Download
Instructions:
1. Download & Extract the above zip file
2. Use the free Rescuezilla Software ( https://rescuezilla.com/ ) to restore this pen drive image, on to a 8 GB OR More Good EMPTY Pen Drive (Hint Below)
3. Restart the computer and quickly change the BIOS Boot Order, to boot from this written pen drive
4. Check the network tray icon on its desktop for ethernet / lan cable connectivity. If required, configure by clicking the eth0 button in it, for the first time, after connecting pc to router with a lan cable.
5. Click the Pen Drive Symbol at the bottom of its desktop and view the WEBSERVERFILES/public_html folder. All these html files will now be accessible over the entire lan, by visiting https://ws.local/foldername on your favorite internet browser
6. Copy new html files / folders through another pen drive, onto this public_html folder and view them on the network
7. Change root passwords of this linux system, mysql db from the default password : change_this
Features
- 8. As this system is meant for local network usage, it uses a self-signed https certificate. Hence, browsers will throw a warning for the first time. Please accept the same and proceed ahead.
- 9. Please save this webpage completely, for future references.
- 10. The server name is ws.local
- 11. The access and error log files on the WEBSERVERFILES folder can be viewed by right clicking and choosing "Open As Text" option. These can be cleaned up, if they grow huge, from time to time, after stopping the services from the XAMPP Control Panel. See the screenshot below.
- 12. Always remove the pen drive safely after shutting down the operating system
- 13. Remember, to always check the network tray icon on its desktop for ethernet / lan cable connectivity, especially after changing the booting computer or the usb slot.
- 14. Any PC manufactured after 2009 / 2010, with a 64 bit processor inside, must be able to comfortably run this portable webserver operating system.
- 15. If necessary, this pen drive image can also be restored to a internal hard disk, for serving over larger intranets.
- 16. Hint: If you have got VirtualBox & its Extension Pack, installed on some machine, then it is very easy, to download this image zip file inside a VM, extract it, then shutdown the VM & attach Rescuezilla iso & an Empty Pen Drive to this VM, in its settings and then boot through the iso and restore the image quickly. After restoring, shutdown the VM, then boot through the Pen Drive on a Real Machine, by changing its boot order temporarily. Notes : A copy of Rescuezilla iso is kept in the Files Tab above for convenience.
- Take & Keep Backups of all your Files on different devices / disks for safety reasons.
- This Pen Drive Image When Restored, contains a FAT32 Filesystem, readable on most operating systems and copying your files to its public_html folder is very easy. Just remember to safely unplug the pen drive, for booting it later on any spare computer.
- For ease of use, a Pure-FTPd FTP Server is included in the Applications -> Network Menu. Just click on it to start the FTP Server and set the root password first time, as per its instructions. Then, you access the ftp server from any local network machine, using the free FileZilla ftp client software, on port 21 and the server name is ws.local Transfer files to its public_html folder very easily
- Features & Limitations of this Portable Webserver OS : Uses a FAT32 File System ( i.e With Pen Drive Base ) For Readability / Transferability of Files from most Operating Systems, thereby making it Portable / Plug & Play. Designed for Serving Only a Few Static Webpages / Static DB Data over the LAN. Users are expected to have a backup of these files, on other devices / disks for Data Redundancy. Text / Programming editors like geany are present for writing code in it. It is Not Suitable for Dynamic / Transaction Oriented Web Applications, where Fault Tolerance is of Paramount Importance. For such Applications, it is better to have XAMPP installed on EXT4 like Filesystems, that too on internal hard drives.
Project Samples
