Normal Install

Run the MSI installer and follow the instructions provided by the installation wizard. You will be prompted to select the Web Server you wish to configure first, along with any configuration details needed.

You will then be prompted to select which features and extensions you wish to install and enable. By selecting "Will be installed on local hard drive" in the drop-down menu for each item you can trigger whether to install the feature or not. By selecting "Entire feature will be installed on local hard drive", you will be able to install all sub-features of the included feature ( for example by selecting this options for the feature "PDO" you will install all PDO Drivers ).

The installer then sets up PHP to be used in Windows and the php.ini file, and configures certain web servers to use PHP. The installer will currently configure IIS (CGI mode only), Apache, Xitami, and Sambar Server; if you are using a different web server you'll need to configure it manually.

Silent Install

The installer also supports a silent mode, which is helpful for Systems Administrators to deploy PHP easily. To use silent mode:

msiexec.exe /i php-VERSION-win32-install.msi /q

You can control the install directory by passing it as a parameter to the install. For example, to install to e:\php:

msiexec.exe /i php-VERSION-win32-install.msi /q INSTALLDIR=e:\php

You can also specify what features to install. For example, to install the mysqli extension and the CGI executable:

msiexec.exe /i php-VERSION-win32-install.msi /q ADDLOCAL=cgi,ext_php_mysqli

The current list of Features to install is as follows:

MainExecutable - php.exe executable
ScriptExecutable - php-win.exe executable
ext_php_* - the various extensions ( for example: ext_php_mysql for MySQL )
apache13 - Apache 1.3 module
apache20 - Apache 2.0 module
apache22 - Apache 2,2 module
apacheCGI - Apache CGI executable
iis4ISAPI - IIS ISAPI module
iis4CGI - IIS CGI executable
NSAPI - Sun/iPlanet/Netscape server module
Xitami - Xitami CGI executable
Sambar - Sambar Server ISAPI module
CGI - php-cgi.exe executable
PEAR - PEAR installer
Manual - PHP Manual in CHM Format

For more information on installing MSI installers from the command line, visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/msi/setup/command_line_options.asp

Upgrading PHP with the Install

To upgrade, run the installer either graphically or from the command line as normal. The installer will read your current install options, remove your old installation, and reinstall PHP with the same options as before. It is recommended that you use this method of keeping PHP updated instead of manually replacing the files in the installation directory.