7.15, and Windows 7; But, it doesn't mean you are limited to those. This probably woks great for any Windows (XP, Vista, Seven, and 8), any Drupal 7.x version, and any XAMPP 1.8.x. Here are the steps to install Drupal locally using XAMPP software:

1. Install XAMPP Program

To install Drupal, we need a Server, a Database, and a Programming language. Fortunately, XAMPP installs all of those for us, we only need to install XAMPP. XAMPP will install Apache (Server), MySQL (Database), PHP (Programming language), Perl(another programming language). In addition ot those, XAMPP installs other useful programs such as phpMyAdmin (which is a great program to manage Databases). a Point: XAMPP stands for Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl. And X represents the operating system XAMPP is supposed to be installed on, which includes Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Solaris. Previuosly there were separate versions for Windows, Linux, etc. so, those were named WAMPP (forWindows only), LAMPP (for Linux only), etc. Now it is just XAMPP, and it has different distributions : XAMPP for Windows, XAMPP for Mac OS, XAMPP for Linux, and XAMPP for Solaris.

O.K. enough of extra information!

1.1. Download XAMPP

Go to XAMPP project page and choose the XAMPP distribution you need - based on the OS you are going to install XAMPP on. Here we use XAMPP for Windows distribution. Download the "Installer" (about 90 MB).

1.2. XAMPP Installation

Run the exe file you just downloaded. Choose English Language. If a window pop-uped, click OK. You should now see the XAMPP Setup window:

Press "Next" button. In next window, you should choose the destination folder for XAMPP to be installed on. Leave it as it is (c:\xampp), of if you like to change it, I suggest you only change the drive (e.g. d:\xampp) and not to change the destination to something like C:\Program Files\xampp. Press "Next". Do not change anything in the next window:

Press "Install" for XAMPP installation to begin. It takes some time... No need to do anything untill the "Finish" button appears. Press "Finish". A message pop-ups asking you whether open the XAMPP Control Panel or not, press "Yes". If you pressed "No", you can always open XAMPP control panel using the shortcut on your desktop. In XAMPP Control Panel window: Press "Start" buttons in front of Apache and MySQL modules, to enable them.

Congratulations! Your Local Host is ready. You can now put any site in the htdocs folder (in xampp folder) and access it from http://localhost. For example, you can put index.php in c:\xampp\htdocs\drupalkar and access it on your browser from http://localhost/drupalkar/index.php. Enter http://localhost on your browser. XAMPP page opens. Press English to enter XAMPP for Windows page. In this page, you can find different information about your local host, for example, press phpinfo() to view informatin about the PHP installed on your local server.

2. Install Drupal on XAMPP

Now that our local host is ready, it's the time to install Drupal: Make sure Apache and MySQL modules are started, like mentioned in previous step.

2.1. Download Drupal

Download the latest Drupal version from Drupal project page on Drupal.org.

2.2. Create a Database

Before installing Drupal, we need to create a database for it:

Open XAMPP Control Panel. Press the "Admin" button in front of MySQL. This will take you to http://localhost/phpmyadmin which opens phpMyAdmin. Go to "Databases" tab of phpMyAdmin. Below the "Create database" label, enter a name for the database you are going to create (enter "drupal7").

Press "Create". The database will be created and its name will appear on the left column of the page.

2.3. Time to Install Drupal!

Extract the compressed Drupal file you downloaded later to htdocs folder, and rename it to drupal7. The folder will be like C:\xampp\htdocs\drupal7 Now, open http://localhost/drupal7 URL in your browser to go through Drupal installation process.

As you can see in the left column, you should pass 7 steps to install Drupal: Step 1: Choose Profile Choose "Standard" profile and press "Save and continue". Step 2: Choose Language If you like, you can read the instructions to install a language other than English and continue installation using that language. Here we continue with English. Go to next step. Step 3: Verify Requirements In this step Drupal checks to make sure your host has all of the requirements for Drupal to be installed with no problem. If everythig is OK, you will directly go to step 4: Step 4: Database Configuration Now we should enter the database info. Leave "Database type" as it is, because our database type is MySQL. For "Database name" enter the database name you chose on step 2.2 (we chose "drupal7").

For "Database username" enter "root". Leave "Database password" empty.

Press "Save and continue" Step 5: Install Profile Drupal goes into installation process... After Drupal installed, you will be automatically redirected to step 6: Step 6: Site Configuration Enter the site information: Choose a name for your Site.

Enter an email. Since it is a local site, you can enter a fake email such as info@localhost.com. Choose a Username (usually "admin"). Enter a password and confirm it. Chooe the "Defualt country" and "Default time zone". No need to change the two last items. Press "Save and continue". Step 7: Finished! :) The last step will not take much time, actually it just tells you Drupal site installation is finished!

When Done
When done with your Drupal site and XAMPP, "Stop" Apache and MySQL modules, and "Quit" XAMPP.