Table of Contents

• Prerequisites
• Environment Variables
• Create Database / User
• Run Migrations
• Seed Data
• Start the Server
• Start Using the App
• Troubleshooting

Database Setup

Database Setup (for Local Development with XAMPP)

This repository expects a relational database. Use XAMPP (MySQL / MariaDB + phpMyAdmin) for local development.

Prerequisites

• XAMPP installed and running (start Apache and MySQL/MariaDB in XAMPP Control Panel)
• phpMyAdmin (included with XAMPP) or mysql client
• Check repo for migration/ORM tool (Prisma, Sequelize, Alembic, Rails, EF Core, etc.)

Environment variables

Create or update .env:

# MySQL / MariaDB connection
DATABASE_URL=mysql://myuser:mypassword@127.0.0.1:3306/mydb
# or individual parts
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_USER=myuser
DB_PASS=mypassword
DB_NAME=mydb

Use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost if you need TCP (avoids socket issues).

Create database / user

Using phpMyAdmin: open http://localhost/phpmyadmin, create database and user, grant privileges.

Using mysql client:

-- connect as root (XAMPP default root often has no password)
mysql -u root -p

-- inside mysql shell:
CREATE DATABASE mydb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'myuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mydb.* TO 'myuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

If root has no password, omit -p when connecting. Consider setting a root password for security.

Run migrations

Run the migration command your project uses, e.g.:

• Prisma (MySQL): npx prisma migrate deploy
• Sequelize: npx sequelize db:migrate or npm run migrate
• Rails (MySQL adapter): rails db:migrate
• Alembic (use MySQL URL): alembic upgrade head
• EF Core: dotnet ef database update

Ensure DATABASE_URL or DB_* vars point to your XAMPP MySQL instance.

Seed data

If repo includes seeds:

• Node: npm run seed
• SQL file: mysql -u myuser -p -h 127.0.0.1 mydb < scripts/seed.sql
• Or use phpMyAdmin import

Verify

• Connect with mysql client: mysql -u myuser -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 mydb
• Open phpMyAdmin: http://localhost/phpmyadmin
• Run app and check health endpoint.

Troubleshooting

• "Connection refused": ensure MySQL is running in XAMPP and port 3306 is correct.
• Auth errors: XAMPP root may have no password; ensure user exists and has privileges.
• Socket vs TCP: use 127.0.0.1 and port 3306 if localhost fails.
• Port conflict: change MySQL port in XAMPP config if needed.

Notes

• Use strong passwords for production; XAMPP is for local/dev only.
• Apply a single SQL file (db.sql) directly:

mysql -u myuser -p -h 127.0.0.1 mydb < db.sql

• Alternatively import db.sql via phpMyAdmin (Import → choose db.sql → Go).

Start the server

1. Install dependencies and prepare env:

cp .env.example .env   # or create .env as shown above
# edit .env to point to your DB and set APP_PORT if needed
# install deps (example per stack)
npm install            # Node
pip install -r requirements.txt  # Python
bundle install         # Rails
dotnet restore         # .NET

2. Run migrations/seeds if not done:

# examples
npx prisma migrate deploy
npm run migrate
python manage.py migrate
alembic upgrade head
dotnet ef database update

# seed if available
npm run seed
mysql -u myuser -p -h 127.0.0.1 mydb < db.sql

3. Start the app (common commands—use the one for your project):

# Node
npm run dev        # watch mode (nodemon)
npm start          # production

# Rails
bin/rails server -p 3306

# Django
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:3306

# Flask
FLASK_APP=app.py flask run --host=0.0.0.0 --port=3306

# .NET
dotnet run

# Spring Boot (Maven)
./mvnw spring-boot:run

Note: ensure the app port does not conflict with your database port.

Start using the app

• Open the app in a browser: http://localhost:3306 (replace port if configured).
• Check health/heartbeat endpoint (example):

curl -i http://localhost:3306/health

• Use Postman or curl to exercise API endpoints:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3306/api/login -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"username":"user","password":"pass"}'

• Tail logs for runtime errors:

# Node
npm run dev    # shows logs in console

# Rails / Django / .NET
# view console output where server was started

Troubleshooting:

• If connection to DB fails, confirm .env DB_* / DATABASE_URL and DB host/port are correct and MySQL is running.
• If port conflict occurs, change APP_PORT in .env or pass -p to the server command.
• If CORS issues appear when testing from the browser, enable CORS in your app or use Postman/curl.
• For production, build the app as documented in the repo before starting.