Install PHP on Windows

PHP is a popular server-side scripting language that is widely used for web development. Installing PHP on Windows is a straightforward process. In this article, we will guide you through the step-by-step process of installing PHP on your Windows machine.

#1. Prerequisites 1. Prerequisites

Before installing PHP, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

• Windows operating system (e.g., Windows 10, Windows Server)
• Administrative access to your machine
• Web server software (e.g., Apache, Nginx)

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#2. Download PHP 2. Download PHP

To begin, follow these steps:

1. Visit the PHP official website at php.net.
2. Click on the “Downloads” tab.
3. Select the Windows installer that matches your system architecture (e.g., 64-bit or 32-bit).
4. Choose the most stable version that suits your requirements.
5. Download the PHP ZIP package.

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#3. Configure PHP 3. Configure PHP

After downloading PHP, follow these steps:

1. Extract the downloaded ZIP package to a directory on your machine (e.g., C:\php).
2. Rename the php.ini-development file to php.ini.
3. Open the php.ini file in a text editor.
4. Locate the following lines and uncomment them by removing the semicolon (;) at the beginning of each line:
   • extension_dir = "ext"
   • ;extension=mysqli
   • ;extension=sqlite3

5. Save the php.ini file and close the text editor.

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#4. Test PHP Installation 4. Test PHP Installation

To verify that PHP is successfully installed, follow these steps:

1. Open a text editor and create a new file.
2. Save the file with a .php extension (e.g., test.php).
3. Insert the following PHP code into the file:

   <?php phpinfo(); ?> 

4. Test PHP Installation (continued)

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4. Save the file in the web server’s document root directory (e.g., C:\Apache\htdocs or C:\nginx\html).
5. Open your web browser and enter the following URL: http://localhost/test.php.
6. If PHP is installed correctly, you should see a webpage displaying detailed information about your PHP installation.

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#5. Additional Steps (Optional) 5. Additional Steps (Optional)

Once you have installed PHP on your Windows machine, you may want to consider the following additional steps:

• Configuring PHP settings: Open the php.ini file and modify various PHP settings to suit your needs. For example, you can change the maximum file upload size, enable error reporting, or adjust the time zone settings.
• Installing additional PHP extensions: If you require specific functionality in your PHP applications, you can install additional PHP extensions. These extensions provide extra features and capabilities.
• Integrating PHP with a database: To build dynamic web applications, you may need to integrate PHP with a database. Popular options include MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL.

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#6. Conclusion 6. Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to install PHP on a Windows machine. We covered the step-by-step process of downloading PHP, configuring it, and testing the installation. Additionally, we discussed some optional steps for further customization and integration with databases. Now you can start developing web applications using PHP on your Windows environment.