when building websites i use a fantastic application called xampp. basically its an application that installs and configures the following:

Apache 2.2.9
MySQL 5.0.51b
PHP 4.4.8
PHP 5.2.6
Perl 5.10.0
ProFTPD 1.3.0a
phpMyAdmin 2.11.7
OpenSSL 0.9.8h
GD 2.0.35
Freetype 2.3.5
libjpeg 6b
libpng 1.2.18
libungif-4.1.4
zlib 1.2.3
expat 2.0.1
Ming 0.3
Webalizer 2.01-10
pdf class 009e
mod_perl 2.0.3
SQLite 3.4.0
phpSQLiteAdmin 0.2
libiconv-1.11
gdbm-1.8.3
libxml-2.6.29
libxslt-1.1.21
openldap-2.3.36
imap-2004g
gettext-0.16.1
libmcrypt-2.5.8
mhash-0.9.9
curl-7.16.4
zziplib-0.10.82
bzip2-1.0.3
freetds-0.64

well, the problem is in the mac os x version there is no easy way to start the application and all the services automatically when you boot up. the windows version has an option to install as a service. but us mac guys/gals are left in the dark. and have to manually start all the services. which sucks because i use a site in xampp as my homepage.

so i found a rather easy way to get xampp to auto start at boot up.

1. open script editor
2. type the following line in script editor:

do shell script "sudo /Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/mampp start" password "YOUR ADMIN PASWORD" with administrator privileges

[obviously replace your admin password with – your actual password.]

3. select File from the menu
4. select save as
5. name it whatever you want i called mine “xampp-autostart”
6. select “application” from the file format drop down
7. click save
8. i put the file in the /applications directory

now we are half way there… next we have to set it as a login item…

1. open system preferences
2. click “accounts”
3. select your user [you might have to authenticate]
4. click “login items”
5. click the plus sign
6. find the application you saved in /applications
7. click add

now every time you boot your mac up. xampp will autostart.
you can confirm by accessing: http://localhost in your browser