Joomla is a free open source, mobile-ready, and user-friendly content management software used to create many of the websites and applications you use every day. From personal blogs to eCommerce to almost any type of website. To run Joomla, you’ll need to install a webserver, a database server, and PHP server scripting modules. The majority of the time Joomla will be installed on a Linux system, including Ubuntu with either the LAMP or LEMP stack. However, there are some open-source projects today that are making it possible to install Joomla on Microsoft Windows desktops and servers. One such project is XAMPP. XAMPP is a completely free, easy-to-install Apache distribution containing MariaDB, PHP, and Perl.

Download XAMPP Package

To get XAMPP installed on Windows, head over to the Apache Friends website and download the Windows version

Install XAMPP

After downloading the Windows version, you should be prompted to install the package. You’ll need to install Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl as shown in the image below. Complete the installation and continue to the next step. Accept the default installation directory: C:\xampp

Configure XAMPP

Now that the package is installed, open XAMPP and start up Apache and MySQL services as shown in the image below. After starting Apache2 and MySQL, these servers should be running. to test whether Apache is running, open Internet Explorer on the host machine and type the URL below: This should bring up the Apache XAMPP default page. To validate that MariaDB is installed and functioning, open the Shell command prompt on the right of the XAMPP Control Panel. This should launch the command shell. then type the commands below: mysql This should you onto the MariaDB database server. To secure the MariaDB database server, open the Shell command windows again, then type the commands below. perl\bin\perl.exe mysql\bin\mysql_secure_installation.pl When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter the password Re-enter new password: Repeat password Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]:  Y Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

Create Joomla Database

While still in the Shell command windows, type the commands below to log on to MariaDB database server. type the password you enter above when prompted. Then create a database called joomla Create a database user called joomlauser with a new password Then grant the user full access to the database. Finally, save your changes and exit.

Download Joomla Content

Now that the Joomla database has been created, go and download Joomla content from its download page. After downloading the Joomla file, extract it into the C:\xampp\htdocs You can delete all the files and folders in there and extract Joomla content that that folder. the htdocs should look like this:

Configure PHP Settings

Now that Joomla content is in the Apache2 root directory. go to the path below and open the PHP configuration file. C:\xampp\php Then right-click the highlighted PHP configuration file and edit. then make the changes below in the file and save. you will have to scroll line by line. Then make the change to the following lines below in the file and save. Save the file when you’re done. When done, open Internet Explorer and type the URL below to begin the Joomla installation wizard. http://localhost Type the database connection info and continue Finally, install Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed Joomla on Windows 10 with XAMPP support. Enjoy~