What is PHP Manager and what is it used for?
In this tutorial you will learn all about PHP Manager and how to install it on Windows Internet Information Services. Setting up a server can be a daunting task, especially when installing languages like PHP. If you want to get a WordPress test server up and running, it’s a necessary skill to learn. Do you have no idea where to start to get PHP on your server? Depending on your unique setup, there are many ways to do it. Where do you download PHP, which version, what do you need to make it work, and how do you install PHP on your server’s operating system? Remember the tutorial is for Windows, not Linux.
What is PHP Manager
PHP Manager is a graphical tool that allows you to install, run, and manage PHP versions on a Windows server running the Internet Information Services (IIS) webserver. It can enable or disable PHP extensions and configure PHP settings through the php.ini file as hosted applications require. This tutorial teaches you how to install PHP Manager on a Windows Server with IIS. Furthermore, you will set up a sample PHP application to test the installation. You might have become aware that Microsoft has not officially supported PHP since release 8.0 and beyond since March 2023. This has caused a few issues with WordPress users who use the PHP Manager on Internet Information Services. It had me confused and not sure what to do because I upgraded to PHP 8.1.2 and had a warning on the PHP Manager with PHP 8.1.2: already obsolete. and could not understand why. After reading on forums I found a solution to all of this. Another problem is with the Site Health reports The optional module, Imagick, is not installed, or has been disabled Even though I have all the files set up for it. This is because there is no PHP Imagick for PHP.2.0 but will be supported shortly. You can check the most recently released versions at mlocati.github.io. The current version is 8.1.0.
PHP Manager Versions.
There are two versions of PHP Manager one is 1.5.0 and the other is 2.0 Beta. I tested 1.5.0 and it has not thrown any warnings about PHP 8.2.17 that I am using. The only problem with PHP Manager 1.5.0 is out of date and vulnerable to attacks. I did a little bit more research on the Microsoft website and it mentions PHP Manager is not a Microsoft-owned or supported product. There is a download link that takes you to an RTW version of PHP Manager on GitHub There is a 2.12 RTW version updated by Ruslan Yakushev and Lex LI. You can download the latest PHPManagerForIIS_x64.msi released on March 25th 2023.
How to Install PHP Manager
Step 1:
The first thing you need to do is download PHP Manager from GitHub. The current version is 2.12 RTW. Make sure to download the MSI installer and not the source code. The two images below show you the version number on the left and the MSI installer to download. Content and version might change as of typing this tutorial.
Step 2:
The next thing you will need to do is upload the MSI installer to your server. If your server is on your local network and you are using remote access and logged into your server you can just copy and paste the MSI installer to the downloads folder of your server like in the image below.
Step 3:
Next locate your MSI installer and double click on it so it opens up a window as seen in the image below and click Next to be taken to the next screen.
Step 4:
The next thing is to read the licence agreement click on the box to accept the terms in the Licence Agreement and then click Next
Step 5:
You will now see another screen giving you custom setup options like in the image below. There is no need to change anything and all you need to do is click Next to be taken to the next screen.
Step 6:
You will now see a screen letting you know you are ready to install PHP Manager so all you need to do now is click on Install and let the installer complete the installation.
Step 7:
Now click on Finish and that is it your all done for the first part.
Second Part of the Tutorial
Step 1:
The next thing you will need to do is open your Internet Information Services like in the image on the left and click on your server name so you see a screen that looks like the image on the right and click on PHP Manager.
Step 2:
You will now see a screen that looks like what you see in the image below. Click on Register new PHP version.
Step 3:
Next locate and find your PHP folder as seen in the image below and click on a file called php-cgi.exe then go to step 4.
Step 4:
You should now see a small window like in the image below that shows your drive letter like C:/ and file location. Just click on OK and you are now almost complete but there’s still one more thing you need to do if you have never configured PHP files before. You will need to enable some PHP modules explained in step 5.
Step 5:
Now you are almost finished but you need to enable a few modules. To find out what modules you need just go to the Tools section of your WordPress admin area and click on Site Health. Let it run and it will show you what modules you need to enable if they are not enabled. To enable them on your PHP Manager click on Enable or disable an extension so you see a screen that looks like in the image below. You will see a list of extensions like the image below shows you. Go down to the greyed-out area and find the extension you need then right-click on it and then click enable. You can see the one I have enabled for WordPress in the image. Some are enabled by default but you will still need others like php_fileinfo.dll and php_intl.dll. Once you have enabled the extensions you require you are all finished.
