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6 Steps to Install Magento 2 on XAMPP Windows Using Composer

Last Updated On: Sonal Motghare-Balpande Magento 2

In this article, we will go through the process of installing Magento2 with Elasticsearch in Localhost using Xampp on Windows.

With the release of Magento 2.4, Magento 2 now requires Elasticsearch as a mandatory component. Magento2 depends on Composer, Elasticsearch. So to install Magento2, we first need to install these.

This installation process is explained step by step in this article, so follow it while reading.

Tip:- To install Magento 2 on the Production environment, users are recommended to install it in localhost first. Then transfer the local installation copy to a Magento 2 hosting server and update domain name in store’s Base Url, and reindex Magento 2.

The following are the contents-

 

Step 1: Install Xampp and Composer

Our first step to install Xampp as it has PHP, MySQL, Apache installed in it. These are required to have Magento2 setup on Windows.

XAMPP

First of all, we will download and install Xampp, a web server solution stack package that helps developers to create and test their applications on a local webserver.

>Download Xampp here: Click Here To Download Xampp

Download and Install Xampp

Next, run set up file and proceed with all steps to install Xampp. In Select Components step, make sure to select Mysql and PHP, PHPmyadmin.

 

Now open XAMPP and start Apache and Mysql

 

COMPOSER

Now we will install Composer on localhost.

Composer is a library management tool in PHP (Dependency Management), this tool saves us a lot of time with the necessary packages that your project needs to use, you just need to declare it, Composer will automatically download the code of the libraries through a community server.

>Download Composer Windows version here: Click Here To Download Composer

Now we will verify if Composer was successfully installed by opening Windows Command Promp and type composer . If the command prompt screen returns this outcome > Composer was installed properly

 

Magento 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 and 2.4.4 and 2.4.5 supports Composer Version 2 but Magento 2.4.1 installation does not support Composer version 2. 

So for Magento2.4.2, we can use Composer 2 but for Magento2.4.1, we need to downgrade Composer.

By default, the version of composer for windows is the latest version 2.2.2.

For Magento2.4.2, 2.4.3 and 2.3.7,

you can use Composer version 2.x so go to next step. 

This is Magento official website data for checking composer version suitable for magento versions.

For other Magento versions:-

To downgrade the composer version, issue this command:

composer selfupdate --1

Sample output:

Step 2: Install elasticsearch on windows

Elasticsearch is now a required application to install Magento 2.4. During installation process, the system will verify if Eleasticsearch was installed and configured properly. If there’s something wrong with Elasticsearch verification, the installation process will stop.

Download Elasticsearch for Windows here: Click Here To Download Elasticsearch here

Next, unzip archived file at the “C:\xampp\htdocs\” as shown below and go to \elasticsearch-7.16.2\bin

Right click on elasticsearch.bat and select run as administrator

Leave this window running on background

To check if Elasticsearch is running on your system, in your browser type: localhost:9200

If you see this result page => Elasticsearch is running properly

Step 3: Config php.ini

Before we will install Magento 2, make sure to install and enable all required PHP extensions and configure some PHP values to make the installation go smoothly

Enable required php extensions

As stated in Magento 2.4 system requirement, we need to install and enable the following php extension

bcmath ctype curl dom
gd hash iconv intl
mbstring openssl pdo_mysql simplexml
soap xsl zip ext-sockets

On windows OS, all the extensions are automatically and periodically compiled by the PHP Group. You just need to enable these required extensions in php.ini

Go to C:\xampp\php\php.ini

Quick tip: You can quickly open php.ini on Xampp interface with this button

[PHP]
;extension=intl
;extension=soap
;extension=xsl
;extension=sockets
;extension=sodium
Remove ; from the above lines of php.ini file. Save the file.

The other extensions are enabled by default after we install Xampp, so we don’t need to include them here. Remember to save files before exiting.

Configure php settings

In php.ini file, search and change the following values as below

max_execution_time=18000
max_input_time=1800
memory_limit=4G

These values will keep the installation go properly without interuption.

Finally, restart apache to apply php settings by click on apache Stop and Start button on XAMPP

 

Quick tip: You can quickly open php.ini on Xampp interface with this button

 

Step 4: Create database for Magento 2 website

Before we process the installation, we have to create a database for Magento 2 website to store all settings related to products, catalog, users, store configuration….

In Xampp interface, open PHPmyadmin by clicking on Admin button to open phpmyadmin (you can also type: localhost/phpmyadmin/ in browser to access phpmyadmin)

 

On phpmyadmin page, click on New => type database name => click on Create to create a new database. For example, I create magento2 database here

 

By default, Xampp does not set a password for MYSQL, so we will need to create a new root password for mysql.

On Xampp, click on Shell button to open command interface

 

Next, input the following command to change mysql root password

mysqladmin.exe -u root password yourpassword

Peplace yourpassword with your desired password. I put root as password.

Now, to use phpmyadmin, you will also need to enter the new password. To make phpmyadmin automatically login with your new password, go to C:\xampp\phpMyAdmin\config.inc.php and insert your new password here

 

Step 5: Install Magento 2

Now every preparation steps are done and we can start installing Magento 2 on Localhost.

In command prompt, cd D:\xampp8.1\htdocs,

Run below command for Magento 2.4.2

composer create-project --repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition=2.4.2 magento2

Run below command for Magento 2.4.3

composer create-project --repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition=2.4.3 magento2

Run below command for Magento 2.4.4

composer create-project --repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition=2.4.4 magento2

Run below command for Magento 2.4.5 

composer create-project --repository-url=https://repo.magento.com/ magento/project-community-edition=2.4.5 magento2

magento2 – is the folder name

Create an account on Magento marketplace and go to https://marketplace.magento.com/customer/accessKeys/ to get private and public access key,

 

 

Create Access keys here. If you have access keys, you can use those. Or you can use below keys

Now enter Username  and password to start downloading

  • Username: Your public Key  2fc966a913d4e83b28041eeb3c3b72e5
  • Password: Your private key. 48e05400d17ca1bcb4e693825c45416e

Now, see the magento2 folder with all files and folders.

 

Once done with extraction, now see the magento241 folder with all files and folders.

We need to set document root, to do this go to file C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf

Basr URl for Magento2.4.1: – DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/magento2"

Add this content in the bottom of the file.

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/magento2/pub"
    ServerName yourname.magento.com
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs"
    ServerName localhost
</VirtualHost>

 

Where,

DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/magento2/pub"=> location of the magento2 folder path

yourname.magento.com – this is the base url which you can set as per your wish. Ex: – sonal.magento.com

Now, Open notepad with “Run as administrator”.

lets open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file in notepad and add the below line at the bottom of the file.

 127.0.0.1  yourname.magento.com

Restart apache to apply php settings by click on apache Stop and Start button on XAMPP

 

Now insert this command to start installing Magento 2 (make sure Elasticsearch, Apache, Mysql all are running before execute this command)

 

C:\Users\Username>cd C:\xampp\htdocs\magento2

C:\xampp\htdocs\magento2>

php bin/magento setup:install --base-url="http://yourname.magento.com/" --db-host="localhost" --db-name="magento2" --db-user="root" --db-password="root" --admin-firstname="admin" --admin-lastname="admin" --admin-email="user@example.com" --admin-user="admin" --admin-password="Admin@123456" --language="en_US" --currency="USD" --timezone="America/Chicago" --use-rewrites="1" --backend-frontname="admin" --search-engine=elasticsearch7 --elasticsearch-host="localhost" --elasticsearch-port=9200

 

Replace these values:
  • –base-url: your magento 2 installation folder
  • –db-name: your database name in step 3
  • –db-password: your database password in step 3

Other values are optional, we can change later.

Now if everything is done properly, Composer will start to install Magento 2.

 

If you meet below mentioned error then continue or go to this link to get it resolved here.
If you get the following error, then follow the given solution below-
Error : –

In PatchApplier.php line 170:

Unable to apply data patch Magento\Theme\Setup\Patch\Data\RegisterThemes for module Magento_Theme. Original exception message: Wrong file

In Gd2.php line 64: Wrong file

 

Solution: –

Here Image Adapter try opens to image files (‘open function in Gd2.php line 63). validateURLScheme function return false always because it checking ‘URL’ format but local files not valid for this format, so it returns false.

Find validateURLScheme function in vendor\magento\framework\Image\Adapter\Gd2.php file. at line 86. Replace function with this:

private function validateURLScheme(string $filename) : bool   {
          $allowed_schemes = ['ftp', 'ftps', 'http', 'https'];
          $url = parse_url($filename);
          if ($url && isset($url['scheme']) && !in_array($url['scheme'], $allowed_schemes) && !file_exists($filename)) {
              return false;
          }

          return true;   
}

Save the file and again run the magento2 install command in the command prompt.

When everything is done, you will see this notification.

 

Now, do the following:-

  • Remove semicolon from the beginning of the line ;extension=sodium from php.ini which enables it.
  • Copy D:\xampp8.1\php\libsodium.dll to D:\xampp8.1\apache\bin\
  • Restart Apache means stop and start Apache.

Congratulation, Magento 2.4 was successfully installed on localhost

Now if you go to your browser with this URL to access Magento 2 store: http://localhost/magento241 .You will probably see a blank page like this

Here’s how to fix this:

Go to: D:\xampp8.1\htdocs\magento2\vendor\magento\framework\View\Element\Template\File

Edit Validator.php using a text editor and find this line:

instead of the line

strpos($realPath, $directory)

use

strpos($path, $directory)

Save the File.

Then,

Open up app/etc/di.xml in the editor,

– Find the path “Magento\Framework\App\View\Asset\MaterializationStrategy\Symlink” and replace to “Magento\Framework\App\View\Asset\MaterializationStrategy\Copy”

Save the file.

Next, you will need to run these command to upgrade the database and deploy static view files

C:\xampp\htdocs\magento241>

php bin/magento indexer:reindex
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f
Wait for the process to complete. Once done run below cache command
php bin/magento cache:flush

Now reload your website and you will see the your new Magento 2 website on localhost.

 

If you haven’t installed magento 2 with sample data and now wants to do it follow below Step 5.

Step 6: Install sample data for Magento 2

Now we will deploy sample data for our new Magento 2 website on localhost. Sample data will fill your website with some products, categories and images so your website will look like this:

In command interface, issue this command to deploy sample data

php bin/magento sampledata:deploy

sample output

Next, reindex, deploy static view files and upgrade database

php bin/magento indexer:reindex
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

Finally flush cache to apply changes

php bin/magento cache:flush

Well done! refresh your website and enjoy your new Magento 2.4 installation with sample data

Troubleshoot admin login authentication error

Your Admin Url – http://yourname.magento.com/admin/ 

Ex.- Url – http://localhost/magento24/admin

When logging to admin dashboard with username – admin and password – Admin@123456(which we set in magento install command), you may see this error

 

To fix this issue, open Magento 2 Command prompt and run this command

php bin/magento module:disable Magento_TwoFactorAuth

This command will disable Magento 2 Two-Factor Authorization so you won’t see the error message in admin panel

 

Now refresh admin page and you will be able to log in to admin dashboard normally.

 

Wrapping up

Installing Magento 2 on localhost is very frustrating and many users may give up because there’re too many issues during installation process. Just follow this tutorial step by step and drop a comment below if you need any help.

You can also reach out to this below video to install magento 2 on localhost Windows using Xampp, Composer.

 

Magento2 Interview Preparation

Get Glasses for yourself and your family to protect your eyes from computer, Mobile, Laptop, Tab blue light.

 

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24 thoughts on “6 Steps to Install Magento 2 on XAMPP Windows Using Composer”

  3. devi says:

    Hi, Thank you for your effort and time make such an awesome video on this Magento 2. I followed every step on this video for installation. yet, am getting *404 not found* error while trying to see the home page of Magento

    the below lines are showing when am trying to see the home page:
    ***Not Found
    The requested URL was not found on this server.

    Apache/2.4.53 (Win64) OpenSSL/1.1.1n PHP/8.1.6 Server at localhost Port 80***

    Any idea on how to solve this?

    Thank you in advance

    Reply
  4. Sibi Chakravarthy says:

    Awesome article , everything is pinpoint and i really got through what i was struggling with for 1 whole week.

    Reply
  6. Matt says:

    Thank you ! good article. The install went well but go this error in admin screen

    Your web server is set up incorrectly and allows unauthorized access to sensitive files.

    Reply
  7. nisa shaik says:

    hi first of all thank you so much for this wonderful blog. i did everything mentioned in this blog but still i am getting this message i know why whenever i am trying to run the below command

    php bin/magento setup:install –base-url=”http://yoursitename.magento.com/” –db-host=”localhost” –db-name=”magento2″ –db-user=”root” –db-password=”root” –admin-firstname=”admin” –admin-lastname=”admin” –admin-email=”admin@gmail.com” –admin-user=”admin” –admin-password=”admin@123″ –language=”en_US” –currency=”USD” –timezone=”America/Chicago” –use-rewrites=”1″ –backend-frontname=”admin” –search-engine=elasticsearch7 –elasticsearch-host=”localhost” –elasticsearch-port=9200

    i am getting this error

    Class “Magento\Backend\App\Request\PathInfoProcessor\Proxy” does not exist

    can you help me with this i am really worried from past few days but still i am getting the same message please do help.

    Reply
    1. Sonal Motghare-Balpande
      Sonal Motghare-Balpande says:

      In development mode, symlinks are generated automatically when page load.

      Now if files are generated in pub static folder, perform below steps to generate symlinks.

      Remove files and folders present in the folder magento_root_directory/pub/static/frontend and adminhtml folder(Don’t delete .htaccess file)

      Now load the page, symlinks will create in pub static folder on-demand in developer mode.

      Reply
  9. John Doe says:

    thanks for the article and video. I appreciate the step by step process. though some fixes still needed some research, majority of the installation fix was provided by the article. thanks!

    Reply
  10. Ghouri says:

    Its awesome manual and hard work is appreciated.Magento is not simple to install but this manual make it look so simple.Thanks

    Reply
  12. Clive says:

    Hello, when I try to install Magento with php bin/magento setup:install…….. etc, I get the error ‘The “-b” option does not exist.’

    Any ideas?

    Reply

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