How to host a Linux-powered local dev site in Windows

A working copy of your site can run under Windows Subsystem for Linux

hands on If you're building a website that will eventually be hosted on a Linux server (as so many are), you have a couple of choices about where you do your development work. You can create a beta version of the site at your web host and upload all of the files there or you can create a local test server that sits in your home or office.

The test server could be a separate Linux machine such as a Raspberry Pi or it could be your main PC if you run Linux as your desktop OS. If you're doing your coding in Windows, you could run a local Windows web server, but that's not the best simulation of your production environment.

Instead, I recommend using Windows Subsystem for Linux to run a local Linux web server within Microsoft's OS. That way you can write your code in Windows while running it on the same platform it's destined for, no second computer or remote server required. Here's how.

Start by installing Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2). Launch PowerShell (any version) and enter the following:

wsl --install --no-distribution

Next, we'll install AlmaLinux 9 to use as our Linux distribution. By default, if you don't install WSL with the --no-distribution option, it will install Ubuntu, but most web hosting platforms use CentOS or AlmaLinux (which is similar to CentOS) so we're going with that. Find AlmaLinux 9 in the Microsoft Store and click install.

AlmaLinux OS 9 in Microsoft Store - Click to enlarge

Launch the AlmaLinux environment by finding its shortcut icon in Windows Search. Note that the first time you open it, AlmaLinux will ask you to set a username and password.

Set username for AlmaLinux - Click to enlarge

Since you just installed a new Linux instance, it's time to run an update to get everything up to the latest specs. You do that by entering the following in AlmaLinux:

sudo dnf update

Next, you'll need to set a password for the root user. Make sure you keep it handy.

sudo passwd root

After that, it's time to install a control panel app for the web server. Many hosting services use cPanel, but that comes with a licensing fee, so we're going to use Virtualmin and its companion Webmin (Virtualmin controls the server while Webmin controls each account), which is a free alternative. If you already own cPanel or another app, use that. To install Virtualmin / Webmin, enter:

sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://software.virtualmin.com/gpl/scripts/virtualmin-install.sh)" -- --bundle LAMP

If, during the process, you are asked for a fully-qualified domain name, you can enter something like host.example.com just to move the process along. We'll be using the IP address to get to Virtualmin, Webmin, and our local site.

Enter fully-qualified domain name for Virtualmin - Click to enlarge

When the installation is complete, the script will give you an IP address with :10000 at the end. Copy that and paste it into a browser.

Installing Virtualmin - Click to enlarge

The browser will give you a "Your connection is not private" error. Proceed anyway.

"Your connection is not private" error - Click to enlarge

Enter root as the username and the password you assigned to root into the Webmin dialog box. Then sign in.

Webmin login screen - Click to enlarge

Click Next to continue with the Post-Installation Wizard.

Webmin Post-installation wizard - Click to enlarge

Continue to click Next and accept the default settings until you get to the MariaDB password page. Here you might want to change the password to something more memorable. Or, at least, copy the password down.

Set MariaDB password - Click to enlarge

Check "Skip check for resolvability" on the nameserver page. This will ensure that, even if you use a bogus domain name like host.example.com, you can still get into Webmin using the IP address.

Skip check for resolvability - Click to enlarge

Click Add new virtual server.

click add new virtual server - Click to enlarge

Give your new virtual server an admin password and a domain name that doesn't have any top-level domain (no .com, .edu, etc). I used the domain name "mysite" for this purpose. Then click Create Server.

give your site a name and click Create Server - Click to enlarge

Now, it's time to install some applications you may need for your website. Navigate to Virtualmin->Manage Web Apps for a list of available apps. I recommend installing phpMyAdmin for database management and WordPress (if you are running a WordPress site).

Navigate to Manage Web Apps in Virtualmin - Click to enlarge

You should now be able to view the home page of your site by navigating to http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS (in my case this was http://172.26.88.73) and manage the database by going to http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS/phpmyadmin.

At this point, you may want to make it easier to access the local site by giving it a plain-language name you can use in lieu of its IP. Do this by editing the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file and including the name you want (ex: mysite) and the IP address.

add your site name to the hosts file - Click to enlarge

Remember that you'll have to add the http in front of the name (ex: http://mysite) to view the local site in your browser.

Next, you'll want to locate and set permissions for the public_html directory, which represents the root of your website. Virtualmin creates a user with the domain name of the site you entered when you created a virtual server and, in our case, that's mysite. So the relevant folder is located at /home/mysite/public_html.

Grant yourself permissions to this folder by entering the following at the Linux command line:

sudo chmod -R 777 /home/mysite

Now, you should be able to access the site's files in File Explorer by navigating to Linux->AlmaLinux-9->home->mysite->public_html

File Explorer open to public_html folder - Click to enlarge

With the correct permissions in place, you can do the development work for your site and then view what it looks like by going to http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS or http://mysite. Just make sure to keep an AlmaLinux WSL terminal window open or the webserver won't run. ®