Using MoWeS

MoWeS stands for Modular Webserver System. Using MoWeS, it is possible to run a basic web server based on the Apache web server, the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), and PHP. All of the software components are designed to be installed and run from any physical storage medium, including a computer hard disk drive or portable storage medium such as a USB flash drive. There is no installation procedure - all you need to do is download the software to a suitable location. The open source (free) version of MoWeS is called MoWeS Portable, and is released under the GNU/GPL license. The following is a description of how To download and set up MoWeS Portable on your hard drive, but is very similar to the procedure that you would use to set MoWeS up on a USB flash drive or other portable media.

• Go to the MoWeS home page:
  
  www.chsoftware.net/en/useware/mowes/mowes.htm

• Click on the "MoWeS Mixer" link.
• Select the radio button labelled "I do not have a MoWeS Portable II Package and want to obtain a new package", then click on the button underneath that says "Go".

• The MoWeS Core package (MoWeS Portable II Core) is selected by default. From the list of server software packages provided, select the ones you wish to download and save them in the folder "mowes_portable". I would suggest the following packages to start with:
  
  
      Apache2 version 2.2.11
  
      ImageMagick version 4.2.9
  
      MySQL5 version 5.1.35
  
      PHP5 version 5.3.0
  
  
• Click on the Download now button.
• Answer the simple spam protection question to enable the download to proceed.

• Unzip the file mowes_portable.zip into the target folder (I would suggest creating a directory called "mowes_portable" in the root of your C: drive for this purpose). Your directory should look like the one shown below.

• Double click on the file "mowes.exe" to start the MoWeS server. The first time you run the server, you will be asked to select a language (the choices are English or German), and to accept the terms of use (see below).

• A dialogue box will appear prompting you to install all packages now. Click on the Install button.

• When MoWeS asks you whether you wish to install all packages, click on OK.

• The packages will be installed and the MoWeS server will start. Depending on which version of Windows you are currently using, you may be presented with a dialogue box asking for permission to continue. The dialogue box shown below typically appears in Windows XP.

The MoWeS control panel should appear briefly (if all is well, your default browser will also appear, hiding the control panel). A status message will be displayed telling you whether the Apache and MySQL servers are running (all being well, they will be). The control panel allows you to stop the server or exit the MoWeS application altogether. It also allows you to set various server options, backup your settings, check for updates to MoWeS, or access online MoWeS resources.

If the MoWeS server is working correctly, you should see a screen similar to that shown below. If the Apache web server fails to start, make sure you have no other web server software already running (e.g. Microsoft Internet Information Server), as this will conflict with Apache. Skype may also cause problems, if it is running.

Click on the Back button to go to the MoWeS start screen (see below).

You can check that PHP is working correctly by clicking on the "phpinfo" link. All being well, your browser should display several screens of server configuration data. The screen shot below shows the first block of information displayed.

MoWeS is an excellent tool for learning about how web server software functions, and for developing prototype web applications before they are deployed on a "live" server. The practical examples of web server scripting described in these pages will be based on the use of the MoWeS server environment.