PHP: Apache 2.x on Microsoft Windows

Apache 2.x on Microsoft Windows

This section contains notes and hints specific to Apache 2.x installs of PHP on Microsoft Windows systems.

Note:
Please read the manual installation steps first!

It is strongly recommended to consult the » Apache Documentation to get have a basic understanding of the Apache 2.x Server. Also consider reading the » Windows specific notes for Apache 2.x before reading on here.

Download the most recent version of » Apache 2.x and a fitting PHP version. Follow the Manual Installation Steps and come back to go on with the integration of PHP and Apache.

There are three ways to set up PHP to work with Apache 2.x on Windows. PHP can be run as a handler, as a CGI, or under FastCGI.

Note: Remember that when adding path values in the Apache configuration files on Windows, all backslashes such as c:\directory\file.ext should be converted to forward slashes: c:/directory/file.ext. A trailing slash may also be necessary for directories.

Installing as an Apache handler

To load the PHP module for Apache 2.x, the following lines in the Apache httpd.conf configuration file must be inserted:

Example #1 PHP and Apache 2.x as handler

# before PHP 8.0.0 the name of the module was php7_module
LoadModule php_module "c:/php/php8apache2_4.dll"
<FilesMatch \.php$>
    SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
</FilesMatch>
# configure the path to php.ini
PHPIniDir "C:/php"

Note: The actual path to PHP must be substituted instead of C:/php/ in the above examples. Make sure that the file referenced in the LoadModule directive is at the specified location. Use php7apache2_4.dll for PHP 7, or php8apache2_4.dll for PHP 8.

Running PHP as CGI

It is strongly recommended to consult the » Apache CGI documentation for a more complete understanding of running CGI on Apache.

To run PHP as CGI, the php-cgi files will need to be placed in a directory designated as a CGI directory using the ScriptAlias directive.

A #! line will need to be placed in the PHP files, which point to the location of the PHP binary:

Example #2 PHP and Apache 2.x as CGI

#!C:/php/php.exe
<?php
  phpinfo();
?>

Warning

A server deployed in CGI mode is open to several possible vulnerabilities. Please read our CGI security section to learn how to defend yourself from such attacks.

Running PHP under FastCGI

Running PHP under FastCGI has a number of advantages over running it as a CGI. Setting it up this way is fairly straightforward:

Obtain mod_fcgid from » https://www.apachelounge.com. Win32 binaries are available for download from that site. Install the module according to the instructions that will come with it.

Configure your web server as shown below, taking care to adjust any paths to reflect how you have installed things on your particular system:

Example #3 Configure Apache to run PHP as FastCGI

LoadModule fcgid_module modules/mod_fcgid.so
# Where is your php.ini file?
FcgidInitialEnv PHPRC        "c:/php"
<FilesMatch \.php$>
    SetHandler fcgid-script
</FilesMatch>
FcgidWrapper "c:/php/php-cgi.exe" .php

Files with a .php extension will now be executed by the PHP FastCGI wrapper.

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User Contributed Notes 7 notes

down

wolfeh1994 at yahoo dot com ¶

10 years ago

Please for the love of god, download the threaded version. I spent over an hour trying to figure out why php5apache2.dll could not be found, and while desperately looking through manuals I went into the php 5 structure and found that it doesn't exist in the non-threaded version.

This really could use a mention somewhere other than the PHP 5 structure, like the paragraph to the left of the homepage which talks about which PHP version to choose, or this part of the manual which covers Apache... Anywhere but structure, seriously. I would have never guessed to look there.

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a user ¶

8 years ago

If you are having issues getting the PHPIniDir or LoadModule directives to work and all the suggestions already given do not help, double-check if you are not using fancy quotes around your paths (‘ ’  “ ”).

This happened to me because I copied the statements from a random website. In my text editor the difference was barely noticeable, but to Apache it certainly is!

For example, this will not work:
PHPIniDir “C:/PHP7”

But this will work:
PHPIniDir "C:/PHP7"

down

a solution for simpletons like me ¶

12 years ago

Installing Apache and PHP on Windows 7 Home Premium on a Gateway NV75S laptop with a quad AMD A6-3400M

All I need to do with these programs is to test my website out on my laptop.  I have HTML and PHP files. I do not need MySQL as I use html5 storage.

Getting and installing Apache

1  In your browser go to h t t p : / / h t t p d . a p a c h e . o r g / d o w n l o a d . c g i
   (without the spaces)
2  Click on  httpd-2.2.22-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
   (this is a self-installing executable file without crypto ... no Secure Socket Layer)
   (2.2.22 was the latest version on April 25, 2012)
3  Click on the httpd-2.2.22-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi file after it downloads 
   (single click on the file tab in Chrome or double click on the actual file in Downloads)
4  Click Next
5  Click I accept the terms in the license agreement
6  Click Next
7  Click Next
8  Type localhost in the top box
9  Type localhost in the middle box
10 Type admin@localhost.com in the bottom box
11 Click Next
12 Click Next
13 Click Next
14 Click Install and wait
15 Cick Yes to allow the program to make changes
16 Click Finish

Testing Apache

1  Type localhost in your browser location box (I use Chrome) or type h t t p : / / l o c a l h o s t
   (without the spaces)
2  The message It works! should appear.

Getting and installing PHP

1  In your browser go to h t t p : / / w i n d o w s . p h p . n e t / d o w n l o a d /
   (without the spaces)
2  Click on the Installer link under PHP 5.3 (5.3.10)   VC9 x86 Thread Safe
   (Ignore the Do NOT use VC9 version with apache.org binaries comment on the side panel)
3  Click on the php-5.3.10-Win32-VC9-x86.msi file after in downloads
   (single click on the file tab in Chrome or double click on the actual file in Downloads)
4  Click Next
5  Click I accept the terms in the License Agreement
6  Click Next
7  Click Next
8  Click Apache 2.2.x Module
9  Click Next
10 Click Browse
11 Double click Apache Software Foundation
12 Double click Apache 2.2
13 Double click conf
14 Click OK
15 Click Next
16 Click Next
17 Click Install and wait
18 Cick Yes to allow the program to make changes
19 Click Finish

Testing PHP with Apache

1  Open Notepad
2  Type 'left bracket character'?php phpinfo(); ?'right bracket character'
3  Save the file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs as test.php
4  Type localhost/test.php in your browser location box (I use Chrome) or type h t t p : / / l o c a l h o s t / t e s t . p h p
5  A table with title PHP Version ... should appear

DONE

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Amaroq ¶

11 years ago

Like someone else mentioned, on the Windows download page for PHP, ignore the warning about not downloading the VC9 compiled installers for the Apache.org version of Apache.

Whoever wrote that is guaranteeing that people install a PHP that breaks their Apache server. (On Windows 7 anyway.) The installer failed to write the correct path info to httpd.conf, and even after fixing that manually, Apache wouldn't start because of missing dlls.

Ignore that dumb warning and get the newest installer anyway. Everything just plain works with no hassle and no hunting down dll files over google.

down

kynetikmedia at gmail dot com ¶

9 years ago

****Installed and Working 1- Fell Swoop - UPDATED****
Installed on Windows 8.1 XPS 12 - Dell 8GB RAM 128GB SSD - 
Notes - Complications due to Apache latest version causes issues with the PHP handler on install.  Following below will get it run right off the bat.  

Getting and installing Apache

1  In your browser go to h t t p : / / h t t p d . a p a c h e . o r g / d o w n l o a d . c g i
   (without the spaces) - You will need to go 'Other Files' , 'Binaries' , 'W32', and then your installer MSI will be listed as below.  
2  Click on  httpd-2.2.25-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
   (this is a self-installing executable file without crypto ... no Secure Socket Layer)
   (2.2.25was the latest version on June 4, 2014)
3  Click on the httpd-2.2.25-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi file after it downloads 
   (single click on the file tab in Chrome or double click on the actual file in Downloads)
4  Click Next
5  Click I accept the terms in the license agreement
6  Click Next
7  Click Next
8  Type localhost in the top box
9  Type localhost in the middle box
10 Type admin@localhost.com in the bottom box
11 Click Next
12 Click Next
13 Click Next
14 Click Install and wait
15 Cick Yes to allow the program to make changes
16 Click Finish

Testing Apache

1  Type localhost in your browser location box (I use Chrome) or type h t t p : / / l o c a l h o s t
   (without the spaces)
2  The message It works! should appear.

Getting and installing PHP

1  In your browser go to h t t p : / / w i n d o w s . p h p . n e t / d o w n l o a d /
   (without the spaces)
2  Click on the Installer link under PHP 5.3 (5.3.10)   VC9 x86 Thread Safe
   (Ignore the Do NOT use VC9 version with apache.org binaries comment on the side panel)
3  Click on the php-5.3.10-Win32-VC9-x86.msi file after in downloads
   (single click on the file tab in Chrome or double click on the actual file in Downloads)
4  Click Next
5  Click I accept the terms in the License Agreement
6  Click Next
7  Click Next
8  Click Apache 2.2.x Module
9  Click Next
10 Click Browse
11 Double click Apache Software Foundation
12 Double click Apache 2.2
13 Double click conf
14 Click OK
15 Click Next
16 Click Next
17 Click Install and wait
18 Cick Yes to allow the program to make changes
19 Click Finish

Testing PHP with Apache

1  Open Notepad
2  Type 'left bracket character'?php phpinfo(); ?'right bracket character'
3  Save the file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs as test.php
4  Type localhost/test.php in your browser location box (I use Chrome) or type h t t p : / / l o c a l h o s t / t e s t . p h p
5  A table with title PHP Version ... should appear

DONE

down

Anonymous ¶

14 years ago

If anybody here encounters an error regarding PHPIniDir, change PHPIniDir "C:/php/" to PHPIniDir "C:\php\".

down

farinspace ¶

13 years ago

Running PHP under FastCGI:

Besides the following in your httpd.conf

    LoadModule fcgid_module modules/mod_fcgid.so  
    FcgidInitialEnv PHPRC "c:/php" 
    AddHandler fcgid-script .php  
    FcgidWrapper "c:/php/php-cgi.exe" .php

Remember to add the following to the default <Directory "C:/apache/htdocs"> block (or virtual host blocks):

    Options ExecCGI

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