Windows Installer Help
In this page you'll find all the necessary software you need to install LAMS using the windows installer. If you want to build LAMS from source, you can follow the instructions in Building LAMS.
For production environments, we recommend you use the Installing LAMS 2.4 Production in Windows guide.
 | Upgrading LAMS? If you already have a previous version of LAMS installed, see Windows Upgrading Help |
LAMS pre-requisites
LAMS needs:
- A database: MySQL Server
- Sun Java JDK
- Openfire (formerly called WildFire) Jabber server (not needed for LAMS 2.4.1 and later)
Make sure you have installed this software before you attempt to install LAMS. See the instructions below:
MySQL Database Server
See the Installing MySQL page. If you are using MySQL as part of an existing XAMPP setup, please read the notes on the Installing MySQLas you may need to set up a my.ini file before installing LAMS.
Java SE Development Kit (JDK)
 | Java 7 LAMS has not being tested with Java 7. Please user Java JDK 6 instead. |
LAMS requires the Sun JDK or 6. See the Installing Java page for more details.
Openfire (formerly called WildFire) Jabber Server
| Attention LAMS v 2.4.1+ users You not longer require a Jabber server for LAMS version 2.4.1 and later (see details here  ) |
For our Chat tool, we use the Openfire Jabber Server. See the Installing Openfire page.
Installing LAMS
Get the latest installer from the downloads page.
Here's a three minute animation that shows how installation works (for LAMS 2.3):
Things you need to know:
Setting Up MySQL Database Access (1/4)
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MySQL directory
Directory where you installed MySQL. It should be detected automatically. If you installed MySQL without the installer, or via a 3rd party package such as EasyPHP or XAMPP, you will need to specify the MySQL directory here.
Root password
Your MySQL root password. If your password is blank, leave empty.
Database name
Name that LAMS will use for its database. Don't change unless you need to.
MySQL Username
Username that LAMS will use to access its database. Don't change unless you need to.
MySQL Password
Password that LAMS will use to access its database. You don't need to remember this, as it is used automatically by LAMS.
Setting Up LAMS (2/4)
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Java JDK directory
Directory where you installed the JDK that you wish to use with LAMS. It should be detected automatically.
Content repository directory
Directory where most of the uploaded files will be installed e.g. the online and offline instruction files, plus any files uploading in the Forum or Submit Files tool.
If the disk drive on which LAMS is installed does not have a lot of free space, then change the content repository to another drive. If you do change the location then you will need to make sure you backup both the normal LAMS directory (usually c:\lams) AND the content repository directory.
Setting Up LAMS (3/4)
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Domain name
The domain name of your LAMS server.
For use on your own PC only you can leave the default value of "localhost".
For production/server use, please change to the domain name of your server. If your server has multiple names, use the one by which users will access LAMS.
 | Important You must access LAMS using http://servername:portnumber/lams/ . So if you do not get the servername right now, you will need to change it in the database directly later.Once you have LAMS up and running, you can change the servername if you change the name of the server - but you have to be able to log in with the old name to change it to the new name. |
Port
Port that LAMS will run on. Don't change unless you need to.
| Important Note that you need to make sure that there's no other application using the port you entered! |
For instance if you have another webserver or application that is currently using that port, then LAMS won't be able to start. If you use Skype note that it might be binding port 80! So shutdown skype before you start LAMS.
Default locale
Choose the default language for your LAMS server.
Setting Up Wildfire Chat Server (4/4)
| Attention LAMS v 2.4.1+ users You not longer require a Jabber server for LAMS version 2.4.1 and later (see details here ) |
Starting with LAMS 2.4.1 Wildfire is no longer needed. For previous LAMS versions please follow instructions below.
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| A note on configuring Wildfire... If you don't intend to install Wildfire, you don't need to worry about this screen. |
Domain name
Domain name of your Wildfire server. Should be the same as the one used when Wildfire was configured. If unsure, leave the default.
Admin username
Username of the Wildfire administrator - 'admin' by default. Don't change unless you need to.
Admin password
Password of the Wildfire administrator. Should be the same as the one used when Wildfire was configured. You don't need to remember this, as it is used automatically by LAMS.
Still having problems?
| Read the Troubleshooting Windows Installer Problems page and then post your issues/problems in this forum in the LAMS Community
If you have just run the LAMS 2.0.x updater to upgrade from LAMS 2.0, and you want to go back to a previous version of LAMS, then these manual instruction will tell you how to go back to the backup created by the installer. |