PHP Installation

Installing PHP involves a few steps, which can vary slightly depending on your operating system. Below, I’ll outline the installation process for PHP on different systems and show some examples of how to verify the installation and check PHP output.

1. Windows Installation

a. Download PHP:

• Go to the PHP downloads page.
• Choose the appropriate version and download the Windows binaries (usually a zip file).

b. Extract the Files:

• Extract the downloaded zip file to a directory, e.g., C:\php.

c. Configure PHP:

• Rename php.ini-development to php.ini and place it in the PHP directory.
• Open php.ini with a text editor and configure it as needed (e.g., set the extension_dir to ext directory inside PHP folder).

d. Add PHP to PATH:

• Go to System Properties > Environment Variables.
• Edit the Path variable and add the path to your PHP directory (e.g., C:\php).

e. Verify Installation:

• Open Command Prompt and type:

  php -v
  

• You should see the PHP version information.

Example Output:

PHP 8.2.1 (cli) (built: Jan  1 2024 00:00:00) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.2.1, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

2. macOS Installation

a. Using Homebrew (recommended):

• Open Terminal and run:

  brew update
  brew install php
  

b. Verify Installation:

• After installation, check the PHP version:

  php -v
  

Example Output:

PHP 8.2.1 (cli) (built: Jan  1 2024 00:00:00) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.2.1, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

3. Linux Installation

a. Using APT (for Debian-based systems like Ubuntu):

• Open Terminal and run:

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install php
  

b. Using YUM (for Red Hat-based systems):

• Open Terminal and run:

  sudo yum install php
  

c. Verify Installation:

• Check the PHP version:

  php -v
  

Example Output:

PHP 8.2.1 (cli) (built: Jan  1 2024 00:00:00) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.2.1, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

Creating a PHP Script to Test:

1. Create a file named info.php in your web server’s root directory (e.g., C:\inetpub\wwwroot for IIS, /var/www/html for Apache).
2. Add the following content to info.php:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

3. Access the file via your web browser by navigating to http://localhost/info.php.

Example Output:

• This page will show detailed information about the PHP configuration on your server, including PHP version, loaded extensions, and server environment.

Feel free to ask if you need more details on any step!