Jun 20, 2017 Posted by newlife007 on Jun 20, 2017 in Web, Windows | 5 comments

How install Apache 2.4 PHP 7.1 and MySQL 5.7.18 on Windows Server 2016

Introduction

This post is a how to guide for installing Apache, PHP and MySQL on the latest release. In this post like previous we will cover installing all the programs individually. This will cover installing 64 bit versions of the programs.

Apache 2.4 Install

First download Apache 2.4 from http://www.apachelounge.com/download/ (httpd-2.4.25-win64-VC14.zip) Apache 2.4.25 VC14
This release is supported by the PHP 7.1.6 install from windows.php.net for Apache 2.4.

Extract the zip copy Apache24  to the root of C:\. This will be C:\Apache24 when it is all done.

Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Runtime

Download and install Microsoft Visual C++ VS 2015 x64 from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads this is required for Apache to run.

PHP 7 and higher

Download php-7.1.6-Win32-VC14-x64 (thread safe) from http://windows.php.net/download/ . Extract and rename folder to php and move to C:\.

Edit Apache’s config file, c:\Apache24\conf\httpd.conf and add the following lines to the bottom of the file.

LoadModule php7_module "c:/php/php7apache2_4.dll"
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
# configure the path to php.ini
PHPIniDir "C:/php"

While we are at it we can add index.php to Apache’s list just incase we want to have a starting page as php.

Find Directory index and add index.php

DirectoryIndex index.html index.php

Save the file changes. Next we need to register the path where the applications reside. This is done by editing the PATH variable.

Add

;c:\php;c:\Apache24;c:\Apache24\bin

to PATH in Environment variables. PATH ENVIRONMENT (Control Panel | System Properties | Advanced | Environment Variables | System variables | Path).
Example:
;c:\php;c:\apache24;c:\apache24\bin;

We can also set this from the command prompt.

setx PATH “%PATH%;c:\php;c:\apache24;c:\apache24\bin” /M

Save and reboot the system.

Next we need to input a value for ServerName variable. You will have to un-comment it. Save the changes to the config file. Next move to the Register Apache Service step.

Register Apache Service

Now let’s register Apache as a service. Open a command prompt and type.

c:\apache24\bin\httpd -k install

If do not want Apache starting automatically at start-up/reboot:

Command line

C:\> sc config Apache2.4 start= demand

Now lets check Apache settings by issuing the command,

c:\Apache24\bin\httpd -S

At this point we can start Apache service and open a web browser and go to localhost and get the Apache It Works! page.

PHP Edits

Now we have to do a few edits to the php.ini file to tell it to load support for mysql and the location for the extensions. Since there is not a already set php.ini file we need to rename one of the two examples to php.ini.

Rename c:\php\php.ini-development to php.ini

Now let’s edit php.ini
Uncomment extension directory.

; Directory in which the loadable extensions (modules) reside.
; http://php.net/extension-dir
; extension_dir = "./"
; On windows:
extension_dir = "ext"

Uncomment mysql modules
extension=php_mysqli.dll

Save the changes and open a command prompt. Check to make sure it shows loaded modules.

C:\> php -m

So now we have Apache running and configured to use php. Lets create a file called info.php, save it and see if Apache parses the info correctly to display the results.

Open Notepad or your favorite Windows editor and type and save the following.

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Open your browser and type, localhost/info.php for the location and you should receive alot of information about PHP.

MySQL
Download  mysql-installer-community-5.7.18.1.msi. You will also need to install Microsoft Visual C++ VS 2015 x64 from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145 and Microsoft Visual C++ VS 2013 x64 install first.

Once the installation is completed you can let the configuration wizard run and setup the database server. The defaults will work just fine, but remember what you set the password to for root and create a local user.

At this point you should have a working Apache / PHP / MySQL installation running and ready for you to use!

5 Responses to “How install Apache 2.4 PHP 7.1 and MySQL 5.7.18 on Windows Server 2016”

1. Mike Watson says:

   December 3, 2017 at 9:07 pm

   Brilliant!

   This saved me a lot of time.

   So helpful. Thank you!

   Reply
2. Umed says:

   January 24, 2018 at 11:58 am

   Hi

   What should i add at the bottom of httpd.conf file if i download httpd-2.4.29-Win64-VC15 version. Can you please guide me.

   Thanks a lot

   Reply
   • newlife007 says:

     January 24, 2018 at 12:20 pm

     There should be no difference to the changes to the httpd.conf file from what is listed in the post, not sure what you are looking for.

     Reply
3. David says:

   March 23, 2019 at 12:18 am

   Good day, this tutorial is compatible with Windows server 2012 r2 or I need to change something?

   Thank you for you answer and congratulations for your work.

   Reply
4. LW says:

   August 23, 2020 at 9:12 pm

   This just worked perfectly with MySQL 8.0 and PHP 7.4.9 on Windows Server Essentials 2016. Thank you very much.

   Reply

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