1) Download latest version of PHP from www.php.net
2) Unzip contents to c:php
3) Copy all files from c:phpdlls to c:windowssystem32
4) Copy all files from c:phpsapi to c:windowssystem32
5) Copy c:phpphp.ini to c:windowsphp.ini

6) Open IIS, and add a "Web Service Extension"
7) Call the extension "PHP"
set the path as c:windowssystem32php4isapi.dll
9) set the status to "allow"
10) Right click the "Web Sites" folder, and select properties
11) On the "Home Directory" tab, select "Configuration"
12) Click "Add", then browse to c:windowssystem32php4isapi.dll, set the extension as .php, and deselect "Verify that the file exists".
13) Click Okay
14) Apply the setting to all sites.
15) Restart IIS

Congratulations, you now have a working PHP installation.

It is easy installing the CGI version with the installer, but I would recommend doing it manually with the ISAPI dll. It is actually not that simple if you do it for first time.

The CGI version is easier to install, but the ISAPI is more flexible, and executes much faster.

CGI is quite inefficient for the server by comparison

Exactly why I didn't want to run CGI.

For example, just switched on my server today and had a relatively flawless launch. I had over 450 concurrent users running a vBulletin (using PHP) board with no problems. It killed the CPU, but pages were still serving no problems.

Thankfully, that many users only happens once or twice a month, but my normal user load of ~300 should be doable with no problem.

We are running PHP on Win2k3 but have some trouble starting external programs (e.g. EXE files which are includes in ImageMagick). We are getting the Warning "Unable to fork". On Win2k this works without problems. Any idea?

Make sure execute permissions are set, then enable "script and execute" access for the site. You may have to add a Web Service Extension for the program in question.

Worst case scenario, run IIS in isolation mode.

Thanks a lot, this was one thing. The other is not nice for security reasons, I think: I had to give the web wsers (x_Anon) executive rights to the CMD.EXE in Windows/System32. I found those tip in another discussion forum.

php refuses to work on my box. just sits there waiting for the page to load and just times out.

Was getting 500 errors till I copied php4ts.dll from C:php to system32, but now it just sits there.

Need to get .NET working properly first anyways. Cant believe it didnt come pre-setup on the IIS.

follow the how-to, and it'll work.

Yep. did that. I tried it per the readme file, didnt work so I tried these instructions. Still a no-go.

Even went through the .dll's and made sure all permissions were proper.

Anyone know where I can get better 500 error reports on IIS? httperr log has no reason for the errors. Makes it kind of hard to trouble shoot and my event logs have nothing in them either.

php.exe -i works

I think i'm going to try the cgi mode and check it that way.

Going to re-download php also just in case I got a bad build. I did read in the readme that the ISAPI module is basically beta and can cause error 500's but only a few people report it. They consider it beta cause of the "thread safe" mode its using.

fyi, the scripts source is just this:

[php]
phpinfo();
?>
[/php]

and named aptly, phpinfo.php in my webroot.

The first post in this howto - is that for installing the ISAPI or the CGI version? If CGI, can someone post something on the ISAPI

That's for ISAPI.

Good it helped me a lot..

i followed the instructions for php 4.3.2, however

I get this error when I try to access a .php file

"The specified module could not be found."

Also during the instatation, i didn't find a php.ini file

I used renamed php.ini-recommended to php.ini and copied that into the c:/windows/ dir

Any ideas on how to get this working?

Looks this HOW-TO forgets one important step

copy c:phpphp4ts.dll --> c:windowssystem32

Followed the instructions on:

http://www.iis-resources.com/modules/news/....php?storyid=96

Works great.

Now need to find out how to install mcrypt and other useful modules

In the case of poor performance of PHP pages set output_buffering = on in the PHP.INI as discussed in
http://forum.rackshack.net/showthread.php?...2335#post192335

fyi, I installed PHP 4.3.2 on my win2k box. There is NO PHP4ISAPI.DLL anywhere in the system. This is with the installation program, unfortunately that program refuses to completely install PHP claiming a missing OCX.. uh huh.. so Im grabbing the zip file as I type.

Well, I followed the instructions perfectly That simple phpinfo.php file returns a 500 (internal server error), anybody have any suggestions?

perhaps you should redownload php

ok i'm so close to just saying forget it on php and IIS.

I get 404 errors from IIS when loading any .php file whethere there is php code in it or not. I can make a regular html file "test.html" and it loads. I change it to test.php and get 404. Only thing changed is the extension. Contents of the file is simply the word "test" nothing else.

I've followed the howto here and on the iis-resources site. Its a big no-go.

Steps tried:
1. redownload
2. reinstall
3. made new web and only put the test.html/php file in it

Any suggestions?

The howto is pretty simple stuff, if your following it to a T then there shouldn't be any problems. Have you tried to restart IIS?

Or restart your SYSTEM?

Ok, followed the HOW-TO again, different problem this time. lol, restarted IIS, didnt do a damn thing. http://www.mirageuniverse.com/phpinfo.php (service unavailable, yah right).

Anyways, going to reboot the computer.. bah.

Back from rebooting, PHP broke my IIS.. this bites.. currently trying to fix this PHP problem.

.. ..

Last update I think, I'm going to have to reinstall IIS6.. grr. It claims the sites are running, I checked the services and they are all running properly.. however whenever u go to the site, it claims it is unavailable, which isnt true. Any help, before I try to reinstall IIS6?

If you need someone to fixed it PM me and we can arrange a deal if you need some of my services.

Got it working perfectly, the php.ini should not every be in the windows directory, that is what killed IIS

well finally got mine working. I had to add:
--> c:windowssystem32php4ts.dll
in the web service extension under php. As soon as I did that, it started working properly.

Just to chime in here, I found that setting
output_buffering = on as mentioned made my pages serve up about 40% faster. It's so fast in fact a PHP frame loads a good 2 seconds before it's companion Cold Fusion frame.

Now if I could find a magic line for CF that does that..

Heh, thats only if you have php.ini on your computer php.ini killed my IIS6, so i deleted it, everything works now

I do have php.ini on mine, and my IIS6 works great. Could you possibly have had something in yours that made IIS unhappy?

try commenting the mcrypt.dll extension line in your php.ini. It refused to work on my system.

I have had very good success w/ php running in fast cgi mode. I had some stuff that would not run right in ISAPI. check out this installer -
http://php.weblogs.com/easywindows

I have had good success, and its very easy to install! have fun guys!

Dan

ok... you must have a very diffrent setup than the rest of us.

.

Just restart IIS, this takes only a few seconds. In IIS Manager right click on the name of your server / All Tasks / Restart IIS / Restart Internet Services on xxx, than klick OK. Whan the following dialog apperars do not (!) klick on "End now" under Win2003, just wait (we noticed that the services often do not restart, when we clicked on "End now"). IIS stopps and restarts approx. within 10 to 30 seconds.

Sunmoon, could you look at this thread http://forums.rackshack.net/showthread.php...t=php4isapi.dll and tell me what im missing?

Anyone know why i'd be getting a 401 error and password prompt for all my php pages? Html and other extensions work fine...followed the howto step by step.
:confused:

What CP are you using? Your Internet_Account must have READ/EXECUTE permissions.

Note that Ensim does NOT use the IUSR_MachineName account.

Depending on your CP, you need to set appropriate permissions on the file.

I'm not using any control panel, just straight win2k3 standard.
I'll mess with the permissions some more and see what happens.

If you're not using a CP, make sure your IUSR_MachineName account has:

Read
Read & Execute

Permissions on the PHP File

Thanks for the replys. The permissions are set right for IUSR_Machinename, still asking for a password though =

You could try giving the anon user read and exec permissions on ALL the php dll files....that seemed to work for me.

Update: I installed the CGI version and it works fine...leading me to believe that what Aux suggested may very well have fixed the problem! doh!

Will running the cgi version really give me that much more of a performance hit? I don't want to uninstall/reinstall php again, but if running ISAPI is better I guess I may have to.

hypothetically, ISAPI is MUCH faster than CGI...

But, if you don't notice a difference, then there is none.

Dual Xeon's are faster than a Celeron 1.3 -- but plenty of people are happy with the Celeron. Bottom line : If it works, and it's sufficiently fast for you, then it's "all good".

thanks for the help guys, finally got the ISAPI version to work!

Ok, here is my PHP file http://www.greycode.org/php.zip

You can view the forum @ http://64.246.35.14

right now the forums take about a minute or two to load.. its so slow its unbelievable. I had to delete the php.ini because IIS refuse to work with the ini file in the c:windows ... so there's a problem with my ini file. Can anybody suggest a fix?

There are some threads dealing with slow php response issues in the forum, I don't have the links handy, but if you search the windows forums for PHP and slow, I'm sure you'll find them.

I myself had no problems getting it going and going quick simply following the windows php setup documentation. There are some phpbb 2.06 boards installed that cruise right along. They are using MySql as the datastore.

And you're right, that page is slow. It's Still loading even as I reach for the submit button
:eek:

I left this alone for a week because it was driving me nuts so im back at it again. Still getting the same error and i really need to get php working on this box.

Warning: Unknown(c:inetpubwwwrootphpinfo.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in Unknown on line 0

Warning: (null)(): Failed opening 'c:inetpubwwwrootphpinfo.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;c:php4pear') in Unknown on line 0


Anyone have any idea? Iv looked on the net!

Sombody said that my include_patch should point to c:phpincludes but there is no such folder if you unzip php4.3.3 and unzip the archive. Where is the includes folder?

Well i looked at your php.ini and the path to the extensions directory is wrong. Your path should be something like ".;c:phpextenions" not c:/php/extensions.

Changes made (for the directory format) and iis still locks up. Had to remove php.ini and now its running as usual 1 - 3 minutes for page load.

Why dont you just uninstall everthing and install it again, fresh. If you installed in manually remove all the files and do what you have to do to remove it. If you used the installer, uninstall then reboot. Install everthing from scratch. I did it about 10times before it finally worked.