Why Install PHP?
The usual reason why you would
want to install PHP on your
own computer is that it makes
testing and debugging your PHP
scripts very much easier. Instead
of having to log onto your ISP
just to upload and test a script,
you can do it offline and fix
any bugs before the script becomes
"live".
Installing PHP on Windows
Here is the step by step procedure:
1. Download
the PHP binaries
PHP is free
and comes complete with the
source code. If you are not
interested in hacking the PHP
source code, you can simply
download the Windows binaries.
Both the binaries and the source
code can be found at the PHP
website.
At the time
I wrote this, the relevant PHP
binary to download comes in
a zip file. The Windows installer
version does not include the
binaries to run PHP as an Apache
module.
2. Installing
PHP
Installation
is actually trivial.
1. Create
a directory for PHP on your
computer. For the purposes of
this article, I will assume
that you created "c:\php".
2. You
don't need all the files provided
in the archive, so unzip the
PHP archive into a temporary
location. For example, if you're
using Windows 95/98/ME, one
possible temporary place to
extract the files is "c:\Windows\Temp".
All the PHP files will be extracted
into a folder of its own, with
a name based on the version
of PHP you downloaded. For example,
if you downloaded php-4.2.3-Win32.zip
and extracted it into "c:\Windows\Temp",
there'll be a folder called
"c:\Windows\Temp\php-4.2.3-Win32\"
where the files can be found.
Copy the following
files into "c:\php":
php.exe, php4ts.dll and php4apache.dll.
You can find php4apache.dll
in the "sapi" subdirectory
(eg, "c:\Windows\Temp\php-4.2.3-Win32\sapi\"
in our above example). php4apache.dll
is for use with Apache 1.3.X.
You will need to use php4apache2.dll
if you're installing it for
Apache 2.X. Note however that
I have not tested the procedure
on Apache 2.X, so you're on
your own there. Furthermore,
php.exe is not strictly needed
if you don't ever want to run
PHP as a CGI binary or from
the command line. I keep it
around for those situations
where I want to run a PHP script
from an MS-DOS prompt without
having to fire up the Apache
web server.
If you plan
to load PHP extensions, you
will need to copy the files
in the "extensions"
directory to "c:\php"
(or a sub-folder in "c:\php")
as well. Note, though, that
MySQL support is now integrated
into php and no longer needs
an extension dll. Follow the
instructions below to make sure
that your installation of PHP
works before you start dabbling
with the installation of extensions.
3. Configuring
PHP
Copy "php.ini-dist"
from the extracted files into
your Windows directory, typically
"C:\Windows" on Windows
95/98/ME, and rename it to "php.ini".
Use an ASCII
text editor (such
as Notepad, which can be found
in the Accessories folder of
your Start menu) to open "php.ini".
You may need to make the following
changes to the file, depending
on your requirements:
1. Your
SMTP Server If
you want the mail() function
to actually send out email when
you test your own PHP scripts,
search for the section of the
file beginning with the line
"[mail function]"
(without the quotes). You should
come across a section that looks
something like the following:
[mail function]
; For Win32 only.
SMTP = localhost
; For Win32 only.
sendmail_from = me@localhost.com
Change it to
point to your SMTP server and
email account. For example,
if your SMTP server is "mail.yourisp.com"
and your email address is "youremail@somewhere-or-other.com",
change the code to:
[mail function]
SMTP = mail.yourisp.com
sendmail_from = youremail@somewhere-or-other.com
Note that after
you do this, when your script
tries to use the mail() function,
you will need to be connected
to your ISP for the function
to succeed. If you do not modify
the above lines and attempt
to use mail() in your script,
the function will return a fail
code, and display (or log) the
error (depending on how you
configure php.ini to handle
errors).
2. Global
Variables If
you need to run scripts written
for versions of PHP earlier
than 4.1, search for "register_globals"
in php.ini, and change it to
the following:
register_globals
= On
If you leave
it at its default of "Off"
in PHP 4.2.X and above, you
will need to access your form
data variables and cookies using
(for example) $_REQUEST["variable_name"]
instead of directly as $variable_name.
This may break scripts written
for earlier versions (pre-4.1)
of PHP.
There are numerous
other things that you can change
in php.ini to make PHP work
as you prefer. If your intention
is for your local setup to mimic
your web host's installation
of PHP, you should of course
find out how your host sets
up their PHP and modify your
php.ini accordingly. You can
easily find out how your host
has set up their php.ini by
using the phpinfo() function
(see later in this article).
4. Configure
Your Apache Web Server
If you want
PHP to work with your Apache
server, you will need to modify
your Apache configuration file
to load it. Naturally, you will
need to have already installed
Apache on your machine and configured
it. You can findinstructions
for installing and configuring
Apache athttp://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/apache.shtml.
Note that you
do not need to have the Apache
web server installed in order
to test your scripts. You can
simply run the interpreter (php.exe)
on your scripts (just put your
script as a command line argument
to php.exe). I find it more
convenient, however, to have
the server installed, since
the browser and server combination
will take care of any setting
of environment variables and
the like which you would otherwise
have to do manually. It's up
to you, of course. The rest
of this guide will assume you
installed Apache and wish to
configure it to use PHP.
There are two
ways to configure Apache to
use PHP4: one is to configure
it to load the PHP interpreter
as an Apache module. The other
is to configure it to run the
PHP interpreter as a CGI binary.
This article will give instructions
for both, but you should only
implement one of them, either
the module method or the CGI
binary method. Unless you have
a particular reason for running
PHP as a CGI binary, you will
probably want to load PHP as
a module in Apache, since it
runs more efficiently that way.
a. Running
PHP as an Apache module
To configure
Apache to load PHP as a module
to parse your PHP scripts, use
an ASCII text editor to open
the Apache configuration file,
"httpd.conf", typically
found in "c:\Program Files\Apache
Group\Apache\conf\".
Search for
the section of the file that
has a series of commented out
"LoadModule" statements.
(Statements prefixed by the
hash "#" sign are
regarded as having been commented
out.) Add the following line
after all the LoadModule statements:
LoadModule
php4_module "c:/php/php4apache.dll"
If you are
using Apache 2.X, remember to
use "c:/php/php4apache2.dll"
instead of "c:/php/php4apache.dll".
Next, for Apache
1.3.X users, search for the
block of "AddModule"
statements. Add the following
line after the last "AddModule"
statement:
AddModule
mod_php4.c
Don't worry
that you can't find a "mod_php4.c"
file anywhere on your system.
That directive does not cause
Apache to search for the file
on your system. For the curious,
it specifies the order in which
the various modules are enabled
by the Apache server.
If you're using
Apache 2.X, you do not have
to insert the AddModule directive.
It's no longer needed in that
version. Apache 2.X has its
own internal method of determining
the correct order of loading
the modules.
Finally, search
for "AddType" in the
file, and add the following
line after the last "AddType"
statement:
AddType
application/x-httpd-php .php
If you need
to support other file types,
like ".php3" and ".phtml",
simply add them to the list,
like this:
AddType
application/x-httpd-php .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php
.phtml
b. Running
PHP as a CGI binary
If you've configured
PHP to run as an Apache module,
skip forward to the next section.
This section is for people who
want to (or need to) configure
PHP to run as a CGI binary.
Search for
the portion of your Apache configuration
file which has the ScriptAlias
section. Add the line below
after the ScriptAlias for "cgi-bin".
Note that if you installed PHP
elsewhere, such as "c:\Program
Files\php\", you should
substitute the appropriate path
in place of "c:/php/"
(for example, "c:/Program
Files/php/").
ScriptAlias
/php/ "c:/php/"
Apache needs
to be configured for the PHP
MIME type. Search for the "AddType"
comment block explaining its
use, and add the following line
after it:
AddType
application/x-httpd-php .php
As in the case
of running PHP as an Apache
module, you can add whatever
extensions you want Apache to
recognise as PHP scripts, such
as:
AddType
application/x-httpd-php .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php
.phtml
Next, you will
need to tell the server to execute
the PHP executable each time
it encounters a PHP script.
Add the following somewhere
in the file, such as after the
comment block explaining "Action":
Action
application/x-httpd-php "/php/php.exe"
Note: the "/php/"
portion will be recognised as
a ScriptAlias, a sort of macro
which will be expanded to "c:/php/"
(or "c:/Program Files/php/"
if you installed PHP there)
by Apache. In other words, don't
put "c:/php/php.exe"
or "c:/Program Files/php/php.exe"
in that directive, put "/php/php.exe".
c. Configuring
the Default Index Page
This section
applies to all users, whether
you are loading PHP as a module
or running it as a CGI binary.
If you want
to make your PHP script execute
as the default page for a directory,
you have to add another line
to the "httpd.conf".
Simply search for the line in
the file that begins with a
"DirectoryIndex" and
add "index.php" to
the list of files on that line.
For example, if the line used
to be:
DirectoryIndex
index.html
change it to
DirectoryIndex
index.php index.html
The next time
you access "localhost"
or "localhost/directory/"
without a filename, Apache will
deliver "index.php"
if available, or "index.html"
if "index.php" is
not available.
5. Testing
Your PHP Installation
Create a PHP
file with the following line:
<?phpinfo()?>
Save the file
as "phpinfo.php" (or
any other name that you fancy,
but with the ".php"
extension) into your Apache
htdocs directory.
Next, restart
your Apache server so that it
can read the new configuration
directives you placed into httpd.conf.
Open your browser,
and access the file you just
created by typing "localhost/phpinfo.php"
into your browser's location
bar.
You should
see an entire pageful of information
about your PHP setup. Congratulations
- you have successfully installed
PHP and configured Apache to
work with it. You can also use
this same file, phpinfo.php,
to find out more about how your
web host has set up his php.ini
so that you can duplicate it
on your local machine.
If for some
reason it does not work, you
can check to see whether your
PHP setup or your Apache setup
is causing the problem by simply
running php on the file with
a command line like "c:\php\php
phpinfo.php"
(without the quotes).
If invoking
PHP from the command line causes
a large HTML file with all the
PHP configuration information
to be displayed, then your PHP
set up is fine. The problem
probably lies with your Apache
configuration. Follow closely
my instructions on how
to install and configure Apache inhttp://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/apache.shtml as
well as check the instructions
on configuring it for PHP given
above.
