IIS is builtin to Windows. On Windows Server, use Server Manager to add the IIS role. Be sure to include the CGI Role Feature. On Windows Desktop, use Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs to add IIS. See: » https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181052%28v=vs.80%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 For desktop web apps and web-development, you can also use IIS/Express or PHP Desktop
Example #1 Command line to configure IIS and PHP
@echo off
REM download .ZIP file of PHP build from http://windows.php.net/downloads/
REM
REM path to directory you decompressed PHP .ZIP file into
set phpdir=c:\php
set phppath=php-5.6.19-nts-Win32-VC11-x86
REM Clear current PHP handlers
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd clear config /section:system.webServer/fastCGI
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/handlers /-[name='PHP_via_FastCGI']
REM Set up the PHP handler
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/fastCGI /+[fullPath='%phpdir%\%phppath%\php-cgi.exe']
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/handlers /+[name='PHP_via_FastCGI',path='*.php',verb='*',modules='FastCgiModule',scriptProcessor='%phpdir%\%phppath%\php-cgi.exe',resourceType='Unspecified']
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/handlers /accessPolicy:Read,Script
REM Configure FastCGI Variables
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config -section:system.webServer/fastCgi /[fullPath='%phpdir%\%phppath%\php-cgi.exe'].instanceMaxRequests:10000
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/fastCgi /+"[fullPath='%phpdir%\%phppath%\php-cgi.exe'].environmentVariables.[name='PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS',value='10000']"
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/fastCgi /+"[fullPath='%phpdir%\%phppath%\php-cgi.exe'].environmentVariables.[name='PHPRC',value='%phpdir%\%phppath%\php.ini']"
There are several builds of Apache2 for Windows. We support ApacheLounge, but other options include XAMPP, WampServer and BitNami, which provide automatic installer tools. You may use mod_php or mod_fastcgi to load PHP on Apache. If you use mod_php, you MUST use a TS build of Apache built with same version of Visual C and same CPU (x86 or x64). How to manually configure Apache2
Download PHP production releases from » http://windows.php.net/download/. A lot of testing and optimization is already done on the snapshot and qa releases, but you are welcome to help us do more. There are 4 types of PHP builds:
Thread-Safe(TS) - use for single process web servers, like Apache with mod_php
Non-Thread-Safe(NTS) - use for IIS and other FastCGI web servers (Apache with mod_fastcgi) and recommended for command-line scripts
x86 - production use of PHP 5.5 or 5.6 or 7.0.
x64 - production use of PHP 7.0+ unless its a 32-bit only version of Windows. 5.5 and 5.6 x64 are experimental.