Server by Zaweba on Mac and Linux: what is the same and what differs

Mac and Linux users get their own build of Server by Zaweba, made with the same aim as the Windows version: a clear control panel that runs a local PHP stack without hand-editing configuration files. Under the panel the parts differ. Instead of Apache it runs Caddy with PHP-FPM, offering PHP 8.2 and 8.3, with MariaDB on Linux x64 or MySQL 8.4 on a Mac and on Linux on Arm, plus Mailpit and Adminer.

Downloaded when you first need them

The Mac and Linux build doesn't carry every component in its download. They are fetched per user on first use, and each is checked by SHA-256 against its published value before it is used. Expect the first start to take longer while that happens; after that the components are already in place.

What is the same

The control panel is the same idea: each service with its status, and the familiar jobs of starting and stopping, making sites, working with databases in Adminer and catching mail with Mailpit. If you move between a Windows PC and a Mac, the app works the way you expect on both.

Mail works the same way in spirit too. Mailpit catches messages sent by your PHP code, so a contact form can be tested end to end without anything reaching a real inbox.

What is different

Caddy replaces Apache as the web server, with PHP-FPM serving PHP. Because of that, .htaccess rewrites are left out on Mac and Linux. .htaccess files are an Apache feature, so a site that depends on rewrite rules in .htaccess, as many CMS and framework sites do for tidy addresses, won't behave the same there. Bear that in mind if you are testing such a site; the Windows version, with Apache, is the closer match for those.

PHP 5.6 and 7.4 are left out as well. If you maintain an old site that needs them, that work belongs on the Windows version, which includes all four PHP versions side by side.

The extension tick boxes on the PHP page are also not part of the Mac and Linux build.

On the database side, Linux on x64 gets MariaDB, while a Mac and Linux on Arm get MySQL 8.4. Both speak the MySQL style that PHP software expects, so most sites connect to either without changes.

Who it suits

The Mac and Linux build suits developers working on modern PHP sites on PHP 8.2 or 8.3, students on a Mac learning PHP and databases, and anyone who wants the same kind of control panel across their computers. For legacy PHP, .htaccess heavy sites or detailed extension control, the Windows version is the better fit.

Getting going

Start the app, let it fetch the components on first use, and start the services. Then make a site, open it in your browser and check that PHP answers. From there it is local PHP development as usual, with the database a click away in Adminer and test mail caught in Mailpit. Server by Zaweba keeps the same principle on every system: a local server you can understand at a glance.