macOS Most pain free way to host a phpbb on my iMac running Tiger? I need help with mySQL!

Basically, I want to set up a phpBB test forum to run on my own iMac as a test for modifications and updates for my live forums (Link 1 and Link 2.

Now, I had a system set up on my old iBook (Which was running 10.3), and it took me practically a whole weekend to get setup, and I still don't know how I did it, plus I had no idea how to insert my database that was online into my local one for further testing.

So basically, I figure I need these:

Personal Web sharing set up and on
php4 running
A connectable mySQL server running on my machine.
An install of phpBB in my PWS folder

Now, SQL is a strange and mystifying technology to me. I am not hugely familiar with it beyond using it to dump SQL data backups from the forum and running the odd SQL command via phpMyAdmin to enhance the DB for modding purposes.

I seem to have 1,2 and 4 done okay. The forum software itself appears to be working from my web browser. However, I honestly have no idea how to get 3 done properly or how to get my phpbb to connect to it (despite that the SQL Panel in System Prefs tells me that it's running. I installed the 4.1 mySQL binary for Intel off the official MySQL site...

So how exactly do I set up mySQL so I can connect to it from my locally hosted phpBB install, as well as inserting all the data from my forum online? Step by step instructions if you can.

Or, if anyone has a tried and tested simple way to set it up, feel free to tell me.

Thanks for any and all help.

tominated said:

try using an app called mamp. it sets up mysql and php really easily.

Click to expand...

Thank you! That thing is a DREAM.

@Everyone else.

The reason I use phpbb? Well, it's pretty simple. When I founded warsworldnews, I didn't have enough money to get a VBulletin or an Invision Power Board. Simple Machines forums at the time were probably still a pipe dream. I was well aware of the risks when I installed it, but to date, the only problems I've had are spambot issues. I make local backups bi-weekly and my host backs up the SQL database daily.

Plus it currently integrates with the Mediawiki system we're intending to set up. Not to mention it was incredibly easy to mod the forum to remove all trace of post counts from the community (Communities I run have absolutely no post counts. They're just a source of drama and ego and no community needs them).

And with a setup on my local machine, It means I can test setting up, altering and administering other forum types before I mess with the live forums. Not to mention I can modify my current install and test the results.