Setup:Installation Guide/System Preparation/Windows/PHP

The source code of BlueSpice is based on the scripting language "PHP". It must be installed on your server in order to operate BlueSpice. The steps listed here are required.

PHP is not installed with a "classic installation package" but the sources are downloaded and integrated into IIS via the PHP Manager that you installed in the previous step.

Download

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Open the officical download page for Windows auf php.net (1).

Find the currently most recent version 7.4.x (2) 64-bit Non Thread Safe (3) and download it (4):

Follow the download instructions.

Please note that BlueSpice is not compatible with PHP 8.x at this time.

In the following steps, we use PHP-Version 7.4.28 which only serves as an example for the latest version 7.4.x that is available at the time of your download.

Unpacking the zip-archive

Unpack the ZIP archive that you just downloaded into a useful system path on your hard drive.

This documentation assumes the recommended folder structure. For this reason PHP will be unpacked into the folder C:\bluespice\bin\php-7.4.28. If you have a different folder structure, you must adapt these paths accordingly.

Setting the environment variable

To use PHP easily on the command line of Windows, it is necessary to configure an environment variable in Windows. Perform the following steps:

Enter the key combination Windows+R.

Enter "SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe" (1) in the dialog window and click "OK" (2):

Environment variables 02

Click "Environment Variables...":

Environment variables 03

Double-click the entry "Path" in the section "System variables":

Environment variables 04

Click "New":

Environment variables 05

Add the path to your unpacked PHP version, which contains the php.exe file:

Environment variables 06

Close all newly opened windows one after the other by clicking "OK".

Checking the environment variable

To make sure the environment variable is set correctly, perform the following steps:

Enter the key combination Windows+R.

Enter "cmd" (1) in the dialog window and click "OK" (2):

Environment variables 07

The command prompt opens.

Type "php -v" (1) and press the Enter key. The found PHP version will be displayed (2).

Environment variables 08

If this is not the case, then the path to the php.exe file in the environment variables was specified incorrectly.

Configuring IIS for PHP

In the following steps, PHP will be included in IIS and IIS will be configured to provide a working basic setup:

Press the key combination Windows+R to call up IIS Manager.

Enter "inetmgr" (1) in the dialog window and click "OK" (2):

PHP and IIS 01

Select your server name (1) in the left pane and then double-click "PHP Manager" (2):

PHP and IIS 02

Click "Register new PHP version":

PHP and IIS 03

Select the browse "(...)" button in the next window:

PHP and IIS 04

Change to the path to which you previously unzipped PHP (1), mark the "php-cgi.exe" (2) and click "Open" (3):

PHP and IIS 05

Click "OK":

PHP and IIS 06

Click "Configure error reporting":

PHP and IIS 07

Select the item "Production machine" (1) and enter a path and a file of your choice where PHP should save its log (2). Click "Apply" (3):

PHP and IIS 08

This documentation assumes the recommended folder structure. If the path you specify here does not yet exist, please create it before clicking "Apply".

Click "Enable or disable an extension" in the main window:

Make sure that the following extensions are activated:

To activate an extension, find it in the "Disabled" extensions (1) and click "Enable" (2):

Open the configuration file php.ini:

Replace the line extension=php_opcache.dll with zend_extension=php_opcache.dll:

Change the following options to the values below:

Name	Wert	Kommentar
date.timezone	"Europe/Berlin"	Select the appropriate time zone for you. Uncomment the entry
max_execution_time	600
post_max_size	1024M
upload_max_filesize	1024M
opcache.enable	1	Uncomment the entry
opcache.enable_cli	0	Uncomment the entry
opcache.memory_consumption	512	Uncomment the entry
opcache.max_accelerated_files	1000000	Uncomment the entry
opcache.validate_timestamps	1	Uncomment the entry
opcache.revalidate_freq	2	Uncomment the entry
opcache.optimization_level	0x7FFF9FFF	Uncomment the entry
opcache.blacklist_filename	C:\bluespice\etc\opcache.blacklist	Uncomment the entry
zlib.output_compression	On
zlib.output_compression_level	9	Uncomment the entry

Save and close the file.

Create the folder C:\bluespice\etc .

Create a text file named opcache.blacklist content C:\bluespice\var\www\w\extensions\BlueSpiceFoundation\config\*

Expand the tree in the left pane of the IIS Manager until the "Default Web Site" becomes visible:

PHP and IIS 14

Right-click (1) and then click "Remove" (2):

PHP and IIS 15

Confirm the following dialog with "Yes":

PHP and IIS 16

Right-click "Sites" (1) and click "Add Website" (2):

PHP and IIS 17

Enter the site name "BlueSpice" (1) and select the path on your server where your BlueSpice installation will be located later (2).

Click "OK" (3):

PHP and IIS 18

This documentation assumes the recommended folder structure. If the path you specify here does not yet exist, please create it before clicking "OK".

The site is now listed in the IIS overview page:

PHP and IIS 19

Next step

If you have successfully completed all of the above steps, proceed to the next step: MariaDB.

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