CGI and command line setups
By default, PHP is built as both a CLI and
CGI program, which can be used for CGI
processing. If you are running a web server that PHP has module
support for, you should generally go for that solution for
performance reasons. However, the CGI version enables users to run
different PHP-enabled pages under different user IDs.
WarningA server deployed in CGI mode is open
to several possible vulnerabilities. Please read our
CGI security section to learn how to
defend yourself from such attacks.
Testing
If you have built PHP as a CGI program, you may test your build
by typing make test. It is always a good idea
to test your build. This way you may catch a problem with PHP on
your platform early instead of having to struggle with it later.
Using Variables
Some server supplied
environment variables are not defined in the
current » CGI/1.1 specification.
Only the following variables are defined there: AUTH_TYPE,
CONTENT_LENGTH, CONTENT_TYPE,
GATEWAY_INTERFACE, PATH_INFO,
PATH_TRANSLATED, QUERY_STRING,
REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_HOST,
REMOTE_IDENT, REMOTE_USER,
REQUEST_METHOD, SCRIPT_NAME,
SERVER_NAME, SERVER_PORT,
SERVER_PROTOCOL, and SERVER_SOFTWARE.
Everything else should be treated as 'vendor extensions'.
Installing from source on Unix and macOS systems
Installation on Unix systems