How to Install Lighttpd on Windows 11

Lighttpd is a high-performance and lightweight web server that is known for its speed and low resource requirement. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Lighttpd on Windows 11.

Step 1: Download Lighttpd

The first step is to download the Lighttpd binary for Windows 11 from the official website at http://www.lighttpd.net/. Click on the Latest Version link to download the binary.

Step 2: Extract Lighttpd

After the download is complete, extract the Lighttpd files from the downloaded archive to a directory of your choice such as C:\Lighttpd.

Step 3: Configure Lighttpd

Next, create a configuration file for Lighttpd by opening a text editor such as Notepad and creating a new file named lighttpd.conf. Copy and paste the following sample configuration into the file:

server.document-root = "C:/Lighttpd/htdocs/"
server.port = 80
server.bind = "localhost"
mimetype.assign = (
    ".html" => "text/html",
    ".txt" => "text/plain",
    ".jpg" => "image/jpeg",
    ".png" => "image/png",
    ".gif" => "image/gif",
    ".css" => "text/css",
    ".js" => "application/x-javascript"
)

This configuration sets the server document root to C:/Lighttpd/htdocs/, sets the server port to 80, sets the server bind to localhost and assigns the various file types to their corresponding mimetypes.

Save the lighttpd.conf file in the Lighttpd directory (C:\Lighttpd\).

Step 4: Start Lighttpd

To start Lighttpd, open the command prompt by typing cmd in the Windows search bar, and then press Enter. Navigate to the Lighttpd directory by typing the following command:

cd C:\Lighttpd

Next, type the following command to start Lighttpd:

lighttpd.exe -f lighttpd.conf

The server should start running and you should see a message that says "lighttpd started."

Step 5: Test Lighttpd

To test Lighttpd, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/. You should see a message that says "Welcome to Lighttpd!"

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Lighttpd on Windows 11.

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