Running LAMP on Windows Server 2008 - webcast and screencasts now available

I don't know about you, but that title sounds odd to me.  Why on earth would you run the LAMP stack on Windows?  Well for one thing LAMP commonly refers to Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.  So running LAMP on Windows Server 2008 really means running it in a virtual machine and the only supported method for doing that at the moment is via SUSE Enterprise Server from Novell.  This was discussed in the webcast Running Open Source Software (OSS) on Windows Server with IIS7 that I delivered yesterday.

In order to take one or more open source applications to the Windows platform, you might choose the prudent and safe route.  First running the entire LAMP stack in a VM.  Next, you might decide to remove the L and run the AMP portions on Windows Server 2008.  That's where the meat of the webcast I did today really starts.  You'll see in the second webcast demo we install Apache.  Later we install PHP, MySQL then Drupal on top of all of that.

The purpose of the webcast is to highlight the migration and coexistence that is possible.  You don't have to totally tear down everything you know and love then replace it.  Windows Server 2008 will be happy to run Apache, MySQL and PHP.  If you decide to replace pieces of that solution over time, you can do so pretty easily and that is demonstrated in the webcast replay.

I decided to record a higher fidelity version of some of the demos and instead of using the Drupal software used in the webcast, I used a common blogging software product called Wordpress.  So here are the screencasts.

Part 1 - Installing PHP on Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 (length 8:51)

Downloading and installing PHP is pretty easy.  Testing that it is installed successfully is super easy via the phpinfo() function.  Learning to use PHP effectively is a little harder but the product has been around for years so there are a ton of books on using it with Linux or Windows.

Part 2 - Installing MySQL on Windows Server 2008 (length 5:39)

MySQL is a popular database product used for a variety of applications on the Internet.  Just like Apache and PHP, MySQL can be installed and used on Windows Server 2008 as well.  In the linked webcast replay above I spent some time creating a table, inserting some data, the executing a query against the database to confirm it works. 

In this short screencast, we just go through the motions of installation, configuration, and creation of the database we'll use with the blogging software.  We'll know soon enough if we made any mistakes.

Part 3 - Installing Wordpress on the Windows, IIS7, MySQL, PHP (length 5:13)

Wordpress is blogging software widely used on the Internet.  I actually have a Wordpress blog but I haven't posted anything to it in six months.  It's part of the hosting plan we use for my wife's websites so you'll likely run across it in your hosting adventures.  One of the reasons it's so popular is because it's so easy to install and customize.  Check out the screencast below. See what I mean?

There were several important points made in the webcast.  You should consider downloading it and watching the entire 90 minutes when you have some spare time.  I think you'll find that there are some nuggets of information there that you may now be aware of.  Like:

• Apache runs really well on Windows Server 2008
• MySQL runs really well on Windows Server 2008
• PHP runs really well on Windows Server 2008
• You can replace Apache with IIS7 and the applications will hardly notice
• All of the above runs really well on Windows Server 2008 Core.
• Migration is easy but not perfect so as always, test, test, test
• IIS7 stores a lot of configuration data in XML and is easily edited like Apache, but unlike Apache, picks up the changes dynamically without a restart
• And lots more!!!

Enjoy!!!

Comments

• Anonymous
  December 17, 2008
  Nice series Keith! This has been very helpful for me as I was curious how to run PHP and MySQL on Windows Server 2008. I'm going to attempt a core installation of them though :) Thanks! Dave

• Anonymous
  December 20, 2008
  I've done this before on 2008 (not core, though).  I completely redid my main LAMP site this way and it was dead easy.  Yikes, great setup but bad acronym... Windows Iis Mysql Php.... :-)

• Anonymous
  December 20, 2008
  I know.  But WIMP is better than WAMP.

• Anonymous
  December 21, 2008
  Well I got PHP5 and MySQL 5.1 running on Windows Server Core but I was a little disappointed to find out that you can't use the IIS7 Manager  to manage a Server Core installation of IIS7. Looks like i'll have to use Windows Web Server 2008 for my WIMP with Wordpress server. Thanks, Dave

• Anonymous
  December 21, 2008
  Dave, That's changing.  See the Windows Server 2008 R2 area at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/R2-web-platform.aspx and the reviewers guide at http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/2/1/f2146213-4ac0-4c50-b69a-12428ff0b077/Windows_Server_2008_R2_Reviewers_Guide_(BETA).doc

• Anonymous
  January 15, 2009
  [quote] IIS7 stores a lot of configuration data in XML and is easily edited like Apache, but unlike Apache, picks up the changes dynamically without a restart [/quote] For a few years now (pre iis 6 release) Apache has a --graceful flag which makes the server reread the configuration file WITHOUT restarting next time do your homework before write bullsh*t on perfectly good and superior products

• Anonymous
  January 15, 2009
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  February 19, 2009
  >the entire 90 minutes< I see no trace of link nor the location of these / this web cast.  Where is it?

• Anonymous
  February 19, 2009
  what happens when you click the hypperlinked word "webcast" or "webcast replay" above in the body of the post?