How to start XAMPP in Ubuntu using the command line?

XAMPP is a local server environment that is useful for developers or anyone who want to test some web application locally, either to develop further or experience it before using it in production. It offers a complete LAMP stack that includes Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl. The best feature is the XAMPP is not going to interfere with any web server or LAMP stack components if you have them natively on your system.

It is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, but unlike Windows, Linux users will not have a shortcut to open XAMPP by default. So, new users after installation of this tool got perplexed because once you close it, to start this application again either you need to use the command line or create a shortcut.

However, here we learn how you can start the XAMPP on Ubuntu using the command terminal 

Step 1: Install XAMPP

Well, I am assuming that you already have XAMPP installed on your Ubuntu Linux system and now you are looking for a way to start it using the terminal. However, those who have not installed it yet can see our article on the installation of XAMPP in Ubuntu step by step.

Step 2: Open Ubuntu Terminal

Now, to run the XAMPP using the command on Ubuntu, first, open the terminal app. You can either use the keyboard shortcut that is Ctrl+Alt+T or can click on the Activities given in the Ubuntu taskbar to search for “Terminal“.

Step 3: Command to Start XAMPP GUI

When we install XAMPP, the system will configure its executable files inside /opt/lampp directory. So, if you want to start the XAMPP GUI then the command will be:

sudo /opt/lampp/./manager-linux-x64.run
Start XAMPP GUI using Command in Ubuntu

Step 4: Start or Stop XAMPP services in Ubuntu

Now, suppose you want to start or stop all XAMPP services using the command terminal on your Ubuntu. So, for that first switch to /opt/lampp directory:

cd /opt/lampp

Now, use the XAMPP executable tool to control various functions of it. Let’s see what options are available to use with this command tool.

./xampp --help
Xampp command options

Start All Services:

Let’s say you want to start all XAMPP available services using the command line such as Apache, MySQL, and ProFTPD. So, for this, the command will be:

To start all services together:

sudo ./xampp start

Individually one by one:

For Apache:

sudo ./xampp startapache

For only MySQL

sudo ./xampp startmysql

For only ProFTPD

sudo ./xampp startftp

Stop All Services:

If Apache, MySQL, and FTP services are already running and you want to stop all of them simultaneously, then the command will be:

To stop all services together:

sudo ./xampp stop

Individually one by one:

For Apache:

sudo ./xampp stopapache

For only MySQL

sudo ./xampp stopmysql

For only ProFTPD

sudo ./xampp stopftp

Reload or Restart

For those who want to use the command line for reloading or restarting XAMPP services, here are commands to follow:

Reload All services:

sudo ./xampp reload

Similarly to Restart, use:

sudo ./xampp restart

For individual services:

Reload or Restart Apache:

sudo ./xampp reloadapache

or

sudo ./xampp restartapache

Similarly for MySQL:

sudo ./xampp reloadmysql

or

sudo ./xampp restartmysql

For ProFTPD

sudo ./xampp reloadftp

or

sudo ./xampp restartftp

Step 5: To check the status of the current services

If you are not sure which service is running or not, we can use the Status command of XAMPP, here is that:

sudo ./xampp status

Step 6: Add the XAMPP command line shortcut

Well, to use the Xampp command tool by switching to its installation directory can be a bit annoying, to solve this we can create a hard link to its executable file under /usr/local/bin.

sudo ln /opt/lampp/xampp /usr/local/bin

After that, you can use the Xampp command line from anywhere on the terminal.

example:

sudo xampp status

For Desktop Shorcut (optional)

Those who want desktop and application shortcuts for XAMPP can need to create a file that will be used as a Desktop shortcut in which we add some entries that will let the system execute and launch the XAMPP application.

nano Desktop/XAMPP.desktop

Add Lampp server and icon path

Inside the above-created launcher file, copy and paste the below entries which define the type of the shortcut, and the path to execute along with the icon.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=XAMPP
Exec=sudo /opt/lampp/manager-linux-x64.run
Icon=/opt/lampp/htdocs/favicon.ico
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false

Save the file using Ctrl+O, hit the Enter key, and then exit the file – Ctrl+X.

Now give sudo permission to your desktop shortcut.

sudo visudo

Scroll to the end of the file and past the given line:

your-user ALL = NOPASSWD: /opt/lampp/manager-linux-x64.run

Note: Don’t forget to replace the your-user with the current user that you are using to run XAMPP on your Ubuntu system.

Save the file using – Ctrl+O hit the Enter key, and then exit- Ctrtl+X.

Next, right-click on the Desktop icon and select Allow launching.

Now, double-click on your Desktop icon to run the XAMPP.

XAMPP desktop ubuntu shortcut

Those who also want to create an Application launcher for it, need to just copy the created desktop icon in the Applications directory of the system.

sudo cp ~/Desktop/XAMPP.desktop /usr/share/applications/

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