First Steps for Setting up PHP 5 to Work on Your Apache Server

PHP, Linux and Apache have become linked to form the modern LAMP stack for modern software development with my SQL databases. With the release of PHP 5, most modern web applications now rely upon the language to serve both front and back-end scripting.  As open source software packages, you can start building your LAMP stack to build a world class web application at no upfront cost and with a complete library of open source extensions at your fingertips.

If you’re new to PHP, it’s an open source scripting language primary used for web development. The language dates back to 1995 and is released under the open source general public license (GPL).  While the name itself refers to the acronym for Personal Home Page (PHP), the language has developed with much wider implementation for enterprise and business applications as an alternative to Perl and Dot Net. The language is inherently linked with Apache since most open source platforms use Apache web servers to run PHP-based applications.

Development with PHP is generally implementing with leading model view controller (MVC) frameworks including Zend Framework, Symfony, Cake PHP and others. Most open source modern web applications utilize PHP as its scripting base including WordPress, Magento Commerce, Drupal, Joomla and more. Therefore, implementing an application with open PHP standards can help with interoperability with major web applications through their API.

Start Setting up PHP 5 on Apache

To start you’ll need to download the latest build of PHP directly from the source (www.PHP.net). Keep in mind PHP 5 introduced a new series of classes which aren’t duplicated in PHP 4, so it’s highly recommend your use version 5 (and upgrade in case you’re using a previous version.) Currently in highly stable release, PHP 5 improved object oriented programming and has become the gold standard for open source front end development. While PHP 6 is under early development, PHP 5 should have an expanded lifespan since it has undergone extensive development since its 2004 release. Therefore, installing the language on your Apache server is a good investment in computing resources.

As you begin to setup the package, configure the server to understand PHP files by creating a makefile using the following commands:

./configure \
--with-apxs2=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs \
--prefix=/usr/local/apache/php \
--with-config-file-path=/usr/local/apache/php \

You can then proceed with the “make install” command to install PHP on your server, and then install the PHP configuration (php.ini) file using the following command:

cp -p php.ini-recommended /usr/local/apache/php/php.ini

Once you have installed PHP on your Apache server you’ll need to update your core server configuration file (httpd.conf) to reflect the new installation. Add the following lines to the file:

LoadModule php5_module        modules/libphp5.so
AddHandler php5-script php
AddType text/html       php