How to install PHP
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to install PHP on your Windows Server. There are a few things you need to run PHP like PHP Manager and you can learn how to install PHP Manager by heading over to the What is PHP Manager page. If you do not know what PHP is or how to use it then head over to the what-is-php page to learn more about it. Without PHP Internet Information Services cannot run the files. WordPress websites like this one are using PHP. This page is about how to step up PHP.
Step 1:
The first thing you need to do is go to the php.net website and click on download in the navigation menu. On the downloads page, you will see different versions of PHP like Current Stable and Old Stable. The current version of creating this page is PHP 8.3.4. It is ok to use that with your WordPress website but you will encounter a few problems. Like some Modules not working. One is Imagick because there are no updated versions for PHP 2.0 and beyond. Imagick is being worked on and will be updated so you have to wait until it is released on the Imagick website. If you search on Google to try and find other tutorials about PHP and Imagick, you will find many tutorials for Linux like Apache and NGINX. That can be frustrating if you’re a Windows user like me and do not know how to use Linux. There are a few tutorials for Windows but are hard to find and are very short with a little bit of information. So that’s why I created this tutorial to help you along the way. The current version of Imagick as of creating this page tutorial is 8.1 and only works with PHP version 8.1.27. Anything after will not work just yet and you will see a warning on your WordPress site health screen. To download the correct PHP file click on Windows Downloads and then click on the Zip [29.33MB]. There are Non Thread Safe and Thread Safe you can download either of those because both will work the same.
Step 2:
Now you have the Zip folder you will need to upload it to your server in your Downloads folder, not your website’s root folder like some tutorials tell you to do. I would prefer you do things the safe way. It might take a little bit longer but it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Step 3:
The next thing to do is create a folder called PHP if you do not already have one created. Then inside of the PHP folder create and folder called php-8.1.27 so you know what version of PHP is in that folder when you decide to install newer versions. A good extractor to use is PeaZip. I have used it for many years without any problems on both my computer and server.
Step 4:
The next step is to open your Internet Information Services click on your server name and then click on PHP Manager. Then click on Register new PHP version and then click on the three dots in the square box on the right. You will then need to find the php-cgi.exe file and click on open. You will then see a window with the file path of the php-cgi.exe. All you need to do is click on OK and that is it you are all done. If you are using WordPress you might see a warning that you have missing modules. As seen in the image below. All you need to do is go to the greyed section of the PHP extensions select the module you need and then right-click on the module to enable them. You will then see them appear at the top of the PHP extensions section
That is it for this tutorial you have learned how to set up and install PHP on your Windows Server. I hope this has helped you along the way. If it has then why not have a look at my other tutorials like What is PHP Manager or What is PHP so you will have a better understanding of PHP and the PHP Manager? You might also want to learn about other hobbies like Computer and Photography by heading over to my adrianmcmastergaming.com or mcmasterphotography.co.uk websites. They are WordPress websites just like this one.