Install a Apache/MySQL/PHP web application locally

Question

We have a web application that is based on Apache, MySQL and PHP. I want to make that available as a desktop application for windows also, installed via MSI. A small .NET application starts a modified xampp package that we deploy and then opens an embedded Chromium-based browser.

Questions:

• How do I ensure that I am able to modify the Apache/MySQL/PHP config on run time? The files are stored in Program Files, and UAC of course does not allow me to change them without "Run as administrator". Is there a way to make these files editable during setup? Otherwise I would have to figure out how to start Apache/MySQL with custom config files from a temp directory.

• How do I tell the installer to add Apache & MySQL to the firewall exception list, or how do I tell the firewall that applications that listen only locally are not a threat?

Answer 1

I realized I do not want a dirty hack here and tried to do it "right":

• I modified the configuration of Apache and MySQL so that everything that changes lies in %APPDATA%. The configuration files are passed as command line arguments.
• The current version of Advanced Installer allows Firewall rules to be set on installation.

Actually it wasn't that hard to change the config as I thought it would be and I learned some bits in the process...