Having a reliable and comprehensive local development environment has gotten easier and easier over the past few years, but setting one up can still be mysterious. This session will cover the main configurations to understand in a typical LAMP stack. Learn about the various kinds of environments (VirtualBox, EC2, WAMP, "do it yourself" environments), and criteria for selecting one over the other. Learn how to manipulate your hosts file, understand your log file, and the key tools to make working "locally" easier.