Completely missing /Applications/XAMPP folder - How do I recover? (XAMPP and Mac OSX 10.15.3)

Question

Because XAMPP's website lists the older versions first, I unwittingly downloaded a version of XAMPP that I didn't want. Upon running the XAMPP uninstall, I noticed that the folder for XAMPP was still inside my Applications folder. So, I deleted it.

Now, upon attempting (several times and with several different versions) to reinstall XAMPP, while the application seems to install and function as intended, I cannot find the XAMPP folder containing htdocs (why I'm installing it in the first place) anywhere on my entire system.

I have absolutely no idea how to fix this problem... I'm trying to get my first Laravel project up and running and I just want to be able to work on things from my laptop but honestly at this point packing up and hauling my PC to and from the office seems like the EASIER SOLUTION at this point.

I've resorted to clicking randomly in an attempt to solve the issue with pure magic and/or luck. When I clicked "mount" I got a little disk image that appeared. Right now, when I run XAMPP and click "go to application" I get directed to http://192.168.64.2/dashboard/ . There is a new volume in Finder named 192.168.64.2 and inside this volume is the folder lampp. I'm not familiar with lampp or if it's different, or one in the same, but even when I attempt to copy these files to a folder in Applications I've named XAMPP I get an error message. About 25,500 files seem to transfer just fine, then I get the message "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items." I am most definitely the admin for this machine, just so it's said.

I am at a loss. I've tried for hours to fix this issue. Even updated from OSX 10.14 to 10.15 - nothing I've tried is working.

Please help...

Answer 1

Looks like you downloaded XAMPP-VM, but were expecting XAMPP for OSX. The FAQ draws a distinction here:

What is the difference between XAMPP for OS X and XAMPP-VM?

XAMPP for OS X is a native installer for OS X. It installs Apache, PHP and other XAMPP components directly on your OS X system, in the /Applications/XAMPP folder.

XAMPP-VM is a virtual machine for OS X. It includes Apache, PHP and other XAMPP components and runs them in a Linux-based virtual machine on your OS X system.

For more information, refer to the blog post at https://www.apachefriends.org/blog/new_xampp_20170628.html .

Starting XAMPP is creating a virtual machine running debian. The webserver, apache, is running out of this virtual machine and serving PHP files from there. To access the virtual machine and edit files, you mount the virtual machine.

1. Mount the server and click explore.

2. htdocs is in the mounted virtual machine.

The index.php file redirects to the dashboard directory. I confirmed that making changes there gets reflected on the app.

This article from XAMPP seems to explain things more completely: https://www.apachefriends.org/blog/new_xampp_20170628.html