How to migrate from XAMPP to LampRabit (in about 15 minutes)

Moving off XAMPP sounds like a weekend project. It isn’t. LampRabit uses the same database defaults as XAMPP, Apache still reads your .htaccess files, and your XAMPP folder stays untouched until you decide to remove it. Here’s the short version; the full XAMPP migration guide has every detail.

What you’ll gain

C:\xampp\htdocs\shop at http://localhost/shop becomes C:\lampRabit\www\shop at https://shop.test, with a trusted certificate.
Several PHP versions side by side instead of one per XAMPP install.
Mailpit catching every email, with no Mercury configuration.

1. Install LampRabit and your stack

Download LampRabit, open Services, and install Apache, PHP and MariaDB (plus phpMyAdmin if you use it). If your projects need a specific PHP version, install that too; you can have several.

2. Export your databases from XAMPP

Start MySQL in the XAMPP Control Panel, then either use phpMyAdmin (Export → Quick → SQL) or dump everything at once:

cd C:\xampp\mysql\bin
mysqldump -u root --routines --events --databases shop blog > C:\temp\xampp-dbs.sql

Skip XAMPP’s system databases (mysql, information_schema, performance_schema, phpmyadmin, test).

3. Stop XAMPP

Stop Apache and MySQL in the Control Panel. If they run as Windows services, untick Service so they don’t grab ports 80, 443 and 3306 at startup. Forget one? LampRabit names the XAMPP program holding the port and offers to stop it.

4. Copy your projects

Click Open www in LampRabit and copy your project folders from htdocs. Each folder becomes a site: My Shop becomes my-shop.test. Leave XAMPP’s own folders (dashboard, img, webalizer, xampp) behind.

5. Import your databases

Start MariaDB in LampRabit and import the .sql file with phpMyAdmin, or from the MariaDB card’s Open command-line client:

SOURCE C:/temp/xampp-dbs.sql;

6. Update URLs and settings

Database: host 127.0.0.1, port 3306, user root, empty password. Same as XAMPP.
URLs: change http://localhost/shop to https://shop.test wherever a project stores its own address (Laravel APP_URL, WordPress siteurl and home). For WordPress, use WP-CLI’s search-replace so URLs inside content change too.
php.ini tweaks: put them in a .user.ini file in the project instead of editing a global php.ini.

7. Open your sites

On the Sites page click Apply changes (approve the one administrator prompt for the hosts file) and Trust certificate, then open https://shop.test.

Common snags

Port 80 is already in use: XAMPP’s httpd.exe is still running, often as a service. Use the Stop button LampRabit offers.
Database connection error: check the database exists in LampRabit’s MariaDB and the host is 127.0.0.1.
A project needs older PHP: install it on Services, then choose it for that site.

Once everything works, uninstall XAMPP with C:\xampp\uninstall.exe. Keep your .sql export for a while, just in case.

Still deciding? Read the XAMPP vs LampRabit comparison.