Appendix A. Installation and Configuration

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Many PHP users, especially those just learning the language, never need learn how to install and configure PHP on a server. However, should you decide to take this route, rest assured that it is not necessarily that complicated and PHP's price ”free ”makes this an even more appealing option. When you create your own PHP install, you insure that the preferred version of PHP, supporting exactly those features you desire , is available for your programming use.

There are two primary questions to answer before beginning installation. First, what operating system will the server run? Second, what Web server application will you use? In this section I will demonstrate how to install PHP on Unix variant (e.g., Linux) and Windows servers. With respect to the Web server itself, Apache is by far the most common application for Unix servers and you'll most likely use it or IIS (Internet Information Server) on Windows machines.

After those two issues there are other considerations such as: which database(s) to support, ability to create images, PDF's or Shockwave files, XML interactivity and so forth. Any one of these capabilities should be considered before you begin installation.

The PHP manual, especially the online version, covers installation in a reasonable amount of detail. In this section I will list the basics of installing on either a Linux or Windows 2000 machine, which should suffice for most users, barring any unforeseen complications.

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