I want to learn how to use and run blogging software and content-management systems, and I thought an open source package like Movable Type would be a good place to start.
At the moment, I have the following hardware and software available:
* primary desktop machine: WinXP Pro, connected by cable to my home LAN router
* secondary desktop machine: older PC running XP Home with XAMPP installed, also connected to the router
* laptop running XP Home
I want to turn the secondary machine into a private webserver. It already has XAMPP, which is a combination basic webserver and PHP/MySQL engine. I'd like to also install a blogging/CMS package, and possibly more if and when I need it. If necessary I can wipe the secondary machine and install a Linux distro on it, but I'd really rather not. I do not, at this time, have the resources to afford a full server package such as Windows Server.
Can I install Movable Type on this machine as my blog/CMS package? How do I go about getting started?
-- Jon W.
Download instructions here:
http://www.movabletype.org/download.html
Installation instructions here:
http://movabletype.org/documentation/installation/
I don't know about XAMPP, but since it includes Apache, Perl, and PHP, it sounds like you should have all you need.
Here's a blog describing XAMPP and MT installation:
http://gunnerpress.com/web-dev/installing-movabletype-pro-4-on-xampp-on-windows-xp-machine
(it's reference MT4, so take it with a grain of salt. I mention it to suggest that MT and XAMPP should do fine together.)
good luck!
-tony
Thanks for the response, Tony. The installation looks mildly formidable, but then I suppose I've been spoiled by plug-and-play Windoze programs that handle all the messy details automatically.
[[ Here's a blog describing XAMPP and MT installation:
http://gunnerpress.com/web-dev/installing-movabletype-pro-4-on-xampp-on-windows-xp-machine ]]
This link came back as "server not found." Could you take a moment to check it?
Oops, I have a problem. I tried installing MT by downloading and unzipping the MT install stuff, then simply copying it directly to the cgi-bin folder on the secondary (webserver) PC. No FTP connection involved, just a folder-to-folder copy on the same hard drive. Now my webserver won't see the mt folder. It sees the web root folder (htdocs), and the cgi-bin folder under it, but it doesn't see htdocs/cgi-bin/mt. I get a 404 error, "Object Not Found". There doesn't seem to be anything about such an error in the troubleshooting FAQ. Any ideas on what's wrong?
>Hi, JWoolf
You need to rewrite path settings in your all *.cgi files, like mt.cgi, mt-check.cgi, or etc.
When you are using xampp, cgi path might be like;
#!c:\xampp\perl\bin\perl.exe
or so.
Please check your perl.exe path info and replace your file's original path settings. The cgi files have a path setting information in their first line. At first they might be like this;
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
Remember, Xammp is a really awesome package and it's easy to build Lampp systems on it, but when you use xampp as a published server, you need to know how to handle it 'cause it's just a real "server system".
You should be careful for your server's security, 'cause Xampp is originally developed for a test environment, and it often has some security halls and they cannot be updated automatically.
Please excuse me if my English is hard to read.
Have a fun with MT and Xampp!
I think I'm getting closer. I fixed the perl paths as Nick suggested. That got rid of the 404 error. Now I'm getting a 500 error: "premature end of script header: mt.cgi"
Would I be better off wiping what I have and starting from scratch, or am I close to getting this jury-rigged install working?
-- Jon W.