WampServer

Hi,

I just purchased a Windows 8 computer, 64 bit. Until now I've used Wampserver on XP. The problem is that it's difficult to find a free firewall, compatible with Windows 8 64 bit. ZoneAlarm is a possibility, but I've seen that ZA is in many ways conflicting with Wamp. Right now I have Kaspersky Internet Security for free for 70 more days.

Which version of Wamp would be the best? So that I don't have to make a whole lot of changes on the computer in order to make it work properly with ZA.

Kind regards
Vanda

if you install wamp before installing the ZA , it works ok.

ESET ENOD and ZA all fail to recognise programs using ports. Bad design. Windows Firewall is very capable, i dont know why people dont like it

Steven Martin
stevenmartin99@gmail.com
stevenmartin99@hotmail.com
PampServer.com - [pampserver.com]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for a quick reply :-)

Which version of Wamp would be the best?

Kind regards
Vanda

I found out which version by contacting the person responsible for the genealogy program I use with the Wampserver.

At first Wamp wouldn't open, I then searched in your forum and found the solution by changing the following in the Apache .httpd.config file:

Instead of "listen 80" I put "listen 0.0.0.0:80" and instead of "Deny from all" I put "Allow from all".

Skype and Wamp couldn't run at the same time. In Skype > Tools > Options > Advanced > Connection the port is 33393. In the next line it says Use port 80 and 443 as alternative, so this I unchecked, now I can have Skype and Wamp open at the same time.

So I hope there won't be any problem with Skype using port 33393. Maybe I will have to change the "listen 0.0.0.0:80" in the Apache .httpd.config file, if problems arise.

Kind regards
Vanda

Vanda,

All looks good apart from manually changing Deny from all to Allow from all

It is best not to change this, if you want to allow the whole universe to see your site use the 'Put Online' menu item. If you make manual changes its most likely that the 'Put Online' and 'Put Offline' wont work anymore.

PS. Its not necessary to 'Put Online' if you are just developing, its only needed if you want to open your site to the universe. Not a god idea if you are just using wamp to do development.

RiggsFolly,

I only use Wamp offline, will that not be okay? I use a webhotel for my genealogy site on the internet.

It does depend on where you put the Allow

But as long as you dont port forward port 80 on your router it should not really matter

Where would it be best that I don't use Allow? I changed it 3 Places, as far as I remember, i.e. all the places, where it said Deny from all. If I change some of the Allow's back to Deny, I hope it still works.

Or do you have any other suggestions to what I could do in order to make it work?

This is all in httpd.conf


This section should stay as Deny from all as this protects the drive you installed Apache on from being accessed by any rouge access attempts.

<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
</Directory>


This section should stay as this is coded to make the Put Online/Put Offline work properly. The layout is very specific as well as the on and off line processing searches for the code starting with the # onlineoffline tag - don't remove to do the changes. Dit tacky I know but there it is.

<Directory "c:/wamp/www/">
...

...

# onlineoffline tag - don't remove
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 127.0.0.1 ::1 192.168.1

</Directory>

If you want to, like me you can add to the Allow list all the ip addresses that you want to be allowed access, for example the IPV6 localhost address ::1 and any PC in my local network 192.168.1



This should stay as Deny from all as it stops access to 2 very important file .htaccess and .htpassword. Even if you are not using those feature you may decide to later.

<FilesMatch "^\.ht">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy All
</FilesMatch>


Change them one at a time, restart Apache after each change and check your site(s) still work.


Regarding your firewall, a router is a very good firewall and I turn the Microsoft firewall on and have Free AVG Anti virus as an AV.
I have had no breaches even though I seem to get checked over frequently by some Chinese IP addresses that link back to secret police headquarters.



The listen 0.0.0.0:80 just tells Apache to only Listen on the IPV4 address range and is quite a good idea on W7 and W8 as it also makes the phpMyAdmin etc security work properly as it is configured in the defulat install.



If you get problems let me know I will help however I can.

RiggsFolly,

I'm very greatful for your good advice - I changed as you have suggested, also the Allow from 127.0.0.1 ::1 192.168.1

I shut down Wamp completely and restarted, and it still opens up. I haven't added my genealogy files yet, I'll do it tomorrow. I'm pretty confident that it will work out allright.

Kind regards
Vanda

You are welcome.