WampServer orange icon

Question

I am having problems with Wamp Server, the icon will never turn green. It is constantly stuck at orange.

I have tried many ways, editing HOSTS file, .config files, disabling IIS, changing SKYPE's port, quitting SKYPE, disabling World Wide Web publishing services etc... And under wamp server icon > Apache > Test port 80, it states that Apache is using that port.

I am running Windows 8 64 bit and Wamp Server 2.4. Any help would be appreciated.

Solution 1

Before you can fix anything you need to know which service has not started, Apache or MySQL.

As the TEST PORT 80 utility is saying Apache is running its probably the MySQL service that has not started. Unless you have another Apache running!

So which service has not started???

If the wampmanager icon is not GREEN then one of the services ( Apache/MySQL ) has not started properly.

How to tell which service is not running if the wampmanager icon is orange.

Left click the wampmanager icon to reveal the menu-> Apache -> Service If the Start/Resume service menu is Green then Apache IS NOT running.

Left click the wampmanager icon to reveal the menu-> MySQL -> Service If the Start/Resume service menu is Green then MySQL IS NOT running.

If Apache is the service that is not running it is normally, but not always, because something else has captured port 80.

Now do, Left click the wampmanager icon to reveal the menu-> Apache -> Service -> Test port 80 This will launch a command window and display some information about what, if anything is using port 80.

Whatever it is should be re-configured to not use port 80 or uninstalled if you are not using it.

If port 80 is not the problem look for errors in the appropriate error log ( use the wamp manager menus to view the error logs )

If these do not exists or show no errors then also check the Windows Event Viewer Start -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer And look in the 'Windows Logs' -> Application' section accessed from the menu on the left of the dialog for error messages from Apache and or MySQL.

If its MYSQL that has not started.

Check the mysql error log by using the menus

wampmanager->MySQL->error log

Check the Windows Event log for messages from MYSQL

Check you dont have another MYSQL Server instance running.

How to Configure SKYPE so it does not require port 80 or 443

Run SKYPE then using the menus do this: Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Connection Un-Check the checkbox next to 'Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incomming connections' Now restart SKYPE for these changes to take effect.

If you are running Windows 8 SKYPE comes as an app and this cannot ( as yet ) be configured in this way. However if you uninstall the SKYPE app and install SKYPE in the old way, you can reconfigure it, and it works just as well.

Solution 2

To add to the above post^^:

If either of the services are not running, it might simply just be because they need to be installed/configured. This is easy to do straight from the WampManager Icon.

---

Apache

 WampManager Icon -> Apache -> Service -> Install Service

You should get a command prompt pop-up if port 80 is free (if not, see above post):

      'Your port 80 is available. Install will proceed.

       Press Enter to continue...'

---

MySQL

WampManager Icon -> MySQL -> Service -> Install Service

---

WampManager Icon -> Restart All Services

The icon should now turn green :)

Solution 3

I ran into this same problem this morning but none of the answers above provided me with the solution.

I realised eventually that my issue was because I had changed the DocumentRoot to a subfolder of the www directory, as I had previously been running a Symfony2 project inside www.

With the new project I am working on inside www, that old DocumentRoot dir did not exist any more so Apache failed to start.

wampserver -> Apache -> httpd.conf, then look for "DocumentRoot" and make sure the directory it points to exists or else change it to one that does.

Thank you to RiggsFolly, it was because of your hint about the Event Viewer above that I found the issue.

Solution 4

Wamp server default disk is "C:\" if you install it to another disk for ex G:\: go to

1. g:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.4.9\bin\

2 .call cmd

3 .execute httpd.exe -t

you will see errors

4. go to g:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.4.9\conf\extra\httpd-autoindex.conf

5. change in line 23 to :

Alias /icons/ "g:/Apache24/icons/"

<Directory "g:/Apache24/icons">
    Options Indexes MultiViews
    AllowOverride None
    Require all granted
</Directory>

6. Restart All services. Done. Resolved

Solution 5

If you are using wampserver 3 (recommended, works with no configuration usually)

• click wampserver icon > apache > service administration > install service
• click wampserver icon > mysql > service administration > install service
• click wampserver icon > mariadb > service administration > install service
• click wampserver icon > restart all services

if this doesnt fix it, try:

• right click wampserver icon > Tools > Check httpd.conf syntax (then fix the issue it identifies and restart all services, likely it's bad syntax in your virtual hosts file)

• right click wampserver icon > Tools > test port 80 (you likely have skype turned on or something else, turn it off and restart all services)

If this doesnt fix it, maybe have a windows conflict:

• Upgraded to Windows 10 and now WAMP won't work)

If this doesnt fix it:

• right click wampserver icon > tools
  • check all of those for clues

View more solutions

Comments

[Gerald Schneider]

which icon? in the system tray?

[krishna]

try restart option in wamserver

[Jethro]

@GeraldSchneider - Yes, the icon at System Tray.

[Jethro]

@krishna - I have tried that many times but it is still running at orange colour.

[krishna]

check this.you might get soln stackoverflow.com/questions/6296882/wamp-icon-is-orange

[Jethro]

@krishna - I have already tried that. Thanks for the help though.

[Jethro]

Thank you for your help. I did find the problem after a little more research after posting this question. It was MySQL service that did not start properly, as I had a MySQL client installed which Wamp did not support it's version. I downloaded the MySQL add-on from Wamp's website and installed it and that did the trick.

[Gereltod]

This solution worked for me :D Followed "If apache not running". And it worked.

[Lil' Bits]

Thank you very much! I installed both services, and hit "Restart All Services" in the WAMP menu. WAMP restarted with a green icon.

[CatalinBerta]

Just learned about Event Viewer from Windows, very useful! Thank you

[Prince Vijay Pratap]

it didn't work for me as in my case MYSQL is not working

[James Wilson]

If in the Apache Services menu there is no way to click start or stop service, you more than likely need to click "Install Service" - this got me up and running!

[Iman]

You are a life saver.

[Kirk Powell]

I moved my local repository to the c:\wamp\www so that I can test AJAX consistently. Forgot to change the DocumentRoot!

[Satish Sharma]

A great and a simple solution

[James]

I have setup Apache to use port 8080 but when I select "Install Service" I see "Your port 80 is actually used by: Server: Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0". Very strange because I've told it not to use port 80 and have restarted multiple times.

[PIIANTOM]

Very helpfull. Note that on windows 10, port 80 is used by IIS server. All explained in this thread stackoverflow.com/questions/30758894/…

[Adrian Pauly]

Event Viewer solved it for me, thanks so much for your help!

[bhaveshkac]

This answer should be on top. First one get because he answered first..

[Raimundo]

hey, thanks for the solution. the key was to execute the httpd.exe file. then it shows what is missing. In my case, there was some folders inside www folder that I removed and forgot to remove the directives on httpd-vhosts.conf [C:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.22\conf\extra]. then I removed those directives [VirtualHost tag] in the httpd-vhosts and that's all.

[Belal Almassri]

This solution worked for me, once it is installed you need to run it.