I’m tired of setting up my local development environment every time I switch computers or need to reinstall Windows. I want to put my entire WAMP stack (Apache, MySQL, PHP) on cloud storage so I can access it from any machine without losing my configurations and databases.
Most tutorials only show how to sync the www folder and database files, but I need the complete server installation in the cloud. This would save me hours of reconfiguring virtual hosts and recreating databases when moving between my desktop and laptop.
Has anyone tried this approach? What problems might I run into? I’m considering two options:
Using the portable WAMP version directly in cloud storage
Installing normally then moving everything to the cloud with symbolic links
I know Windows services might not work properly, but I only use one computer at a time anyway. Just want my development sites and settings to follow me everywhere.
I ran WAMP from Google Drive for about six months and hit some major issues you should know about. The biggest problem? Database corruption when sync kicked in while MySQL was running. Even if you’re only using one computer, cloud storage has delayed sync that messes with lock files and temp database files. Here’s what worked for me: keep Apache and PHP configs in cloud storage, but run MySQL locally with scheduled database exports to the cloud. You can quickly restore databases on any machine without corruption risk. Portable WAMP beats symbolic links, but modify Apache config to use relative paths instead of absolute ones. Also heads up - antivirus software sometimes blocks executables running from cloud folders.
Docker’s probably your best bet here. I ditched trying to sync WAMP installs after constantly dealing with broken paths and service registration headaches. Docker Desktop gives you the exact same Apache/MySQL/PHP setup on every machine without any cloud sync drama. Keep your project files in Dropbox or OneDrive, but run the server stack from local containers. Takes about 10 minutes to get everything running on a new machine with docker-compose. There’s a learning curve, but you’ll never deal with registry corruption or file locking issues again. Plus, your databases and configs become portable and version-controlled without worrying about sync timing.
totally get ur struggle! I had issues with WAMP too. I moved 2 XAMPP and it’s been a breeze. Just be careful with the permissions. Also, I’ve found Dropbox way more reliable for syncin’ than OneDrive. good luck!