The Windows PHP installer for later versions of PHP is built using MSI
technology using the Wix Toolkit (http://wix.sourceforge.net/).
It will install and configure PHP and all the built-in and
PECL extensions, as well as configure many of the
popular web servers such as IIS, Apache, and Xitami.
First, install your selected HTTP (web) server on your
system, and make sure that it works. Then proceed with one of the following
install types.
Run the MSI installer and follow the instructions provided by the
installation wizard. You will be prompted to select the Web Server you
wish to configure first, along with any configuration details needed.
You will then be prompted to select which features and extensions you
wish to install and enable. By selecting "Will be installed on local
hard drive" in the drop-down menu for each item you can trigger whether
to install the feature or not. By selecting "Entire feature will be
installed on local hard drive", you will be able to install all
sub-features of the included feature ( for example by selecting this
options for the feature "PDO" you will install all PDO Drivers ).
Warning
It is not recommended to install all extensions by default, since many
other them require dependencies from outside PHP in order to function
properly. Instead, use the Installation Repair Mode that can be
triggered thru the 'Add/Remove Programs' control panel to
enable or disable extensions and features after installation.
The installer then sets up PHP to be used in Windows and the php.ini
file, and configures certain web servers to use PHP. The installer will
currently configure IIS (CGI mode only), Apache, Xitami, and Sambar
Server; if you are using a different web server you'll need to
configure it manually.
You can also use the same syntax to specify the Apache Configuration
Directory (APACHEDIR), the Sambar Server directory (SAMBARDIR), and the
Xitami Server directory (XITAMIDIR).
You can also specify what features to install. For example, to install
the mysqli extension and the CGI executable: