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Here’s a summary of updates for PHP on Windows for January 2010.

January 2010 – Summary

· PHP 5.2.12 has shipped

· Windows Azure support added in Zend Framework

· FastCGI 1.5 RTW has shipped

· WinCache Extension 1.0.1 for PHP has shipped

PHP Core – PHP 5.2.12 release

The PHP 5.2.12 has been released and is available on http://windows.php.net and is also offered via Web Platform Installer. The release has more than 60 bug fixes, some of which are security related.

Further details about the PHP 5.2.12 release can be found in the release announcement, and the full list of changes are available in the ChangeLog.

FastCGI Extension 1.5 for IIS 6.0 and IIS 5.1

IIS team has released to web FastCGI Extension 1.5 for IIS 6.0 and IIS 5.1. This version is based on FastCGI Extension 1.0 and it adds several important improvements and features, including most notably:

· Monitor changes to a file. The extension can be configured to listen for file change notifications on a specific file and when that file changes, the extension will recycle FastCGI processes for the process pool. This feature can be used to recycle PHP processes when changes to php.ini file occur.

· Real-time tuning of MaxInstances setting. This MaxInstances setting dictates the maximum number of FastCGI processes which can be launched for each application pool. If it is set to 0 then FastCGI extension will automatically adjust the number of instances up or down every few seconds based on the system load and number of requests waiting in the queue.

More details about the FastCGI Extension 1.5 can be found in the release announcement.

Windows Cache Extension for PHP

WinCache 1.0.1 – Servicing Release

IIS team has released an update to Wincache 1.0. The update fixes several important bugs reported by customers. More details about WinCache 1.0.1 servicing release can be found in the release announcement. The update can be downloaded from here. The source code is available on pecl.php.net.

PHP Interoperability

New version of Zend Framework adds support for Microsoft Windows Azure

Zend Technologies Inc. has announced the availability of Zend Framework 1.10, which among other new features includes support for Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services. We’re very excited about this key milestone, which is the result of a fruitful collaboration! This particular project started last year when we announced the Windows Azure SDK for PHP CTP release and upcoming support in Zend Framework. With the new Zend Framework 1.10, by simply using the new Zend_Service_WindowsAzure component, developers can easily call Windows Azure APIs from their PHP applications and leverage the storage services, including Blob Storage, Table Storage and Queue Service, offering them a way to accelerate web application development and scale up on demand.

More: http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2010/01/28/new-version-of-zend-framework-adds-support-for-microsoft-windows-azure.aspx

Tutorial: Creating PHP CRUD Apps with SQL Server on your Server or in the Azure Cloud

Do you know PHP and have data in a Microsoft SQL Server database? Well we have an application wizard that will make your lives a little easier. The project, open source and hosted on CodePlex, will help you build a simple CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) application that works against Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Azure and Windows Azure Storage. The application is installable on Windows and supports data navigation, paging, sorting and UI customization using simple CSS.

More http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2010/01/06/creating-php-crud-apps-with-sql-server-on-your-server-or-in-the-azure-cloud.aspx

Enabling PHP Applications on Windows

Windows Web Application Gallery

The XOOPS (Japanese) has been added to the Web Application Gallery and is available for download via Web Platform Installer.

The following applications in Web Application Gallery have been updated to their latest versions:

· WordPress (English and Japanese) – 2.9.1

· MySQL – 5.1.43

· SugarCRM – 5.5

· Moodle – 1.9

Here’s a quick run down on the features.

• Monitor changes to a file (php.ini as an example). Will recycle FastCGI processes for the process pool.
• Real-time tuning of MaxInstances setting. Set by default now.
• STDERR stream handling.
• Sending a termination signal to FastCGI processes for cleaner shutdowns.
• _FCGI_X_PIPE_ environment variable for communication between the extension and FastCGI process.
• Relaxed enforcement of response headers syntax.
• Per-application FastCGI process pools. Allows for two different PHP version used for different applications within the same web site.
• Using UTF-8 encoding for server variable values.
• More descriptive error messages
• Changes in default values for configuration settings.

For more detailed information please visit Ruslan’s blog on this release: http://blogs.iis.net/ruslany/archive/2010/01/18/fastcgi-extension-1-5-for-iis-5-1-and-iis-6-0-rtw.aspx

If you have technical questions visit the IIS forum. http://forums.iis.net/t/1164235.aspx

Today, July 7^th, 10AM PT, 1PM ET – We are broadcasting the Michael Jackson memorial, live in HD from the Staples Center in Los Angeles using IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight to the world.  As you can imagine this has come together fast so sorry for the last minute notice. Here’s the link below.

http://inmusic.ca/news_and_features/Michael_Jackson

Today, we are announcing the IIS Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Toolkit Beta – a free toolkit that helps Web developers, hosting providers, and server administrators improve their sites’ relevance in search results by recommending how to make them more search engine-friendly. The SEO Toolkit Beta is available for installation via the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta.

The IIS SEO Toolkit Beta is a piece of the larger Microsoft Web Platform strategy, which enables developers and end-users to build great websites, experiences, and achieve success in the Web ecosystem.

The toolkit can:

• Improve the volume and quality of traffic to Web site from search engines
• Control how search engines access and display Web content
• Inform search engines about locations that are available for indexing

The IIS SEO Toolkit includes three modules that integrate with IIS Manager:

• Site Analysis, which suggests changes that can help improve the volume and quality of traffic to your Web site from search engines;
• Robots Exclusion, which makes it easier to control and restrict the content that search engines index and display; and
• Sitemaps and Site Indexes, which can help inform search engines about locations that are available for indexing.

The IIS SEO Toolkit Beta can be installed with the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta.

For more information, visit: http://www.iis.net/extensions/SEOToolkit

For more information on the Microsoft Web Platform, visit www.microsoft.com/web

To follow Microsoft Web Platform on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mswebplatform

Zend has released both the commercial and community editions of Zend Server.  Zend created a new set of development tools, a framework to build applications and collaborated with Microsoft. Zend has been working with Microsoft since 2006 to make PHP  a first-class citizen on Windows. The collaboration between Microsoft and Zend led to the development of the FastCGI component for IIS and the SQL Server for PHP extension.  Zend Server is designed provide added functionality to an Apache or IIS. Performance management, monitoring. security and patch/update deployment for PHP are also areas of functionality.

I spent part of my weekend installing PHP on IIS7.  I thought I would point you to a few links that might be helpful if you’re considering an install:

TechNet: Running PHP on IIS

Channel 9: Installing PHP Applications on IIS

I found this article from back in July, but If you weren’t aware, Windows Server 2008 has improvements that enable PHP to run more efficiently than previous Windows Server releases. Click here to see the posting at the Windows Server Performance Blog.