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DevStackBox - Networking Reference

Ports, conflicts, firewall behavior, and localhost configuration.

Default Ports

Service Default Port Config File Config Key
Apache HTTP 80 config/httpd.conf Listen 80
MySQL 3306 config/my.cnf port = 3306
phpMyAdmin (served through Apache on port 80) - -

Binding Behavior

By default, all services bind to 127.0.0.1 (loopback) only.

This means:

  • Services are accessible from your machine only
  • Services are NOT exposed to your local network or internet
  • This is intentional for a local dev environment

Do NOT change bind addresses unless you know the security implications. See docs/SECURITY.md.

Common Port Conflicts

Port 80 Already in Use

Port 80 is blocked when another service is running on it.

Typical culprits on Windows:

| Service | How to Check | How to Stop | | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | --------------------- | | IIS (Internet Information Services) | netstat -ano | findstr :80 | Services → IIS → Stop | | World Wide Web Publishing Service | Task Manager → Services | net stop W3SVC | | Skype (older versions) | Skype Settings → Advanced | Uncheck "use port 80 and 443" | | Windows 10/11 Device Portal | Check Settings → Developer Mode | Disable Device Portal | | Another XAMPP / WAMP | Check system tray | Stop the other stack |

DevStackBox error message when port 80 is busy: Port 80 is not available. Another service may be using it.

Fix:

  1. Find what is using port 80: netstat -ano | findstr :80
  2. Note the PID in the last column
  3. Find the process: tasklist | findstr <PID>
  4. Stop that service
  5. Try starting Apache again

Or change Apache's port in config/httpd.conf:

Listen 8080

Note: changing the port means phpMyAdmin URL becomes http://localhost:8080/phpmyadmin/

Port 3306 Already in Use

Typical culprits:

Service How to Stop
Another MySQL instance Stop it via Services or its own manager
Another XAMPP Stop XAMPP MySQL
Docker MySQL container docker stop <container>

Fix:

netstat -ano | findstr :3306

Note PID, then:

tasklist | findstr <PID>

Or change MySQL's port in config/my.cnf:

[mysqld]
port = 3307

Note: changing the port means you must connect phpMyAdmin to the new port.

Firewall Behavior

Windows Defender Firewall may prompt to allow Apache and MySQL on first launch.

Expected behavior:

  • First time Apache starts: Windows Firewall dialog asks "Allow httpd.exe to communicate on network?"
  • Click "Allow access" - only for Private networks, NOT public networks
  • Same for MySQL's mysqld.exe

If you accidentally deny the firewall prompt:

  1. Open Windows Defender Firewall → Advanced Settings
  2. Find the blocked rule for httpd.exe or mysqld.exe
  3. Enable it

IIS Conflict (Common on Developer Machines)

IIS (Internet Information Services) is common on Windows developer machines and directly conflicts with Apache on port 80.

Disable IIS completely:

# Run as Administrator
Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName IIS-WebServer

Or just stop IIS temporarily:

net stop W3SVC
net stop WAS

Re-enable IIS later:

net start W3SVC

Accessing phpMyAdmin

URL: http://localhost/phpmyadmin/

Default credentials:

  • Username: root
  • Password: (empty)

If phpMyAdmin shows "Cannot connect to MySQL server":

  1. Check MySQL is running (green status in DevStackBox)
  2. Check phpmyadmin/config.inc.php - $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] should be 127.0.0.1
  3. Check MySQL port is 3306 (default)

Localhost DNS Behavior

localhost resolves to 127.0.0.1 via the Windows hosts file:

127.0.0.1   localhost

This file is at: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

DevStackBox does NOT modify this file unless you use the virtual hosts feature (Phase 3). The base localhost always works via Windows default.

Virtual Hosts (Phase 3 - Not Yet Available)

When virtual hosts are added, DevStackBox will:

  1. Add entries to the Windows hosts file:

    127.0.0.1   myapp.local
127.0.0.1   shop.local

  2. Add vhost blocks to Apache config (extra/httpd-vhosts.conf):

    <VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName myapp.local
    DocumentRoot "C:/dsb/www/myapp"
</VirtualHost>

  3. Require UAC elevation for the hosts file edit.

Current status: Not implemented. See docs/ROADMAP.md Phase 3.3.

HTTPS / SSL (Phase 5 - Not Yet Available)

Local HTTPS for localhost and virtual hosts is planned for Phase 5. The approach will be:

  1. Generate a local root CA with mkcert or similar
  2. Trust it in Windows Certificate Store (requires elevation)
  3. Issue certificates for localhost and configured virtual hosts

Current status: Not implemented. See docs/ROADMAP.md Phase 5.1.

Network Diagnostics

Quick commands to check port state from PowerShell:

# Check what is listening on port 80
netstat -ano | findstr ":80 "

# Check what is listening on port 3306
netstat -ano | findstr ":3306 "

# List all listening TCP ports
netstat -an | findstr LISTENING

# Find which process owns a PID
tasklist /FI "PID eq <PID>"