The latest on the FastCGI project and PHP support on IIS

Ever since the original release of FastCGI Tech Preview 1, and the Microsoft/Zend collaboration announcement to bring production-quality PHP to IIS, the FastCGI project has been steadily gaining momentum in the community.   With the release of Longhorn Server Beta 3, a number of hosters are beginning to offer FastCGI-powered PHP support on top of their IIS7 offerings, which is really when it gets exciting.

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UPDATE (9/24/2007): The FastCGI Go-Live release for IIS6 and IIS5.1 is here!  Read about it and download it to start hosting your PHP applications today: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/09/24/Deploy-your-PHP-applications-today-with-the-IIS-6-FastCGI-Go_2D00_Live-release_2100_.aspx. 

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UPDATE (9/24/2007): The FastCGI Go-Live release for IIS6 and IIS5.1 is here!  Read about it and download it to start hosting your PHP applications today: http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2007/09/24/Deploy-your-PHP-applications-today-with-the-IIS-6-FastCGI-Go_2D00_Live-release_2100_.aspx. 

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Since I’ve been away for a while wrapping up IIS7 core server and ASP.NET Integrated Pipeline work for Longhorn server,  I figured this would be a great time to check back in and give you an update on the FastCGI project.

FastCGI for IIS7 is now available out-of-the-box in Longhorn server
As you already knew, IIS FastCGI comes in two flavors: IIS7 module for Vista / Longhorn Server, and IIS5/IIS6 ISAPI for Windows XP / Windows 2003 Server.   Several months ago, we were given the approval to add IIS7 FastCGI into Windows, so starting with Longhorn Server Beta 3, IIS7 includes FastCGI support in the box! 

This makes installing and trying out FastCGI in Longhorn SB3 a piece of cake.  If you haven’t downloaded Longorn SB3 already, be sure to check it out – it contains quite a bit of IIS7 improvements, especially around security, performance, and hosting support.  

 To get started, be sure to check out the step by step walkthrough for installing FastCGI in Longhorn SB3, and learning more about the internals.

If you are running Vista – you can download the Technical Preview 2 release of FastCGI for IIS7.  Of course, when Vista SP1 comes out, Vista’s IIS7 will also contain FastCGI in the box.

Unofficial update to out-of-band FastCGI for IIS6
If you are interested in running FastCGI on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, or on Vista, then you should be using the latest out-of-band Technical Preview 2 release of FastCGI for IIS5/IIS6.

While we are still working on the Beta release for the IIS5/IIS6 version of FastCGI, we didn’t want to leave you hanging – so, if you are having any trouble with TP2, you can download the latest developer release of out-of-band FastCGI that fixes a few problems reported by the community since TP2’s release.

Just a note: this release has not had all of the internal testing as was done for TP2, so get it only if you are having problems.

PHP 5.2.2 released
Recently, Zend has released another point update to PHP, which is the second release containing fixes that make the PHP engine itself work better on Windows (many of these were found and fixed as part of the collaboration efforts between the IIS team and Zend, and the community feedback).
 

Download PHP 5.2.2 here.

This release, much like the PHP 5.2.1 before it, provides Windows non-thread-safe builds of PHP designed specifically for IIS FastCGI.   If you are intending to use FastCGI to power PHP, be sure to get these builds as they can provide up to 30% improvement in performance due to lack of thread synchronization overhead.

Stay tuned for more information as it develops.  Of course, please let us know if you are using FastCGI, and especially if you are running into any issues on IIS6 FastCGI forums and the IIS7 FastCGI forums.

Thanks,

Mike