Problem in first PHP program in RHEL 5.0 printing “hello world.”

Question

I want to learn PHP in RHEL 5.0.

So for this I installed Apache server by

yum install httpd* 
service httpd restart 

Then I wrote a simple program. At this time I am in /root directory

vi deepak.php
<?php

echo -e "Hello World This is my first program in Php";

?> 

Then I went in GUI MODE and open Mozilla Firefox and in the address bar I gave address

localhost/root/deepak.php

But this is not working for me. The error is very common, Server can not find the page..

Now I think my coding is right, but I don't know where I am wrong.

Do I have to make some more settings in my RHEL or have to make some entry in any file?

Should I have to install PHP separately? And if yes, please tell me correct package name for RHEL 5.0.

Answer 1

Firstly, you need to make sure Apache & PHP are installed. As root:

yum install http php
service httpd restart

To see information and a list of files about the php package you just installed, type:

rpm -qil php

The php package pulls in the php-cli package, so you can now do this:

[user@box ~]$ php -v
PHP 5.1.6 (cli) (built: Apr  7 2009 08:00:18)
Copyright (c) 1997-2006 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.1.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2006 Zend Technologies
[user@box ~]$

Next, you need to place your PHP files in the correct location. The default Apache location is:

/var/www/html

So, create /var/www/html/test.php as root, and it should work at http://localhost/test.php.

Developing applications/software as root is not advised. You should create a separate user for general usage and software development. See:

1. http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-5-manual/Deployment%5FGuide-en-US/s1-users-configui.html (or the useradd command)
2. /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf - find the UserDir section, and enable UserDirs as per the instructions. You'll need to restart apache (service httpd restart as above) after making changes. Enabling UserDirs will allow your newly created user to create a public_html directory in their home directory, and then have files accessible at http://localhost/~username.

The internet contains lots of documentation of varying quality and relevance, stick with the RHEL docs as much as you can.

good luck!