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<div class="home"><a href="index.html">PHP Manual</a></div>
</div><hr /><div id="faq.installation" class="chapter">
<h1>Installation</h1>
<p class="para">
This section holds common questions about the way to install
PHP. PHP is available for almost any OS (except maybe for
MacOS before OSX), and almost any web server.
</p>
<p class="para">
To install PHP, follow the instructions in <a href="install.html" class="xref">Installation and Configuration</a>.
</p>
<div class="qandaset"><ol class="qandaset_questions"><li><a href="#faq.installation.apache2">
Why shouldn't I use Apache2 with a threaded MPM in a production environment?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.phpini">
Unix/Windows: Where should my php.ini file be
located?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.nodata">
Unix: I installed PHP, but every time I load a document, I get the
message 'Document Contains No Data'! What's going on here?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.processing">
Unix: I installed PHP using RPMS, but Apache isn't processing the
PHP pages! What's going on here?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.frontpage">
Unix: I patched Apache with the FrontPage extensions patch, and
suddenly PHP stopped working. Is PHP incompatible with the
Apache FrontPage extensions?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.blankscreen">
Unix/Windows: I have installed PHP, but when I try to
access a PHP script file via my browser, I get a blank screen.
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.500error">
Unix/Windows: I have installed PHP, but when try to
access a PHP script file via my browser, I get a
server 500 error.
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.undefinedsyms">
Some operating systems: I have installed PHP without errors,
but when I try to start Apache I get undefined symbol errors:
[mybox:user /src/php5] root# apachectl configtest
apachectl: /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd Undefined symbols:
_compress
_uncompress
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.cgierror">
Windows: I have installed PHP, but when I try to access
a PHP script file via my browser, I get the error:
cgi error:
The specified CGI application misbehaved by not
returning a complete set of HTTP headers.
The headers it did return are:
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.phpandiis">
Windows: I've followed all the instructions, but still can't
get PHP and IIS to work together!
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.forceredirect">
When running PHP as CGI with IIS, PWS, OmniHTTPD or Xitami,
I get the following error: Security Alert! PHP CGI
cannot be accessed directly..
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.findphpini">
How do I know if my php.ini is being found and read? It
seems like it isn't as my changes aren't being implemented.
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.addtopath">
How do I add my PHP directory to the PATH
on Windows?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.phprc">
How do I make the php.ini file available to PHP on windows?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.apache.multiviews">
Is it possible to use Apache content negotiation (MultiViews option)
with PHP?
</a></li><li><a href="#faq.installation.requestmethods">
Is PHP limited to process GET and POST request methods only?
</a></li></ol></div>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.apache2">
<dt><strong>
Why shouldn't I use Apache2 with a threaded MPM in a production environment?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
PHP is glue. It is the glue used to build cool web applications by
sticking dozens of 3rd-party libraries together and making it all appear
as one coherent entity through an intuitive and easy to learn language
interface. The flexibility and power of PHP relies on the stability and
robustness of the underlying platform. It needs a working OS, a working
web server and working 3rd-party libraries to glue together. When any of
these stop working PHP needs ways to identify the problems and fix them
quickly. When you make the underlying framework more complex by not having
completely separate execution threads, completely separate memory
segments and a strong sandbox for each request to play in, further
weaknesses are introduced into PHP's system.
</p>
<p class="para">
If you want to use a threaded MPM, look at a FastCGI configuration
where PHP is running in its own memory space.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.phpini">
<dt><strong>
Unix/Windows: Where should my <var class="filename">php.ini</var> file be
located?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
By default on Unix it should be in <var class="filename">/usr/local/lib</var>
which is <var class="filename"><install-path>/lib</var>.
Most people will want to change this at compile-time with the
<a href="configure.about.html#configure.with-config-file-path" class="link">--with-config-file-path</a>
flag. You would, for example, set it with something like:
<div class="example-contents"><div class="shellcode"><pre class="shellcode">--with-config-file-path=/etc</pre>
</div></div>
And then you would copy <var class="filename">php.ini-development</var> from
the distribution to <var class="filename">/etc/php.ini</var> and
edit it to make any local changes you want.
</p>
<div class="example-contents"><div class="shellcode"><pre class="shellcode">--with-config-file-scan-dir=PATH</pre>
</div></div>
<p class="para">
On Windows the default path for the <var class="filename">php.ini</var> file is the Windows
directory. If you're using the Apache webserver, <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is first
searched in the Apaches install directory, e.g. <var class="filename">c:\program
files\apache group\apache</var>. This way you can have
different <var class="filename">php.ini</var> files for different versions of Apache on the same
machine.
</p>
<p class="para">
See also the chapter about the <a href="configuration.file.html" class="link">configuration file</a>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.nodata">
<dt><strong>
Unix: I installed PHP, but every time I load a document, I get the
message 'Document Contains No Data'! What's going on here?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
This probably means that PHP is having some sort of problem
and is core-dumping. Look in your server error log to see if
this is the case, and then try to reproduce the problem with
a small test case. If you know how to use 'gdb', it is very
helpful when you can provide a backtrace with your bug report
to help the developers pinpoint the problem. If you are using
PHP as an Apache module try something like:
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
Stop your httpd processes
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
gdb httpd
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
Stop your httpd processes
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
> run -X -f /path/to/httpd.conf
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
Then fetch the URL causing the problem with your browser
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
> run -X -f /path/to/httpd.conf
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
If you are getting a core dump, gdb should inform you of this now
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
type: bt
</p>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<p class="para">
You should include your backtrace in your bug report. This should be submitted to
<a href="http://bugs.php.net/" class="link external">» http://bugs.php.net/</a>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p class="para">
If your script uses the regular expression functions
( <span class="function"><a href="function.preg-match.html" class="function">preg_match()</a></span> and friends), you should make sure
that you compiled PHP and Apache with the same regular
expression package. This should happen automatically with
PHP and Apache 1.3.x
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.processing">
<dt><strong>
Unix: I installed PHP using RPMS, but Apache isn't processing the
PHP pages! What's going on here?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
Assuming you installed both Apache and PHP from RPM packages,
you need to uncomment or add some or all of the following lines
in your <var class="filename">httpd.conf</var> file:
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="apache-confcode"><pre class="apache-confcode"># Extra Modules
AddModule mod_php.c
AddModule mod_perl.c
# Extra Modules
LoadModule php_module modules/mod_php.so
LoadModule php5_module modules/libphp5.so
LoadModule perl_module modules/libperl.so</pre>
</div>
</div>
And add:
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="apache-confcode"><pre class="apache-confcode">AddType application/x-httpd-php .php</pre>
</div>
</div>
... to the global properties, or to the properties of the
VirtualDomain you want to have PHP support added to.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.frontpage">
<dt><strong>
Unix: I patched Apache with the FrontPage extensions patch, and
suddenly PHP stopped working. Is PHP incompatible with the
Apache FrontPage extensions?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
No, PHP works fine with the FrontPage extensions. The problem
is that the FrontPage patch modifies several Apache structures,
that PHP relies on. Recompiling PHP (using 'make clean ; make')
after the FP patch is applied would solve the problem.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.blankscreen">
<dt><strong>
Unix/Windows: I have installed PHP, but when I try to
access a PHP script file via my browser, I get a blank screen.
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
Do a 'view source' in the web browser and you will probably
find that you can see the source code of your PHP script.
This means that the web server did not send the script to
PHP for interpretation. Something is wrong with the server
configuration - double check the server configuration against
the PHP installation instructions.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.500error">
<dt><strong>
Unix/Windows: I have installed PHP, but when try to
access a PHP script file via my browser, I get a
server 500 error.
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
Something went wrong when the server tried to run PHP. To
get to see a sensible error message, from the command line,
change to the directory containing the PHP executable
(<var class="filename">php.exe</var> on Windows) and run
<strong class="command">php -i</strong>. If PHP has any problems running,
then a suitable error message will be displayed which will
give you a clue as to what needs to be done next. If you
get a screen full of HTML codes (the output of the
<span class="function"><a href="function.phpinfo.html" class="function">phpinfo()</a></span> function) then PHP is working,
and your problem may be related to your server configuration
which you should double check.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.undefinedsyms">
<dt><strong>
Some operating systems: I have installed PHP without errors,
but when I try to start Apache I get undefined symbol errors:
<div class="example-contents"><div class="shellcode"><pre class="shellcode">[mybox:user /src/php5] root# apachectl configtest
apachectl: /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd Undefined symbols:
_compress
_uncompress</pre>
</div></div>
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
This has actually nothing to do with PHP, but with the MySQL
client libraries. Some need <strong class="option configure">--with-zlib</strong>
, others do not. This
is also covered in the MySQL FAQ.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.cgierror">
<dt><strong>
Windows: I have installed PHP, but when I try to access
a PHP script file via my browser, I get the error:
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
cgi error:
The specified CGI application misbehaved by not
returning a complete set of HTTP headers.
The headers it did return are:
</pre></div>
</div>
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
This error message means that PHP failed to output anything
at all. To get to see a sensible error message, from the
command line, change to the directory containing the PHP
executable (<var class="filename">php.exe</var> on Windows) and run
<strong class="command">php -i</strong>. If PHP has any problems running,
then a suitable error message will be displayed which will
give you a clue as to what needs to be done next. If you
get a screen full of HTML codes (the output of the
<span class="function"><a href="function.phpinfo.html" class="function">phpinfo()</a></span> function) then PHP is working.
</p>
<p class="para">
Once PHP is working at the command line, try accessing the
script via the browser again. If it still fails then it
could be one of the following:
</p>
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
File permissions on your PHP script,
<var class="filename">php.exe</var>, <var class="filename">php5ts.dll</var>,
<var class="filename">php.ini</var> or any PHP extensions you are trying to load are such
that the anonymous internet user
<em>ISUR_<machinename></em> cannot access them.
</span>
</li>
<li class="listitem">
<span class="simpara">
The script file does not exist (or possibly isn't where you
think it is relative to your web root directory). Note that
for IIS you can trap this error by ticking the 'check file
exists' box when setting up the script mappings in the
Internet Services Manager. If a script file does not exist
then the server will return a 404 error instead. There is
also the additional benefit that IIS will do any
authentication required for you based on the NTLanMan
permissions on your script file.
</span>
</li>
</ul>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.phpandiis">
<dt><strong>
Windows: I've followed all the instructions, but still can't
get PHP and IIS to work together!
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
Make sure any user who needs to run a PHP script has the rights
to run <var class="filename">php.exe</var>! IIS uses an anonymous user
which is added at the time IIS is installed. This user needs
rights to <var class="filename">php.exe</var>. Also, any authenticated
user will also need rights to execute <var class="filename">php.exe</var>.
And for IIS4 you need to tell it that PHP is a script engine.
Also, you will want to read
<a href="faq.installation.html#faq.installation.forceredirect" class="link">this faq</a>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.forceredirect">
<dt><strong>
When running PHP as CGI with IIS, PWS, OmniHTTPD or Xitami,
I get the following error: <em>Security Alert! PHP CGI
cannot be accessed directly.</em>.
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
You must set the <a href="ini.core.html#ini.cgi.force-redirect" class="link">
cgi.force_redirect</a> directive to <em>0</em>.
It defaults to <em>1</em> so be sure the directive
isn't commented out (with a <em>;</em>). Like
all directives, this is set in <var class="filename">php.ini</var>
</p>
<p class="para">
Because the default is <em>1</em>, it's critical
that you're 100% sure that the correct <var class="filename">php.ini</var> file is being
read. Read <a href="faq.installation.html#faq.installation.findphpini" class="link">this faq</a>
for details.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.findphpini">
<dt><strong>
How do I know if my <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is being found and read? It
seems like it isn't as my changes aren't being implemented.
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
To be sure your <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is being read by PHP, make a call to
<span class="function"><a href="function.phpinfo.html" class="function">phpinfo()</a></span>. Near the top, there will be a
listing called <em>Configuration File (php.ini)</em>.
This will tell you where PHP is looking for <var class="filename">php.ini</var> and
whether or not it's being read. If just a directory PATH exists,
then it's not being read, and you should put your <var class="filename">php.ini</var>
in that directory. If <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is included within the PATH,
it is being read.
</p>
<p class="para">
If <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is being read and you're running PHP as a module,
then be sure to restart your web server after making changes to
<var class="filename">php.ini</var>
</p>
<p class="para">
See also <span class="function"><a href="function.php-ini-loaded-file.html" class="function">php_ini_loaded_file()</a></span>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.addtopath">
<dt><strong>
How do I add my PHP directory to the <var class="varname"><var class="varname">PATH</var></var>
on Windows?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
On Windows NT+ and Windows Server 2000+:
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Go to Control Panel and open the System icon (Start -> Settings
-> Control Panel -> System, or just Start -> Control Panel
-> System for Windows XP/2003+)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Go to the Advanced tab
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Click on the 'Environment Variables' button
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Look into the 'System Variables' pane
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Find the Path entry (you may need to scroll to find it)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Double click on the Path entry
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Enter your PHP directory at the end, including ';' before (e.g.
<em>;C:\php</em>)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Press OK
</p></li>
</ul>
</p>
<p class="para">
On Windows 98/Me you need to edit the <var class="filename">autoexec.bat</var>
file:
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Open the Notepad (Start -> Run and enter notepad)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Open the <var class="filename">C:\autoexec.bat</var> file
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Locate the line with PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;..... and add:
<em>;C:\php</em> to the end of the line
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Save the file and restart your computer
</p></li>
</ul>
</p>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<span class="simpara">
Be sure to reboot after following the steps above to ensure that the
<var class="varname"><var class="varname">PATH</var></var> changes are applied.
</span>
</p></blockquote>
<p class="para">
The PHP manual used to promote the copying of files into the Windows
system directory, this is because this directory
(<var class="filename">C:\Windows</var>, <var class="filename">C:\WINNT</var>, etc.)
is by default in the systems PATH. Copying files into the Windows
system directory has long since been deprecated and may cause problems.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.phprc">
<dt><strong>
How do I make the <var class="filename">php.ini</var> file available to PHP on windows?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
There are several ways of doing this. If you are using Apache, read
their installation specific instructions (<a href="install.windows.apache1.html" class="link">Apache 1</a>, <a href="install.windows.apache2.html" class="link">Apache 2</a>), otherwise you must
set the <var class="varname"><var class="varname">PHPRC</var></var> environment variable:
</p>
<p class="para">
On Windows NT, 2000, XP and 2003:
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Go to Control Panel and open the System icon (Start -> Settings
-> Control Panel -> System, or just Start -> Control Panel
-> System for Windows XP/2003)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Go to the Advanced tab
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Click on the 'Environment Variables' button
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Look into the 'System variables' pane
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Click on 'New' and enter 'PHPRC' as the variable name and the
directory where <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is located as the variable value (e.g.
<em>C:\php</em>)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Press OK and restart your computer
</p></li>
</ul>
</p>
<p class="para">
On Windows 98/Me you need to edit the <var class="filename">autoexec.bat</var>
file:
<ul class="itemizedlist">
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Open the Notepad (Start -> Run and enter notepad)
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Open the <var class="filename">C:\autoexec.bat</var> file
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Add a new line to the end of the file: <em>set
PHPRC=C:\php</em> (replace <em>C:\php</em> with the
directory where <var class="filename">php.ini</var> is located). Please note that the path
cannot contain spaces. For instance, if you have installed PHP in
<var class="filename">C:\Program Files\PHP</var>, you would enter
<var class="filename">C:\PROGRA~1\PHP</var> instead.
</p></li>
<li class="listitem"><p class="para">
Save the file and restart your computer
</p></li>
</ul>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.apache.multiviews">
<dt><strong>
Is it possible to use Apache content negotiation (MultiViews option)
with PHP?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
If links to PHP files include extension, everything works perfect. This
FAQ is only for the case when links to PHP files don't include extension
and you want to use content negotiation to choose PHP files from URL
with no extension.
In this case, replace the line <em>AddType application/x-httpd-php
.php</em> with:
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="apache-confcode"><pre class="apache-confcode">AddHandler php5-script php
AddType text/html php</pre>
</div>
</div>
This solution doesn't work for Apache 1 as PHP module doesn't catch
<em>php-script</em>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl class="qandaentry" id="faq.installation.requestmethods">
<dt><strong>
Is PHP limited to process GET and POST request methods only?
</strong></dt>
<dd class="answer">
<p class="para">
No, it is possible to handle any request method, e.g. CONNECT. Proper
response status can be sent with <span class="function"><a href="function.header.html" class="function">header()</a></span>.
If only GET and POST methods should be handled, it can be achieved with
this Apache configuration:
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="apache-confcode"><pre class="apache-confcode"><LimitExcept GET POST>
Deny from all
</LimitExcept></pre>
</div>
</div>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
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