Idiots guide to installing PHP/MySQL on IIS

Report · Nov 21, 2006

hi all,

I am trying to get PHP to run on IIS. I have XP Pro and IIS5.1. For some reason IIS does not seem to want to play ball!

When I try to view a php page I get the download window. I have (or at least think I have) followed several different guides but with no success. I have even downloaded the PHP 5 installer.

If anyone has a walk through on how to achieve a successful set up on my local machine using PHP5 and MySQL so that I can develop apps using PHP with Dreamweaver please let me know.

It might be a good idea for Adobe to include some kind of installer with dreamweaver.....I use VS2005 to develop .net apps and like it or not everything just works right out of the box..no messing about with editing files etc. I think Adobe need to look at this to see what they can do. I'm a big fan of dreamweaver but I am new to PHP...so far it's been nothing but a pain to get it up and running on my machine..

Many Thanks!

Report · Nov 21, 2006

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 14:57:56 +0000 (UTC), "chemystery"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

>hi all,
>
> I am trying to get PHP to run on IIS. I have XP Pro and IIS5.1. For some
>reason IIS does not seem to want to play ball!

Use Apache instead!

> If anyone has a walk through on how to achieve a successful set up on my local
>machine using PHP5 and MySQL so that I can develop apps using PHP with
>Dreamweaver please let me know.

Did you try Googling? Tons of tutorials on this subject. Otherwise I
highly recommend the books of David Powers - a regular helper on this
group - who writes the best beginner/intermediate books on PHP/MySQL
(both using/not using DW).

>
> It might be a good idea for Adobe to include some kind of installer with
>dreamweaver.....I use VS2005 to develop .net apps and like it or not everything
>just works right out of the box..no messing about with editing files etc. I
>think Adobe need to look at this to see what they can do. I'm a big fan of
>dreamweaver but I am new to PHP...so far it's been nothing but a pain to get it
>up and running on my machine..

That would not be a good idea - not everyone wants to use PHP (the
fools!!). :-)

Did you see this on the Adobe site?

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/php_iis.html
--
Steve
steve at flyingtigerwebdesign dot com

Report · Nov 21, 2006

chemystery wrote:
> When I try to view a php page I get the download window. I have (or at least
> think I have) followed several different guides but with no success. I have
> even downloaded the PHP 5 installer.

Which PHP 5 installer? The one that comes with PHP 5.2.0 is much more
sophisticated than the previous versions. I haven't tested it on IIS
5.1, but there are step by step instructions (with some advice on the
correct choice for IIS) on my site here:

http://foundationphp.com/tutorials/php_installer.php

> It might be a good idea for Adobe to include some kind of installer with
> dreamweaver

I don't think this is a practical idea. Apart from licensing problems,
Dreamweaver is released every 18-24 months. New versions of PHP come out
all the time. Besides, not everybody wants to use DW with PHP.

--
David Powers
Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/

Report · Nov 21, 2006

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies!

First of all, I have solved the problem. I have installed XAMPP! If anyone is wanting to run Apache/php/mysql on a windows platform then they should use this app...its the perfect developing solution.

I love dreamweaver, and I know everyone isn't using PHP (including me most of the time) but ASP will run without probs on IIS, Also if you are developing with ASP.NET then the tool of choice has to be VS2005. However for PHP and APACHE users there is no 'out of the box' solution to running and testing your apps locally, therefore I suggested that adobe look into shipping a package with dreamweaver that will install and set up this environment on a windows or a mac.
Xampp does just that! Perhaps adobe should look into some kind of tie up...and XAMPP is FREEWARE!!

Report · Nov 21, 2006

chemystery wrote:
> First of all, I have solved the problem. I have installed XAMPP! If anyone is
> wanting to run Apache/php/mysql on a windows platform then they should use this
> app...its the perfect developing solution.

A lot of people love XAMPP, and it's probably all you need for a testing
environment. However, it is not endorsed by PHP. The danger with
all-in-one packages in the past has been lack of support if the
developer stops building new versions.

> I love dreamweaver, and I know everyone isn't using PHP (including me most of
> the time) but ASP will run without probs on IIS

So will PHP. Setting it up takes about five minutes. You have obviously
been following poorly written instructions.

--
David Powers
Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/

Report · Nov 21, 2006

Hi,

I respect your opinion, you obviously know a lot more about PHP and IIS etc than I do...but that's my whole point.

As a newcomer to PHP / APACHE / MySQL( I have some PHP apps that I needed to work on) it would have been great to have had an out of the box solution that didn't require the user to manually edit half a dozen files to make it work.

I have recently upgraded to VS2005, my point in telling you this is that VS2005 installs everything I need out of the box to start developing ASP.NET2.0 apps. The whole thing installs automatically...including the dev server cassini, SQL Express etc.

When I started looking for a solution to my need for a PHP/APACHE/MySQL set up I struggled to find anything. I stumbled across XAMPP almost by accident. All I can tell you is that I spent half a day trying to configure the separate components of PHP and MySQL on my machine before I gave up. I was dubious about XAMPP, but it installed without any errors, was a doddle to set up and I would recommend it to anyone!

The point I was trying to make is that surely a big company like adobe should be looking at doing something similar. They have now taken over Macromedia, and Dreamweaver is the tool of choice for most web designers. I keep hearing how PHP is the most widely used scripting language on the web...It would seem to be a natural progression for Adobe to develop a complete out of the box solution for setting up a development environment on windows based machines for people who choose to use PHP/APACHE/MySQL.....

Report · Nov 21, 2006

chemystery wrote:
> I have recently upgraded to VS2005, my point in telling you this is that
> VS2005 installs everything I need out of the box to start developing ASP.NET2.0
> apps. The whole thing installs automatically...including the dev server
> cassini, SQL Express etc.

That's hardly surprising since everything is created by Microsoft and
Microsoft specific. PHP and Apache are open source projects that are
cross platform. I don't deny that setting them up takes a little more
effort than installing a Microsoft program. What does surprise me is
that someone capable of handling ASP.NET with its steep learning curve
has difficulty configuring a couple of text files.

> The point I was trying to make is that surely a big company like adobe should
> be looking at doing something similar. They have now taken over Macromedia, and
> Dreamweaver is the tool of choice for most web designers. I keep hearing how
> PHP is the most widely used scripting language on the web...It would seem to be
> a natural progression for Adobe to develop a complete out of the box solution
> for setting up a development environment on windows based machines for people
> who choose to use PHP/APACHE/MySQL.....

I would certainly like to see Dreamweaver improve its support for PHP,
but I think there would be strong resistance from the developer
community towards any suggestion that Adobe might take over PHP. Provide
strong support for it, yes. Control it, no. It's also important to
remember that Dreamweaver has a large Mac user-base, so a Windows-only
solution would alienate a lot of people.

--
David Powers
Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/

Report · Nov 21, 2006

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:47:26 +0000, David Powers <david@example.com>
wrote:

>I think there would be strong resistance from the developer
>community towards any suggestion that Adobe might take over PHP

God forbid!
--
Steve
steve at flyingtigerwebdesign dot com

Report · Nov 21, 2006

Hi All,

There's nothing like a healthy discussion!

I wasn't suggesting that Adobe take over PHP! ..or anyone else...What I was suggesting is that Adobe should perhaps support or develop a project similar to XAMPP. They could develop a mac version and a windows version...

They could then offer it as a download, to anyone who was interested, from their website or ship it with Dreamweaver as an optional install. If you didn't want it then don't bother installing it.

Consider this scenario...A web designer ( not a developer) is asked to work on the layout of a PHP based site. He or she may be a fantastic graphic designer but knows nothing about coding. They don't have PHP on their system either. What that person needs is a simple solution that gets PHP/Mysql up and running on their machine....I think Adobe should think about offering that solution to its customers.

I hope this clears up what I am trying to get across.....and long live open source!

Regards

Report · Nov 21, 2006

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 05:47:40 +0000 (UTC), "chemystery"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

> Consider this scenario...A web designer ( not a developer) is asked to work on
>the layout of a PHP based site. He or she may be a fantastic graphic designer
>but knows nothing about coding. They don't have PHP on their system either.
>What that person needs is a simple solution that gets PHP/Mysql up and running
>on their machine....I think Adobe should think about offering that solution to
>its customers.

I would have thought that the designer does just that, designs the
page and writes the css and then lets the developer insert the php
code.

A thoroughly detailed (and frequently updated!) tutorial on how to
install these open-source products would be a very helpful addition to
the Adobe site, but an installer? Not practical.

Just my thoughts.
--
Steve
steve at flyingtigerwebdesign dot com