So tonight I helped a client set up PHP5 on IIS 7 using MSSQL 2005. These things always work great in theory but judging my my use of the word "theory" in italics, you can probably guess that things weren't so smooth in practice.

The client was smart enough to get FastCGI working through IIS...something I would have probably rolled over on. From then on, it was an upward battle getting a simple PHP prototype project going.

In the later versions of PHP 5, it would seem that all mssql_* functions have...been... removed? There is an ntwdblib.dll that needs to be replaced to play nicely with mssql 2005...but it doesn't exist in the latest releases. How strange. I ended up reverting to 5.2.5, making me a not-so-bleeding-edge pushover :'(. It's cool though.

Then MSSQL doesn't accept normal logins, only windows ones, and it's bloomin' impossible finding out how to change that.

One thing Microsoft seems to have actually done right is release a rewrite module (much like mod_rewrite) that you don't have to frickin' pay for, which is nice. On a side note, I really hated Windows Server 2008. It's like Vista in every way, except that the design is slightly different, somewhat. Sorry, MS, but get your shit together plz, kkthxbai.

Anyway, we got everything going. What a pain in the ass though!

If you're wondering, I'm more of a Unix guy ;). And yes, I have used a computer before.