XAMPP + Python + Django

In this post I go over the steps to install XAMPP, Python, and then Django on a Windows XP system. I have also listed the sites that helped me create the setup in my Windows XP machine.


Here are the steps I followed to setup the Django web framework on my Windows XP machine. Lets start with prerequisites,
STEP 1: Prerequisites

1. Windows XP with Administrative Privilege


2. XAMPP Windows 1.6.8 [Basic package]


3. Python 2.5.2 (NOT 2.6, explanation later)


4. mod_python (mod_python-3.3.1.win32-py2.5-Apache2.2.exe)


5. Django 1.0 (Django-1.0.tar.gz)

At the end of this step you should have the following files in a folder,
Step 2: Install XAMPP first
Download XAMPP and double click on xampp-win32-1.6.8-installer.exe to start the installation. Just click on next and follow the default settings to have XAMPP installed on your machine. After the installation is complete you will have a directory structure like this,

c:\xampp\
\anonymous
\apache
\cgi-bin
\FileZillaFTP
\htdocs
\install
\licenses
\MercuryMail
\mysql
\perl
\php
\phpMyAdmin
\security
\sendmail
\tmp
\webalizer
\webdav
apache_start.bat
apache_stop.bat
filezilla_setup.bat
filezilla_start.bat
filezilla_stop.bat
mercury_start.bat
mercury_stop.bat
mysql_start.bat
mysql_stop.bat
php-switch.bat
readme_de.txt
readme_en.txt
service.exe
setup_xampp.bat
Uninstall.exe
xampp-changes.txt
xampp-control.exe
xampp-portcheck.exe
xampp_restart.exe
xampp_start.exe
xampp_stop.exe

Double click on xampp-control.exe to start the XAMPP control panel.

Here you can see the status of the Servers. You can start the apache server and check http://127.0.0.1/ to see whether the web server is running or not.

There are lot of videos available on YouTube that can also help you with installing XAMPP. Here is one such video.


Step 3: Install Python 2.5.2 next
Install Python 2.5.2 (NOT 2.6) as mod_python does not support the Python 2.6 yet. Check out this video for one such installation of Python. This installation also covers installation of mod_python.

Python should be installed in the following directory

C:\Python25

Step 4: Install mod_python
Install mod_python by downloading from here mod_python-3.3.1.win32-py2.5-Apache2.2.exe. During installation you have to specify the directory where Apache is installed choose,

C:\xampp\apache

Step 5: Install Django 1.0
Download Django-1.0.tar.gz and unzip it. You will see a directory structure as below,

Django-1.0\
\django
\docs
\examples
\extras
\scripts
\tests
AUTHORS
INSTALL
LICENSE
MANIFEST.in
README
setup.cfg
setup.py

The folder that is of importance is django. Copy the django folder to the following folder,

C:\Python25\Lib\site-packages

After you copy the django folder there the folder structure will look like this,

C:\Python25\Lib\site-packages\
\django
\bin
\conf
\contrib
\core
\db
\dispatch
\forms
\http
\middleware
\shortcuts
\template
\templatetags
\test
\utils
\views
__init__.py
__init__.pyc
\mod_python
mod_python-3.3.1-py2.5.egg-info
mod_python_uninstall.log
README.txt

Now copy the django-admin.py file from

C:\Python25\Lib\site-packages\django\bin\django-admin.py

to the following two folders,

C:\Python25\Scripts
C:\xampp\htdocs

Now you are all set to test Django on XAMPP.

Step 6: Test Django on XAMPP/Apache
Open the command window and go to the htdocs folder and execute the following command (ref 1),

C:\xampp\htdocs\django-admin.py startproject testproject

This will create the basic testproject that you can access from local website. But before you can access this you have to open httpd.conf file from the following location,

C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf

and then type the following text to the end of the httpd.conf file.

After you type this text please restart the apache webserver. Now visit the following website to see Django in action,

http://127.0.0.1/testproject/

If everything goes alright you will see the following screen,
References:

1. Django on Windows, this article is very well explained, please go through it.


2. See also: Django Best Practices


3. A three-page PDF of Django’s architecture