[RESOLVED] PHP 5 and 4 - How To?

ATS16805

the "Problem": i've recently become aware that some scripts run on my PHP5 / Apache2 LocalHost system, but malfunction on my hosting server. -- he's got PHP4 on there! Finding this a bit annoying, and hearing rumor that i CAN have PHP 4 and 5 co-exist on LocalHost (if configured properly), i thought "when i get around to it" (likely never), i'd install PHP4 to do script checks before uploading to my hosting server to ensure functionality and avoid frustration.

Enter Murphy's law...

My power supply crashed a few days ago. Lucky for me, i happened to recently inherit a hand-me-down, albeit "dead" PC w/ a "better" processor than my "main" system. Knowing that it too also needed a power supply to resurrect from the dead, I went out and purchased one, and installed it into the hand-me-down sys w/ the faster processor-- not the one which works w/ the hard drive configured w/ my PHP5 and Apache2.

Now that i have another Fresh install of XP (fully updated now) on this "new" PC, i wonder how i should handle this PHP4 / PHP5 issue-- now that i'm at a point where i have a fresh OS, no LocalHost web server yet, and of course, the existing hard drive w/ PHP5 installed as slave so i can snag any previously D/L software, my web development project files, etc.

What i'd like to have the ability to do is to choose between PHP5 and PHP4 for development / testing versatility.

with the "old" drive running as slave, should I install Apache2 on this new system anyway? is it essential, or can i just make changes to the old httpd.conf file and do the same w/ the old PHP5?

whatever the possibilities available to me, considering my current setup-- fresh OS w/ no localhost and no PHP as Master, and old PHP5 and Apache 2 wired up as a Slave drive, what you do to get back in business? will I be able to put a PHP4 system together while i'm in the process of reconfiguring my setup, and if so-- what do you recommend i do?

What should be my first step? install Apache? then point to PHP5, then install a PHP4 somewhere?

suggestions? i look forward to your reply-- as of right now-- i'm currently without any PHP that i know how to get to, and the same goes for a testing server. and I want to do Apache2, not IIS.

thanks!!!!

PS. oh, and what about MySQL? should i take the opportunity to upgrade to v5? or... hmmm should i install PostGreSQL instead.

ugh! decisions/ indecision! inexperience! help!

laserlight

What I do is to place the contents of the zip packages of PHP 4 and 5 in separate directories. My httpd.conf file has:

#LoadModule php4_module "c:/php4/sapi/php4apache2.dll"
LoadModule php5_module "c:/php5/php5apache2.dll"

# configure the path to php.ini
#PHPIniDir "C:/php4"
PHPIniDir "C:/php5"

So I just comment/uncomment and restart the server when I want to switch PHP version.

ATS16805

Wow!-- it's that "easy", huh?

very cool! thanks!

because of my existing structure on the slave-drive, under Apache/Apache2/htdocs/...
i've been thinking about how i might be able to use that existing setup-- according to what you've said, then
1.) couldn't i use the existing PHP5 which resides there (by referecing from a new Apache install on this drive, what would be E:/php5/)?

2.) could i do a similar comment/ uncomment on a new installation of Apache on this OS, and essentially have 2 separate "LocalHosts"? the old one on the Slave drive, and a new one for a new, local PHP4 (realizing of course that the slave-drive's drive letters would need to change from c: to e: in httpd.conf, right?

it just occurred to me also that perhaps i might want to create a partition specifically for a new Apache install-- is there anyone out there who swears by that method?

do i even need to use a new Apache install, or can i just config the slave drive's existing Apache2 to be up and running w/ a few simple comments in the right places?

sorry for all the simple lack-of-research questions, but i know there are people out here who have probably tried just about everything at one time or another!
(i haven't tried anything yet at all, nor have i looked on the Apache or PHP sites yet-- came here first as soon as i had time to sit down w/ this)...

ATS16805

laserlight wrote:
I just comment/uncomment and restart the server when I want to switch PHP version.

I downloaded and an unzipped PHP 4.4.2 and PHP 5.1.2 into c:\php4 and c:\PHP5 respectively.

To make php4ts.dll / php5ts.dll available, i want to add my PHP directory to the PATH on Windows (via Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Environment Variables: Path, and adding it there), but i'm concerned that i should NOT add both c:\php4 and c:\php5 at the same time there-- is that correct?

should i, or should i NOT add them both (so they both appear simultaneously) in this Windows Environment Variable setting?

I realize that I must be concerned with the Apache settings, and uncomment the version i wish to use at any particular moment, leaving the version not in use commented out in httpd.conf, as Laserlight has indicated.

thanks!!

i'll toy around w/ it in the meantime, but i'm hoping someone might provide a testimonial or recommendation for the configuration i've chosen-- the configuration which php.net suggests as the most easily upgradeable configuration.

laserlight

1.) couldn't i use the existing PHP5 which resides there (by referecing from a new Apache install on this drive, what would be E:/php5/)?

Yes, you could.

2.) could i do a similar comment/ uncomment on a new installation of Apache on this OS, and essentially have 2 separate "LocalHosts"? the old one on the Slave drive, and a new one for a new, local PHP4 (realizing of course that the slave-drive's drive letters would need to change from c: to e: in httpd.conf, right?

Unless you want to test different versions of Apache, I dont see why you need to install Apache twice.

do i even need to use a new Apache install, or can i just config the slave drive's existing Apache2 to be up and running w/ a few simple comments in the right places?

No, you dont need a new installation of Apache. Incidentally, my advice was given for Apache2, I'm not sure if it works for Apache1.

To make php4ts.dll / php5ts.dll available, i want to add my PHP directory to the PATH on Windows (via Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Environment Variables: Path, and adding it there), but i'm concerned that i should NOT add both c:\php4 and c:\php5 at the same time there-- is that correct?

I took the somewhat more tedious approach of copying the dlls to the Windows system32 directory, and have no problems. From what I see, adding the directory paths to the Windows system path should be fine too. The path given by PHPIniDir should be referenced before anything else when it comes to deciding which php.ini to use, and the dlls do not conflict with each other.

ATS16805

Hey Laserlight, thanks for your thoughtful, attention to detail!

Here's what I did, ultimately...
I installed Apache2 (again)-- as i got the impression that, w/ Windows XP, the .msi installer should be used. Claiming no expert knowledge, but only knowing from experience, i figured i had better do as recommended and use the installer-- assuming that something needed to happen between the operating system and Apache which might not properly be in place had i attempted to run the existing Apache2 from the "E:" drive.
(I know XP can run programs from the Slave, as i've done it tons of times w/ different apps, but i wanted to do my best to ensure a "proper" install... an obsessive nature dominating in this knowledge-lacking situation. w/ time and experience, i'll likely try a more manual approach upon future installations)

The .msi asks for a couple settings during install-- one being the "all users" vs "only me" (port :80 vs port :8080), so w/ security in mind, i chose the latter. I pulled up localhost:8080/ and got the apache welcome screen. "all is well!", i thought.

i d/l and unpacked php (as described above), placing the following in the Windows

XP Path:
[... ;C:\php4;E:\php ]

to re-use my existing PHP 5 install (which happens to have a debugger, and a few other dll's in there... i assume they will work?). I commented httpd.conf for the php5 on E:.

I'm not sure what i was doing wrong; what was the problem, but upon first try of parsing and viewing a php "web" copied from my old wwwroot on "E:", i saw only source code in the browser. i opened the Apache momitor, and Windows Services-- both indicated php5.1.2. "Hmph!", thinking that perhaps it was something "weird" w/ the e: drive settings incompatible w/ my new Apache install, i went into httpd.conf and commented it so it would use php4 on "C:".

When the new php settings became visible in Services and the Apache Monitor, again i tried opening the php files on localhost, and again-- only source code. frustrated, i scanned httpd.conf for anything that looked out-of-place... the only thing that seemed different was the port:8080 setting. but, rather than manually configure this, i simply backed up the new conf, and copied httpd.conf from "E:", over writing the new file, and changed the drive-mapped letters to the appropriate for its new residence on "C:".

opened the browser, and "Wha-la!", everything now seems to be fine.

any idea why the port:8080 settings (and whatever else might be different in that "new" httpd.conf file) did NOT work? maybe i can learn something here! 😉

other than that bit of unexpected weirdness, everything seems to be working fine currently.

thanks for your help, Laserlight!!! i believe you helped me last time i installed Apache2!! is this something of a specialty area for you?
🙂

ATS16805

ATS16805 wrote:
could i do a similar comment/ uncomment on a new installation of Apache on this OS, and essentially have 2 separate "LocalHosts"?

oh-- i forgot to explain what i meant by that-- i guess i really meant :
"Can i essentially have two separate 'webroot' directories by adjusting settings in httpd.conf?"

indeed-- a dumb question-- i know the answer is yes... but, do you have any advice? anything i should "watch out" for; special settings i might want to consider, etc?

thanks!!

just looking for a comment about that, and then i'm going to mark this thread resolved. thanks again!