This guide shows how to set up a PHP and MySQL development environment using OSX's built-in Apache, using [Homebrew](http://brew.sh) to install necessary components. With this strategy, you can use different versions of PHP for certain virtual hosts.

[VirtualHostX](https://clickontyler.com/virtualhostx/) is a convenient way to manage development sites, but not required.

#### Install PHP and MySQL with Homebrew

	brew update
	brew install php56
	brew install php56-mcrypt
	brew install mysql
	mysql.server start

*The mcrypt extension is required for some PHP frameworks such as [Laravel](http://laravel.com/docs/installation).*

Optional: Install other extensions or versions of PHP

	brew install php56-xdebug
	brew install php55
	brew install php55-mcrypt

#### Configure PHP

Test PHP:

	/usr/local/Cellar/php56/5.6.0/bin/php --version

This should yield `PHP 5.6.0 (cli)`.

Edit your `~/.bash_profile` by adding the line:
	
	alias php='/usr/local/Cellar/php56/5.6.0/bin/php'
	alias php56='/usr/local/Cellar/php56/5.6.0/bin/php'	
Test your PHP alias:

	php --version
	
This should again yield `PHP 5.6.0 (cli)`.

#### VirtualHostX

Configure [VirtualHostX](https://clickontyler.com/virtualhostx/) to use Built-in Apache instead of MAMP.

Create a new site with custom virtual host directives:

	LoadModule php5_module /usr/local/Cellar/php56/5.6.0/libexec/apache2/libphp5.so
	AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
	DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php
	

#### Optional: Apache Without VirtualHostX

You can achieve the above without VirtualHostX by [manually editing](http://davidwalsh.name/create-virtual-host):

	/private/etc/hosts
	/private/etc/apache2/httpd.conf
	/private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf	
	
	
#### MySQL

With a MySQL client such as [Sequel Pro](http://www.sequelpro.com), connect to MySQL at `127.0.0.1` with the username `root` and no password. [Change the password](http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/resetting-permissions.html#resetting-permissions-generic) if you like.


#### Permissions

Enable write permissions for Apache by changing its User and Group settings.

Edit `/private/etc/apache2/httpd.conf`:

	User your_mac_username
	Group staff