How to Install HotelDruid on Windows with Easyphp
Before installing hoteldruid we will use easyphp to install at once the Apache web server and Mysql
database, however we will need windows 2000/XP or later as with 98 or former easyphp does not work. Download
easyphp from the site http://www.easyphp.org and install
it. You shouldn't need to change default settings during installation, the easyphp version used to write this
tutorial is DevServer 14.1vc9. At the end of installation the windows firewall could ask to block the mysql
port, you can block it without affecting its operations locally. After its installation easyphp will present
an E with a red dot in the task bar at the bottom right side (search in the up arrow if you don't find it),
make a double click on it to open the status window of Apache and Mysql servers where you can start and stop
these servers, make sure that both Apache and Mysql servers are started (green traffic light), after that you
must minimize this window and not close it, otherwise the servers are stopped. To confirm that the servers
are active the text "Started" must appear when you place the cursor over the E with the red dot at the bottom
right, if the E is not present you can restart easyphp from the start menu.
Now, if you haven't already done it, download the latest version of hoteldruid and decompress it. To
decompress it, if windows isn't able to do it by right-clicking on the file, you can use
peazip, so that a folder called hoteldruid will be
extracted. Copy the hoteldruid folder in C:\Program Files (x86)\EasyPHP-DevServer-14.1VC9\data\localweb (you
could have to enable the visualization of hidden files accessing the Programs folder) or in the corresponding
folder if you did not choose the default location when installing easyphp. You can also open this directory by
clicking with the right button on the E in the task bar and selecting "Explore".
At this point, if easyphp is active ("Started" text when placing the cursor over the E at bottom right),
opening a browser, for example Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, and connecting to
http://localhost/hoteldruid/ , the first installation page of hoteldruid should appear. Actually this page
is on your computer, you don't need to be connected to Internet to access it.
On windows 7 or later it may happen that the standard port is busy, in this case you will receive a
connection error. You can see on which port the web server is listening by clicking with the right button on the
E in the task bar and selecting "local web", this will open a page in your browser. If, for example, the
address of the opened page is http://127.0.0.1:8887 then you will be able to find the hoteldruid page at
http://127.0.0.1:8887/hoteldruid/ or equivalently at http://localhost:8887/hoteldruid/.
From this page you can now normally proceed with the installation. If it is ok using Sqlite as your
database you can leave the default values for database connection in the second installation screen. If you
want to use the mysql database change the values to:
database type: mysql
dadabase name at choice but without spaces or strange characters
existing database: no
computer: localhost
port: 3306
username for database authentication: root
password for database authentication: leave this field blank
Continue the installation inserting the rooms data and creating a new year. When the installation is
finished you can add the main menu page of hoteldruid to the favourites of your browser.
Pressing with mouse right button on the E in the task bar and selecting the configuration of easyphp, it can
be configured to automatically start when the computer is turend on. But remember that when there is the E with the
"Started" text, and you are connected directly to Internet, also others from outside could view the pages on your
server. So it would be better setting up a firewall that blocks connections to port 80 from outside.