Denver is a local web server. What is Denwer and why is it needed? Why so many web developers love Denwer

Any user involved in web development probably knows or at least heard about the Denwer program. For those who encounter this concept for the first time, I will consider the basic definitions, if not complete, then at least for a partial understanding of what Localhost Denwer and related components are. We will also delve a little into the issues of installation, configuration and solutions to the most common problems and errors in this software shell.

What is Denver?

Let's start with the most important. If you look at it, the very concept of “Localhost Denwer” (local host Denwer) can be interpreted (naturally, not literally) as “a tool for creating and working with on your own computer using a special set of tools without using a remote resource”.

This domestic development was born in 2002, thanks to the efforts of three people: Dmitry Koterov, Anton Sushchev and Mikhail Livach, although the idea of creating such a universal shell that would include a full set of tools for creating and debugging sites with their subsequent placement on hosting.

Not surprisingly, this package is sometimes interpreted as the abbreviation "DNVR", which means "web developer's gentlemen's kit." In fact, the way it is, since the main kit includes a lot of various tools, although you can also find stripped down (lightweight) versions.

The advantage of this package is that it allows you to create local servers, and without first hosting them on remote resources. In principle, all information can be written even to a regular flash drive, and in which case you can edit or deploy it on another computer.

Basic configuration of the software package

As it is already clear, the package consists of several basic components that allow you to perform almost any task:

installer;
Apache based server;
shell PHP 5;
MySQL5 platform;
database control phpMyAdmin for working with them using browsers;
emulation tool for SMTP server and sendmail (send simulator Email).

However, in order to achieve the full functionality of Localhost Denwer, a special engine will also have to be added here. The most common and most popular are Joomla and WordPress. But first things first.

Denver installation

One of the basic questions with which to begin acquaintance with this program is installation. As a rule, installing Denwer on a local computer terminal or laptop does not cause any difficulties.

After launching the installer, a browser will immediately open (it is not needed, the window can be closed) and an unpacking window similar to DOS mode. The user will be prompted to press Enter to continue. We press.

Next, it prompts you to specify a place on your hard drive where all files and data will be stored (by default, this is WebServices directly on system drive"C", but you can create, for example, the Server folder, again - at the root of the system partition).

The next step is to choose a character virtual disk. The installer offers to create partition Z. If there is no such partition in the system. We agree and continue.

Now the process of copying files is activated, after which you need to select the mode for the virtual disk:

creation when the computer is turned on;
creation when the program is called.

Here - at your discretion. In principle, if the active virtual partition will be used infrequently, you can choose the second option. This completes the main part of the installation.

Health check

Naturally, after installation, it is mandatory to check for operability. Three shortcuts will be created on the Desktop after installation is complete: Start, Stop and Restart. We start the server.

After that, a virtual disk appears (if activation was selected during the installation with an explicit call), and in the system tray - two icons with a pen and a hat.

Now open the browser and address bar write http://localhost or just localhost. Denwer in the same browser displays a message that everything worked. If you go down a little lower on the page, you will see links by which you can test the functionality of the server, as shown in the picture below.

If, as a result of clicking on each individual link, different pages means all components are working properly.

Problems with encoding

Sometimes, however, localhost Denwer does not start to send email, or the message looks like incomprehensible characters. This is due to the fact that initially the program uses UTF-8 encoding. But it is necessary to check the sending.

For this, the last link from the above list is used. After clicking on it in the text field, you need to write something (preferably in Russian) and send a message.

Now we need to make sure it's delivered. To do this, check the! sendmail folder, which is located in the tmp directory in the virtual partition (Z), and do the same for the physical disk where the shell was installed (C). Why localhost does not start (Denwer, Windows 7 as the main OS) will be discussed separately.

Installing and configuring the engine

The next step is to install the engine. To do this, first check the presence of the www directory located on the system drive along the path Server folder (WebServices by default)\home\local host. In the www folder, now you need to create another directory (think of a name that you like), say Probe.

Further denwer setting involves restarting the program using the Restart shortcut. After that, in the address bar of the browser, enter http://localhost/Probe. If this particular page opens, then everything is done correctly and the work is not satisfactory. Now it's up to the little things. We copy the engine files to the created folder (we have it Probe) with the help of any file manager, after which we repeat the procedure for entering the above address in the browser. The Installation Wizard window should appear, where you just need to follow its instructions.

Database creation

Since the engine in this case acts as a local host (localhost), Denwer also assumes the creation of a local-level database. You will not need the phpMyAdmin program, which can be accessed using the address in the browser http://localhost/tools.

We are now returning to home page and use the line with privileges (after entering the menu, you need to add a new user). We specify any name, login and password, for the host we use localhost, in the global privileges section we tick off everything that is, and press the “Go!” button. The created base can be used for WordPress installations or Joomla. Access to the resource upon completion of the installation, again, is carried out at the above address.

Transfer to hosting

Now we need to transfer the server to the hosting. To make it available to surfers on the Internet. But first you need to pay attention to some conditions. First of all, you need to have not a dynamic, but a static IP address. You should also completely disable the Windows firewall, which can block access), and also set up the so-called hierarchical folder structure, that is, in the home directory home, first create the folder XXX.XXX.X.X, and in it the www subfolder (as an address instead of characters, you should use the address provided to you by your ISP).

You can do it differently. To transfer files, we use the FileZilla application, with the help of which we move all the files of the local server from the Probe folder, which we worked with during the setup process, to a remote resource, but to the root folder of the host (as a rule, this is either HTDOCS or PUBLIC_HTML). Then all that remains is to change the absolute paths to files and folders on the remote host in the settings of the engine configuration file, as well as change the database name and user login with password to those that will be used when creating a new database already on the remote resource.

Denwer does not open, localhost is not available: causes and solutions

Now let's move on to the pressing problems that are associated with the inoperability of the server.

So Denwer is down, localhost is not available. The reason is that after installation, many people immediately try to access it in the browser, forgetting to launch the program itself. The localhost string should be typed in only, and not something with, say, with the addition of .ru, .com or something else.

Another reason is blocking and:443 third party programs(most often Skype hangs on port 80, and Torrent or virtual machine VMWare, if available on the system). The solution is quite simple - change the port priorities in these applications. For example, in "Skype" you need to remove the "bird" from the line using the specified ports as alternative ones.

An equally common problem is the absence of the www folder in the main section. For example, if the folder hierarchy was originally created in the form server\localhost or any other form, you should check the home folder, where the specified directory should be located.

Sometimes the blocking of the HOSTS file by an antivirus can work (in most cases this is Dr. Web). To fix it, add it to the list of exceptions. You can first backup it, delete it, check if the program runs, and then return the file to its original location.

It may very well be that the application should be started either in compatibility mode or with admin rights (right-click menu).

If a connection fails, the system may have outdated version MySQL to get rid of. Sometimes port: 3306 can be blocked (you should find out what kind of application uses it and change the settings).

And remember! By itself, the Denwer program broadcasts absolutely nothing to the Internet, and is just a tool and, if you like, an assistant for carrying out one or another operation to create a server and process it.

Website development is gradually gaining more and more popularity not only among professionals, but also among ordinary users. A simple process of creating a web resource due to the many ready-made solutions allows you to create your own Internet portal in just 10-20 minutes. The created site is then hosted on the hosting provider's server. It is most convenient to view the newly built resource on desktop computer. This will test the project for stability and possible errors. Among the programs that provide this opportunity, the Denwer application stands out, designed to automate and simplify the creation of virtual server. With the help of this software any user who does not even have an idea of how a web resource looks “from the inside” will be able to test any Internet portal. The very name of the program is an abbreviation deciphering, which the creators aptly described the capabilities of the application (“gentleman's set of a Web developer”). In fact, the application contains a complete database of tools necessary to create a local server.

In order to start using the capabilities of Denwer, you need to go to the developer's website and, after filling out the form, download setup file. It is desirable to install the program to the root of the local disk - in the future this will greatly simplify the work. Denver allows you to work on several projects at once, for each of which a separate virtual host. Latest Versions utilities provide for the possibility of placing the distribution on removable media. The application will be useful for those whose task is to edit and check the site on a PC without an Internet connection. Web studios, wizards, designers and just interested users can easily create databases of resources, view them on their computer and edit at any time. In fact, the program is a set of distributions and a special software shell. Apache+SSL, PHP5, MySQL5, phpMyAdmin provide the necessary amount of tools needed for the wizard and simplify the work for beginners in the field of creating sites.

The computer that is used as the local server for the program's databases must be running an operating system. Windows systems.

Key features and functions

small size distribution;
extensibility. Can be supplemented basic version new modules and distributions;
provides a complete phpMyAdmin panel for managing databases;
automatic configuration and work with several sites at the same time;
a clear system for starting and stopping processes;
quick removal of the program without consequences;
rich selection of components to expand the possibilities. All of them are available for download on the official Denver website;
provides the ability to install older versions of PHP4, MySQL4.;
has a built-in sendmail emulator with support for Perl, Parser, PHP;
has an automatic editing function system file hosts;
has MySQL with transaction support;
allows you to fully check the performance of the site before uploading it to the server of the hosting provider;
provides quality automatic tuning all components, allowing the user not to go into the technical details of the processes.

What is Denwer and why is it needed? Denwer is the local north. Website development software home computer. That is, you can make a blog, or a website. Set it up on your computer, and only then register and transfer it to the hosting. An indispensable tool for a webmaster, isn't it?. The first practical step to creating a website, a blog is to install denver. So, let's begin.

Download program Denwer 3

Denver free program, and it is better to download it from the developer's site. Here is the link www.denwer.ruThere are two versions of PHP available for download, 5.2 and the newer 5.3. I am using version 5.3.

Program installation Denwer 3

1 . Let's start installing the Denwer3 program. A browser will open, close it. In the installation window of the program, to proceed to the next step, press Enter on the keyboard.

2 . By default, it is proposed to install the program on drive C in the WebServers folder. You can change the directory by choosing a different drive, or install on a USB flash drive. I choose standard installation. We press Enter to move on to the next step.

3 . Enter the English letter "y".

4 . The program offers to create another disk Z. You can also change the name. I leave "z".

5 .Enter again.

6 . Enter 1.

7 . the program offers to create shortcuts on the desktop, enter the English letter "y", that is, yes.

8 . Creating a Denwer 3 Database. If everything is done correctly, the browser should open. Denver installed successfully. We launch Denver by clicking on the created shortcut on the desktop "Start Denwer", and follow the link localhost.

9 . The following window opens, Hurray earned! At the bottom you will see "Checking MySQL and phpMyAdmin". Follow this link.

10 . Next, we create a new database. To do this, you must select the encoding " cp1251_general_cs ". So that in the future you will not have problems, and krakozyabry would not pop up on your site instead of Russian letters.

This very often happens to many novice webmasters. Everything is fine on Denver, and after transferring a site or blog to a hosting, the so-called "crakozyabry" appear. To avoid this, choose this encoding. And click the Database button.

11 . In this window in English, write the name of the database. For example, I wrote "myblog". You can give any other name. Just be sure to write it down, you will need it when installing the joomla or wordpress engine itself. Again, select the encoding cp1251_general_cs. And press the create button. In the database box, you will see the database you created. This completes the Denver installation process.

So let's sum up. The program was installed on the "C" drive, in the "WebServers" folder. All files of your future site or blog will be located there. And the "Z" disk is made for your convenience, by going into it you also find yourself in the " WebServers" located on drive "C".

Uninstalling Denwer 3. Frequently asked question, how to uninstall the program. To do this, you just need to stop Denver. By clicking on the stop denver icon. And then delete the "WebServers" folder. If an error appears, "cannot be deleted, is in use by another program, or is open in another folder." Go to folder "WebServers" and delete all folders there. Then restart your computer and delete the empty folder "web servers". The program will be completely removed from your computer.

This is the time to finish the article, if you have any questions, ask them in the comments. And also subscribe to updates, and receive new articles by mail. If you are going to make a site on joomla3, then I recommend reading Installing joomla 3 on denwer

This is another article from the Webmaster Tools section, in which I want to talk called Denwer, which can be freely downloaded from the developer's resource. First, let me tell you what is local server and why should we work with him. Simply put, you can install and configure it on your computer, receiving a free analogue of hosting (read about what hosting and domains are).

For you, in this case, you do not have to buy hosting and do not even have to have access to the Internet. The capabilities that Denver gives you are practically no different from those of a remote host, and it will consist of the same components and have the same capabilities. It already contains read more about this script), the Apache server (read), has PHP support and much more.

Where to download Denwer, how to install and run it?

You can download separately all the components of the local server described above and, having installed them on your computer, configure them correctly, but not everyone is able to do this. And even those who understand what's what can experience a lot of difficulties during installation and especially when configuring it.

Therefore, in order to simplify life for us, various installation packages (assemblies) were invented and created, allowing you to download a fully working and configured complex with minimal effort.

You just have to download the appropriate assembly and install your project engine (Joomla, WordPress, etc.) on it, and then start working on it, just like you would if you found the engine files on a physical host. By the way, as an option and alternative this decision, can be considered , i.e. able to work with Joomla and WordPress. But in this article we will speak specifically for localhost.

So, what do the developers of such free installation packages offer us? Let me list links to resource pages where you can download them, and then I will tell you in detail about installing and configuring one of them, which I chose as a favorite.

This is my personal choice, and you can use the package that suits you best. Fortunately, working with them is quite the same type and, having understood how to work with one assembly (today we will talk exclusively about Denwer), you can easily figure it out with any other.

Where you can download local server builds for free:

Denver - free download
VertrigoServ -

By clicking on the link, you will have to register in the proposed form, after which you will receive an email with a link to download the Denwer distribution.

Run the downloaded file with the exe extension, agree to install the package, after which it starts unpacking, and then a browser window will also open with a description of the installation, which you can immediately close, and a black DOS window with the installation wizard will also appear:

Following the instructions of the wizard to continue the installation, press "Enter". In the next window, we need to specify in which folder on our computer we will install the server. You can select, for example, C:\server .

Press "Enter", when asked if you really want to install Denver in this particular directory, you answer by setting "y" (y) and press "Enter" again. Next, we are informed that a separate virtual disk will now be created, which is necessary for the functioning of all components of the local server.

Just press "Enter", and in the next window select the letter for the virtual drive. This letter, of course, should not be used by your system at the moment (i.e., the disk, the Latin letter “c”, definitely does not need to be selected).

It is better to choose something from the last letters of the Latin alphabet, for example, Z. If it turns out that this letter is already used to designate a disk in your Windows operating system, then you will see a message that it is impossible to create such a disk.

In this case, you will need to press "Enter" and repeat the step with entering the name of the installation directory, press "Enter" again and enter another letter. You can see which letters to designate drives on your computer are already taken in "My Computer".

If the letter you selected is not occupied, you will see a message about the successful creation of the virtual disk.

Press "Enter", as a result of which the files of this assembly will be copied to the folder you specified earlier on the computer. Next, you will be prompted to select a download option, to which you respond by entering a unit and pressing "Enter". You will also be asked whether to create shortcuts to start, stop or restart on the desktop, to which you will answer "y".

With these shortcuts you will be able to start or stop the server. The installation wizard will then close, and a browser window will open with a page describing the next steps for working with the Denwer assembly.

Checking the health of the local server

Next, you go to the desktop and launch Denver by clicking on the "Start" shortcut. At the same time, a DOS window will open for a short time, indicating that the server is running, and then icons in the form of a feather and a black hat will appear in the tray (the area on the right side of the Windows taskbar, next to the clock), indicating that it is running.

Now type in the address bar of your browser localhost , as a result of which you will be taken to a page with the inscription "Hurrah, it worked." This means that the assembly successfully installed on your Windows computer. Scrolling down this page, you will see links to check its performance:

You follow this link, then in the window that opens, enter some text in the "Text" field (better in Russian - check that everything will be in order with the encoding) and click on the "Send via mail" button. If everything worked correctly, then you will receive a message like: OK, the mail () function worked correctly. But you also need to check that the letter really reached.

To do this, you need to go to our virtual disk (remember the letter that you specified when installing this assembly) and follow the following path:

Z:\tmp\!sendmail\

By the way, you can go not to a virtual disk, but to a real one, where you have a local server installed (in my case, this is drive C) along the same path:

C:\tmp\!sendmail\

If everything is in order with sending mail, then in this folder you will have to find the letter you sent. By opening it, you can check if the Russian language encoding is correct.

Setting up and installing Joomla or WordPress on Denver

First you will need to go to the folder where you installed the assembly (for me it is c:\server\) and go to the following path:

c:\server\home\localhost\www\

In this WWW directory, you must create a directory where you will later need to upload the engine files (Joomla, WordPress, etc.). The name of the folder is up to you, for example:

After creating the folder, restart the localhost using the "Restart Denwer" shortcut on the desktop (if it is not already running, then start it). To check if it works, type in the address bar of your browser:

http://localhost/Proba/

If a page opens with the title "http://localhost/Proba/", then everything is in order. If no window opens, then try restarting Denwer again.

Now you need to install the engine (Joomla, WordPress, etc.) in exactly the same way as you did for real hosting (Joomla installation is described (in detail and in pictures). I wrote how to install the SMF forum, but it is covered in some detail at the given link.

Those. you need to copy the engine files to the folder created on your computer (it acts as a local host). In my case this is the folder:

C:\server\home\localhost\www\Proba\

This process will differ from installing the engine on a real host () only in that for copying files no need to use FTP manager- an ordinary conductor will also fit perfectly, well, or, like the one described by the link Total Commander.

After you copy the Joomla or WordPress files to the Denver folder, you need to type in the address bar of your browser to install the site or blog:

http://localhost/Proba/

As a result, the window of the installation wizard of one or another engine will open. Then you follow the same scenario as during a normal installation on real hosting, with the only exception that you, as described in the article about installing Joomla (see the link above), but in the way described below.

Creating a database and user using Denwer

In order to get to the phpMyAdmin program included in the local server build kit, you need to type the following URL in the address bar of your browser:

http://localhost/tools/

In the window that opens, click on the link called "phpmyadmin", which will open the main page of this program. On it, in the "Create a new database" area, you enter the desired database name (for simplicity, it can be named the same as the directory for the site in the localhost folder, i.e. "Proba", in my case) and click the "Create" button ".

Now we return to the main page of phpMyAdmin by clicking on the house icon in the left column of the program window. Find the "Privileges" link in the "MySQL" area and click on it.

On the phpMyAdmin page that opens, in the center, you should find the item "Add a new user" and click on it.

In the “Username” area, enter the desired name (for simplicity, I use “Proba” again), in the “Host” area, enter localhost, in the “Password” and “Confirmation” areas, enter some very complex password twice.

In the "Global Privileges" area, click on the "Check All" inscription so that the database user being created has maximum rights.

Everything, the database and the user on Denver are created. Now you can use this information for installing Joomla, WordPress, etc., which will follow the same sequence as when installed on a real hosting. Upon completion of this process, your resource will be available at:

http://localhost/Proba/

You can work with Joomla or WordPress in the usual way, but this greatly simplifies and speeds up the work of editing engine files, installing and uninstalling various extensions, and it also becomes possible to work on your project even there, where there is no internet access.

Website transfer to hosting

After completing the project, you must transfer site from Denwer to hosting in order to make it available to visitors from the Internet. This is done in exactly the same way as if you simply moved from one hosting to another or restored your site from backup(I wrote about creating and restoring from a backup).

To do this, you will need to use the FileZilla program (which I wrote about) to move all the files from the local server folder (in my case, the Proba folder) to the root directory of the remote host (usually either PUBLIC_HTML or HTDOCS).

And then open for editing configuration file your engine and change the parameters of the absolute path to the files and folders of this engine, as well as the database name, user and password, to those that you set when creating a new database on the hosting. All this is described in detail in the article about backup and transfer of the site, the link to which you will find by climbing a couple of paragraphs higher).

How to remove Denver from a computer

Quite often the question arises how to remove this assembly from your computer. The main catch of the removal is to disable the virtual disk created during installation. But first things first. First you will need, of course, to stop the local server using the appropriate shortcut on the desktop.

Then delete virtual disk, which was created during installation. Remember what letter you assigned to this virtual disk and go to Windows along the following path "Start" - "Run" (you can press the key combination Win + R instead), enter the command in the window that opens:

Subst z: /d

Instead of the virtual drive letter Z, you will need to enter your choice (Drive Z suggests cz as the default virtual drive letter). Well, to permanently remove the Denwer build from your computer, it will be enough to delete the WebServers directory (by default, this is the “C: \ WebServers” folder) and remove three shortcuts from the desktop of your operating system Windows. Everything, we can assume that we managed to remove it with little bloodshed.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site

You can watch more videos by going to

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The main features of the Denwer program

Surely, many website developers have faced the problem that when creating them, the site often just hangs on the Internet, without bringing any income. You understand that you want to completely configure the site first, adding all the necessary elements such as text, images, audio or video, and only then upload the finished product to the Internet. This constructor is the Denwer software environment.

When creating your site using the Denwer program, as it is already clear, you do not need to pay for using hosting, because everything is located on local computer and not on the Internet. Upon completion of the work, of course, you can put the finished site on the Web, but you can even save it on any removable USB media such as a regular flash drive.

Actually, you can download the local Denwer server or, as it is also called, localhost on the developer's website. There is also detailed instructions for installing and configuring the program in Russian. The installation itself takes only a few minutes. As for the configuration, the Denwer server itself is first installed, then its own database is created, after which the site is activated, that is, the constructor itself is “uploaded” to the server. The most interesting thing is that the Denwer platform can use anything as such a constructor, say, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Ucoz or anything else.

The local server thus created in software environment Denwer is practically no different from real hosting. Essentially, it has the same components: bases MySQL data, Apache server, PHP support, PhpMyAdmin DB scripts, etc. In addition, the Denwer platform allows you to use many additional plugins and templates. However, for them correct operation to begin with, it is worth installing them, testing and making sure that they work. First of all, it concerns WordPress. In general, I think many web developers will be satisfied. By the way, the third version of Denwer is a long-awaited software product of this series.