Want to try something else than IIS, Apache on a Windows platform? Lighttpd may be worth a look 🙂
I actually stumbled across lighttpd when I was installing applications on my jailbroken Ipod touch, and it looked interesting…
I found a blogpost with getting started instructions;
http://www.winstonyw.com/2008/05/28/installing-lighttpd-and-php-on-windows/
I did not quite get PHP working just yet nor did I find out how to start the http server as a service, but there are tricks to running an app as a service so this should not be a showstopper.
How secure is it? Well take a look here for advisories; http://secunia.com/advisories/search/?search=lighttpd
And now with no further delay here is the getting started guide (taken from the blog previously mentioned) with my comments;
1. Download and Install PHP
Download PHP from PHP website. I chose the zip package and simply unzipped it into my directory of choice: Almighty C drive! So now, it’s residing at “C:\php”. MIKE; You NEED to use the Zip package under Windows versions (the msi installer won’t work)
2. Download and Install LightTPD
Download a Win32 version of LightTPD from the WLMP Project; I chose the Setup Wizard (.exe) version.
Double-click on the downloaded executable to start the short installation process, during which you would specify the destination of the install. I installed mine at “C:\Program Files\LightTPD”.
3. Start and Test LightTPD
To start LightTPD, go to the LightTPD directory (i.e. “C:\Program Files\LightTPD”), find the file “TestMode.bat” and double-click on it. A console window would open and indicate that the server has been started.
To test that LightTPD is working at this moment, point your browser to http://localhost. You should see a “LightTPD Test Page”.
That was easy right? Now we just need to edit some configurations to make PHP work with LightTPD.
4. Editing LightTPD Configurations
Edit the file lighttpd-inc.conf (i.e. “C:\Program Files\LightTPD\conf\lighttpd-inc.conf”) with the following:
- Remove the comment tag for “mod-cgi” (Line 20)
- Add this line (assuming that PHP was installed on C drive):
- cgi.assign = ( “.php” => “C:/php/php-cgi.exe” )
MIKE; Download Notepad ++to edit the file, it is in one of those damn linux formats so notepad will mess it up.
5. Editing PHP Configurations
In your PHP directory, rename the file php.ini-recommended to php.ini and edit php.ini with the following:
- short_open_tag = On
- display_errors = On
- doc_root = “C:\Progra~1\LightTPD\htdocs”
6. Test PHP with LightTPD
To test that LightTPD now works with PHP, create a file with the following contents:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>Place the file in your htdocs directory (i.e. “C:\Program Files\LightTPD\htdocs”), open up your browser and browse to the page. Walaa! You should be able to see the standard phpinfo() messages.
There you have it! A development environment for PHP on Windows in 6 simple steps. Now, to get started on the new template..
MIKE;good luck with your new webserver 🙂