Install IIS 7.5 PHP & FastCGI on Windows 7

Why install IIS?

Obviously you want to design web sites on your local computer and test them before uploading to your web server.

Why install FastCGI and not ISAPI?

Up until php version 5.3 most web developers using php installed ISAPI
From php version 5.3 on ISAPI is not longer supported.
The alternative is to use FastCGI
Although there are many web sites complaining about this change ISAPI works well for a website with 0-20 users,
however FastCGI runs much faster under a heavy user load and equally as well with smaller loads.

This guide has been updated and rewritten as the easiest way to successfully Configure IIS 7.5 to work with FastCGI and PHP on Windows 7 is to use

Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 from http://www.microsoft.com/web/Downloads/platform.aspx

Why?

The installer does all the hard work

No more downloading PHP then configuring the php.ini file

No more going into your Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and adding a Handler Mapping FastCGI Module

No more going into your System Properties and setting up your Environmental Variables

No more spending endless hours surfing around looking for solutions that help you get it all working (it rarely happens first time)

Microsoft have done all the hard time consuming work for a change - miracles do happen.

NOTE: This install was completed on Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit and works for 32 bit systems.

STEP 1

Open the site and click on Download It Now

Download it to your chosen folder

Step 2

Open the folder you downloaded to & double click wpilauncher

Step 3

Click Run

Step 4

Wait

Step 5

Select to programs you wish to install

In this case click on Web Platform in left column

Go to Frameworks and Runtimes then click Customize

Step 6

Now just tick the boxes under PHP

Click Install

Step 7

Now wait while Web Platform Installation downloads, installs & configures your files

Step 8

Success! - click Finish

Step 9

Now to check the install - go Start then Run

If Run does not appear on menu simply type Run in 'Search progams and files' box

Step 10

Type cmd

Step 11

The screen below appears - after C:\Users\User> type cd c:\PHP

Hit 'Enter' on keyboard

Step 12

After c:\PHP> type PHP -info

Hit 'Enter' on keyboard

Watch the screen

Step 13

The screen below is the bottom of the file

Step 14

Next test

Open Notepad and type <?php phpinfo();?>

Step 15

Save (using Save As...) the file in C:\inetpub\wwwroot as info.php

Step 16

Save php.info file here

Step 17

Close open folders

Open browser and type http://localhost/info.php

The file below should come up on the screen.

Success!

Note: This screen can provide a lot of information about your setup that may come in handy in the future.