Boise State University EDTECH 552 Dr. Andy Hung

APACHE SERVER & DYNAMIC DNS PROJECT By James Flynn

I. Project Overview

The goal of this project was to set up a web server at home, while troubleshooting any problems that were encountered, to successful completion.

The objectives of this project were:

Set up an Apache & MySQL server.

Create a personal website with a template.

Set up Dynamic DNS to make your website service available to the public.

The following report is the steps taken to completion of the project, along with any issues that were encountered.

II. Server Deployment

Part 1: Download and install necessary software.

I chose to install the 64-bit version of WampServer from their homepage http://www.wampserver.com/en/, because the computer I was working on was using an x64 based processor.

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The following is a screenshots are of the download, installation, and starting of the WampServer program:

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Part 2: Test Server at LAN

This part entailed Securing MySQL database; Downloading a website template; and Finding root directory of WampServer.

Security of MySQL database was necessary before allowing Public Access. This was done through the phpMyAdmin window of WampServer.

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When the above was completed, I downloaded a template called Deep by Vacant from the website oswd.org (http://www.oswd.org/designs/favorites/page/12/).

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After downloading a template, I proceeded to look for the www file of WampServer, to replace the index file with my new website template. This was a necessary step in order to host my own website. This was also an important step for it made my template the new localhost.

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The template being installed as new localhost.

Next, I tested to check for new localhost implementation.

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Part 3: Publishing the server onto the Internet

This step was accomplished by the following steps:

Step 1: Check Network Layout

After reading the document and watching the video provided in the assignment overview, I determined that my network layout was Type 1.

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Step 2: Setup Dynamic DNS

To accomplish this step, I had to sign up a free Dynamic web service through No-IP (http://www.noip.com/).

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After signing up, I had to login and create my website host.

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After that was complete, I had to download and install the Dynamic DNS Update Client software.

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Unfortunately, I could not connect to the Update client, for it kept telling me session timeout.

Step 3: Put server online

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Step 4: Check for block ports

This was accomplished by visiting the website http://www.whatsmyip.org/port-scanner and running a scan.

Unfortunately, my ports were blocked and I had to troubleshoot to open for access. This was accomplished by creating a rule in my network config to allow the ports to be opened. I also thought that was why I could not connect to the Update Client.

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Once that was complete, I re-ran a scan to check for open ports.

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Once that was fixed, I opened up the Dynamic DNS Update Client, to track my website and check for success. Unfortunately, Again, I could not gain access.

After looking at the video again, I noticed that the Update client was different from the one that I had. I searched and downloaded an earlier version, in hopes that would fix the problem.

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Fortunately, the older version was successful and I was able to track my host.

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III. Lesson Learned

This was a very interesting, first-hand look assignment into web server construction. There is an abundance of information, tutorials, and free-stuff to help the completely inexperienced, like myself, to become successful. I realize now that the IT people in my school district do a lot more than just reset passwords. Although I will currently not reap any benefits of this project in my current employment assignment, I do hope it will allow me to transition into a different field after graduation.

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