Apache on Localhost

Apache HTTP Server is the most widely deployed web server in the world and the default choice in PHP-focused development stacks. It's bundled in XAMPP, WAMP, MAMP, and Laragon — on Windows especially, these one-click stacks make Apache+PHP+MySQL available in minutes. Apache's big advantage over Nginx for local development is per-directory configuration via .htaccess, which means most PHP frameworks and CMSs work out of the box without touching the main config file.

Apache default: localhost:80

Config: see table below by stack | HTTPS: :443 | Default root: htdocs or www

Config File Locations by Stack

Stack	Platform	Apache Config	Web Root
XAMPP	Windows/Mac/Linux	`C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf`	`C:\xampp\htdocs\`
WAMP	Windows	`C:\wamp64\bin\apache\apache2.4.x\conf\httpd.conf`	`C:\wamp64\www\`
MAMP	Mac	`/Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/httpd.conf`	`/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/`
Laragon	Windows	`C:\laragon\bin\apache\version\conf\httpd.conf`	`C:\laragon\www\`
Ubuntu apt	Linux	`/etc/apache2/apache2.conf`	`/var/www/html/`
macOS Homebrew	Mac	`/usr/local/etc/httpd/httpd.conf`	`/usr/local/var/www/`

Enabling mod_rewrite

mod_rewrite is required by WordPress, Laravel, CodeIgniter, and almost every PHP framework for clean URLs. Without it, you get URLs like index.php?page=about instead of /about.

# In httpd.conf — uncomment this line (remove the #)
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

# Also ensure AllowOverride is set to All (not None)
# Find the <Directory> block for your web root:
<Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs">
    AllowOverride All     # <-- change None to All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

On Ubuntu: sudo a2enmod rewrite && sudo systemctl restart apache2

Virtual Hosts for Multiple Projects

Virtual hosts let you run multiple sites simultaneously — project1.local, project2.local — each pointing to a different folder. Much cleaner than localhost/project1/ subdirectories.

# Add to httpd-vhosts.conf (or end of httpd.conf)
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName project1.local
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/project1/public"
    <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/project1/public">
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Then add to hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts on Windows, /etc/hosts on Mac/Linux):

127.0.0.1   project1.local

.htaccess — Common Patterns

.htaccess files sit inside a directory and apply Apache config to that directory without touching the main config. Requires AllowOverride All to work.

# WordPress pretty permalinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

# Laravel / Symfony / most PHP frameworks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]

# Force HTTPS locally
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

PHP Configuration

Apache uses mod_php to execute PHP files directly — simpler than Nginx's PHP-FPM setup. Find your php.ini location:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>  // Create this as test.php in your web root

Common php.ini tweaks for local development:

display_errors = On
error_reporting = E_ALL
max_execution_time = 120
upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M
memory_limit = 256M

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Port 80 in use (usually Skype or IIS on Windows)	Change Apache to port 8080 in httpd.conf: `Listen 8080`
mod_rewrite not working	Confirm LoadModule line is uncommented AND AllowOverride All is set for the directory
.htaccess ignored	AllowOverride must be `All`, not `None` — check the <Directory> block covering your folder
Virtual host not resolving	Add the domain to `/etc/hosts` — DNS lookup happens before Apache routing
Check Apache error log	XAMPP: `C:\xampp\apache\logs\error.log` \| Ubuntu: `/var/log/apache2/error.log`