We get asked this one a lot, here's an open source project that installs all this stuff for you so you can get on with your development projects.
Sourceforge XAMPP - apachefriends.org project home page.

Warning: this is not a secure installation, it's for development only as configured. If you are running a real server don't use this package, do it the real way, install all components from source.

This is a single package that installs Apache 2.0, PHP 5.0/4.3, PERL, and mySQL, along with some other stuff.

So if you're looking for a fast startup, go with this one, I'm going to give it a shot in my new Yoper Linux Box and see how it goes..

This package is available for windows, linux, and solaris, I'll let you know how it sets up.
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I can testify to this, just did this and it was really easy (my only problems occurred because of some expectations I had which were NOT an actuality, and had nothing to do with the installation or startup of the server....)

And I am by no means a genius when it comes to this sort of thing! It's been a LOT of years since dos command line....
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Nice to get some feedback on that one, thanks vkaryl, I usually try not to recommend stuff I haven't used personally, but this one did seem like a pretty solid install package, very well regarded. Good to see that seems to be a reputation that's deserved.

Personally I try to install the components separately, it's harder but more educational in the long run, I've never had any trouble with my Apache install, runs fine, but you do need to do it in the right order, and configure the stuff yourself.
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And y'know, I actually downloaded the components and considered that first. Then a friend pointed me to the apachefriends stuff, and since I'm not YET setting up a linux box, server, etc. I decided to get my feet wet gently.

I'm headed down the "components" road eventually. But for a localhost server, this is a great thing, and believe me, if I can do it, ANYONE can!
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Hey, slick! I tried to install all this stuff separately at first, couldn't get PHP, Apache and MySQL to talk to one another (even though they all worked separately). While I do eventually want to learn how to do the complete, "real" server setup, this got me out of a bind right now so I can at least get going on some PHP development!
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