XAMPP for Mac does come with PEAR but it is NOT configured.

Update PEAR
sudo su - [Enter root password]
cd /Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/lib/php/pear
sudo php pearcmd.php channel-update pear.php.net
sudo php pearcmd.php install PEAR
sudo php pearcmd.php install Log
sudo php pearcmd.php list

add PEAR to the php.ini include_path
Edit /Applications/xampp/etc/php.ini (include path is at the very end of the php.ini file)

include_path = “.:/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/lib/php:/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/lib/php/pear”

To install a package
Type
sudo su [Enter root password]
cd /Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/lib/php/pear
pear install pear/PACKAGE_NAME

Thats it, good luck.

If you like making things a little easier on yourself while you are working on your local development server this is for you!

What am I talking about you ask?

hmm….
What I am talking about is editing your Mac hosts file so that you can view your local site with this
http://myawsomesite
rather than this
http://localhost/myawsomesite

Here it is….

Launch your Mac Terminal and type
sudo su [RETURN]
Enter Root Password [RETURN]
nano /etc/hosts [RETURN]

Position yourself with your keyboard arrows
type 127.0.0.1 myawsomesite

Hit the ctrl-x keys. Terminal will ask if you want to save changes. Type a “y” for yes.
Hit [RETURN] to save the file

thats it, now type http://myawsomesite into your internet browser and it will take you to you local site.

note: If you are using a v-host configuration in apache, you will need to add myawsomesite as an alias under that host.

After you get apache up and running on your Mac, you will not be able to see your .htaccess and other configuration files. Here is a quick fix for that problem.

Open Terminal and copy the following text-
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

You will notice you screen will blink as finder restarts. Once it come back on all you hidden files will be visable.

note: Change “TRUE” to “FALSE” to make them disappear again.

Open Terminal and copy the following text-
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder