Apache, PHP and MySQL on Windows 8 x64: Quick installation

Last Updated on 2013-02-04.

1. Download MySQL
2. Download Apache
3. Download PHP (For Apache 2.2, you need PHP 5.2, ZIP file)
4. Install MySQL. After finishing the Wizard, MySQL service should start.
5. Install Apache. If you encounter problems running the default config, have a look at this post.
6. Open C:Program Files (x86)Apache Software FoundationApache2.2confhttpd.conf with notepad (Admin permissions!)
7. Add the following lines at the end of the file:

   LoadModule php5_module "c:/php/php5apache2_2.dll"
   AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
   PHPIniDir "C:/php"

8. Extract PHP to c:php.
9. Rename php.ini-dist to php.ini
10. Edit php.ini, search for “mysql” and uncomment the line.
11. Copy phplibmysql.dll to c:windows.
12. Restart Apache.
13. Under Apache-Dirhtdocs, create a file test.php with content

    <?=phpinfo()?>

14. Open http://localhost/test.php to see if Apache / PHP works and if the MySQL module is loaded.

Update

PHP 5.3.5 also works with this configuration, see this file listing and search for files containing “VC6”.

Newer versions are not available as VC6 compiled binaries. If you need these, have a look at this blog.

Optional: Get PhpMyAdmin