First thing you need to do is open Windows DNS Manager if it already isn’t open.

Start > Administrative Tools > DNS

In the left window of the DNS manager expand the forward zones folder and right click the zone you want add records to.

Select Properties. Now the first thing we want to do configure the Start of Authority(SOA). When you setup the zone it set defaults that are not rfc compliant. Lets get that done first.

The first section is the serial number. You should set each section as follows:

• Serial number should be in yyyymmdd01 format. Set the year, then month, then day and finally an 2 digit number that will increment every update. Start with 01
• Primary server should be ns.yourmain.tld or whatever you called the name server. Default was the domain name. You can use the default if the root domain is actually registered as a name server for you domain
• Responsible party would be the DNS admin email, Normally hostmaster.yourdomain.tld.
• Refresh interval set to 20 minutes.
• Retry interval set to 15 minutes.
• Expires after set to 14 days.
• Minimum time to live(TTL) set to 1 hour.
• TTL for this record should be default so you shouldn’t have to change it. It should be 0 :1 :0 :0.

Those are minimum values and can be changed if you feel the need. With those values if you use a site like DNS Reports you won’t get any errors.

Lets add some other records now.

I’ll attach the batch files at the end of the post for those that don’t want to copy and paste the code. Now lets get started.

For the first method you’ll need the batch file and a text file with you FTP login information and you’ll need a command line zip program. You can use Winzip Command Line Tools if you have Winzip installed on the sever or7zip if you have it installed. I use GNU Gzip, you download it at the projects Sourceforge page, so this tutorial will be specific to it.

First the batch file to create the backup.

Copy and paste this into your text editor and save as mysql-ftp.bat:

@ECHO OFF

@REM Set directory variables.
SET basedir=C:\Backup
SET workdir=C:\Temp
SET mysqldir=C:\path\to\mysql\bin
SET gzipdir=C:\PROGRA~1\GnuWin32\bin
SET mysqlpassword=mysqlpassword
SET mysqluser=mysqluser

@REM Change to mySQL directory
CD %mysqldir%

@REM dump all databases.
mysqldump -u %mysqluser% -p%mysqlpassword% –all-databases >%workdir%\backup.sql

@REM Change to working directory
CD %workdir%

@REM Zip up databases
%gzipdir%\gzip.exe backup.sql

@REM Chage the file name to a random name
MOVE backup.sql.gz backup.%random%.gz

@REM FTP file offsite
FTP -n -s:%basedir%\ftp.txt

@REM Remove old backup files
del backup.sql
del backup.*.gz

@REM Change back to base dir
CD %basedir%

Some notes on the above.

• basedir is the directory you are launching the batch file from.
• workdir is the temp directory where the files are stored until the job is done.
• mysqldir is where your mysql binaries are.
• gzipdir is where you installed GNU gzip and this is default for the installer so no need to change it.
• mysqlpassword is the password to connect to mysql.
• mysqluser is mysql usr tht can connect to mysql.

Once the backup is made and FTP was sent the script will delete the backup file. If you want to keep the backups it created remove these lines.

@REM Remove old backup files
del backup.sql
del backup.*.gz


If you want to backup only one database instead of all of them change this line:

mysqldump -u %mysqluser% -p%mysqlpassword% --all-databases >%workdir%\backup.sql

To This:

mysqldump -u %mysqluser% -p%mysqlpassword% databasename >%workdir%\backup.sql

If you noticed this line,

FTP -n -s:%basedir%\ftp-commands.txt

You’ll now need the contents of the FTP script which you will place in the basedir where the batch file is. Here it is.

open
ftp.yourftpserver.com
user
username
password
bin
put backup.*.gz
quit


That’s it. Copy the batch file code, make any of the changes outlined above and call it backuptoftp.bat and copy the FTP script and name it ftp.txt.

Read on and I’ll give you another example that will make a date based backup and store it on your server for later transfer.

Right click YouServerName in the left pane of the manager and select Configure a DNS server. The wizard will open. There will be a DNS checklist that you can click to make sure you have all the information you need to set up DNS for your domain.
Once you are sure you have all the information needed click next.
The first option, create a forward lookup zone, will be checked bydefault. Leave like that and click next.
This step is to set your server as the maintainer of the zone. The correct option that you want is checked by default so go ahead and click next.
The next step is to give this server a name. The name should be your domain. If you’re domain is mydomain.com then enter mydomain.com as the name. Once you enter the name click next.
Next thing is the creation of the zone file. The zone file holds all the data for this domain. It is similar to the zone files on Linux servers. No need to change this. Leave it as default. The default will be mydomain.dns. Click next to go to the next step.
In this step you’ll choose if you want to allow dynamic updates for this zone. It is not a good idea to enable this unless you plan on running a dynamic DNS server. One that can be updated by a script if the IP to your site changes. Leave this at default which is Do not allow dynamic updates. Click next to go to the next step.
This step is for forwarders. This should be set to yes, the first option and defaut option, if you have a master DNS server and what to forward lookup request to that server. I wll assume this will be your default DNS server for your domain so uncheck the first option and check the option to not forward queries.
That’s it. A DNS server for your domain is now set up.
In DNS manager in the left window expand forward zones and you’ll see a new folder called mydomain.com. Now you can set up your host (IP) records, mx records and nameservers so that your domain resolves to your server. In the next article I write about how to set up the domains.

If you follow this procedure you can have PHP and MYSQL upgraded in less than an hour.

Of course that doesn’t include the time it takes to download PHP and MYSQL. I will assume you have them downloaded. Lets get started. We’ll upgrade MYSQL first.

Upgrading MYSQL
As I said I assume you have the MYSQL zip already download. Use the zip nenver the installer. Extract the zip. You will have a directory called mysql-noinstall-4.1.16-win32 or something similar. The 4.1.16 will change depending on the version you downloaded. Inside that there will be mysql-4.1.6-win32 directory. Again the version number might be different. Rename mysql-4.1.6-win32 to mysql-4.1.16 and copy it to where ever you installed the version you want to upgrade. If your old version is at c:\mysql then copy the dir to C:\mysql-4.1.16.
Now copy my.ini from the old version of MYSQL to the new version. Open my.ini with Notepad and change

basedir=
datadir=
socket =

to reflect the new path to MYSQL. Example:

basedir=C:/mysql-4.1.6
datadir=C:/mysql-4.1.6/data
socket = C:/mysql-4.1.6/mysql.sock

Now we want to shutdown mysql. Open a command prompt and give this command.

C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root shutdown

Now all we have to do is uninstall the old service and install the service for the new version. First stop the MYSQL service.

net stop mysql

This will stop the MYSQL service. It might be a good idea to shutoff IIS first or you’ll get MYSQL errors on your site.
After the service is stopped then we want to uninstall the old service. At the command prompt use this command.

C:\mysql\bin\mysqld-max-nt.exe –remove

Now this assumes you installed mysqld-max-nt binary as the service. If you installed mysqld then adjust the command above to reflect the binary you used.
Once the old service is removed we can install the new service. First we want to make sure the new version of mysql runs without any problems. Give this command.

C:\mysql-4.1.16\bin\mysqld –console

After a short time you should see mysqld: ready for connections. If you see that then shutdown MYSQL so that we can move your databases and install the new service to finish up.
Once you know the new version of MYSQL works and have shutdown the new version it is time to move your database. Move into the old version of MYSQL and right click the data dir and select copy. Move into the new version of mysql and paste it overwriting the current data dir. That’s it. Once you have MYSQL upgraded and running you might want to optimize each database.
The last step. Install the new service and change the MYSQL path. To install the new service give this command.

C:\mysql-4.1.16\bin\mysqld-max-nt.exe –install

Yuor websites will now use the new version of MYSQL. Last thing you want to do is change the path variable to the new version. If you followed the tutorial to install MYSQL you’ll already have a path variable set to the old version. Just follow the procedure in instaling MYSQL to change the variable. If you don’t have the path variable follow the instaling MYSQL to set it.
MYSQL is now upgraded. Restart IIS, if you shut it down, and open a browser and navigate to your site. Everything should be running normally.
Next step is upgrading PHP. Lets get started.

First thing you want to do is head over to mysql and download the latest 4.1.x version. Just like you did when you downloaded PHP you want to download the zip. Do not download the installer package. Download mysql here.
Open a remote desktop connection to your server or use an ftp client to upload the mysql zip. You can use the same procedure I outlined in Windows: Installing PHP to transfer the zip. In any case you need to be connected to the server with RDP.

Unzip the package and you should be left with a directory named mysql-noinstall-4.1.16-win32 or something similar. Inside that folder you’ll have mysql-4.1.6-win32 dir. Rename that to mysql-4.1.16. When we installed PHP, I am assuming you read the PHP install tutorial and followed it to install PHP, you noticed I named the PHP folder in a similar way. There is a reason for this. It is much easier to upgrade to new versions. No need to overwrite any files. Windows can be quirky at time when files are overwritten. You could wind up with problems. Doing it this way you’ll never have to worry about the install not working. Doing it this way also allows you to run 2 different versions of mysql is you choose.

Once you renamed the folder you can move it to your C drive or whatever drive is your root drive. You should have C:\mysql-4.1.6 and inside all the mysql folders such as bin, data, and docs.
Enter the mysql dir and rename my-medium.ini to my.ini.

Open my.ini with Notepad. You should see this:

[client]
#password = your_password
port = 3306
socket = /tmp/mysql.sock

# Here follows entries for some specific programs

# The MySQL server
[mysqld]
port = 3306
socket = /tmp/mysql.sock
skip-locking
key_buffer = 16M
max_allowed_packet = 1M
table_cache = 64
sort_buffer_size = 512K
net_buffer_length = 8K
read_buffer_size = 256K
read_rnd_buffer_size = 512K
myisam_sort_buffer_size = 8M

#skip-networking

# Replication Master Server (default)
# binary logging is required for replication
log-bin

# required unique id between 1 and 2^32 – 1
# defaults to 1 if master-host is not set
# but will not function as a master if omitted
server-id = 1

[mysqldump]
quick
max_allowed_packet = 16M

[mysql]
no-auto-rehash
# Remove the next comment character if you are not familiar with SQL
#safe-updates

[isamchk]
key_buffer = 20M
sort_buffer_size = 20M
read_buffer = 2M
write_buffer = 2M

[myisamchk]
key_buffer = 20M
sort_buffer_size = 20M
read_buffer = 2M
write_buffer = 2M

[mysqlhotcopy]
interactive-timeout

Now we need to add a couple lines to the file.
At the top of the file just under
[mysqld]
Add these 2 lines.

basedir=C:/mysql-4.1.6
datadir=C:/mysql-4.1.6/data

Now we have to change mysql.sock path to the correct path. There are 2 places to change this. Both are at the top of the file. One in the [client] section and one just below the paths you added.
Change

socket = /tmp/mysql.sock
to
socket = C:/mysql-4.1.6/mysql.sock

That’s all the editing you need to do. Once your site is getting a large amount of traffic you can tweak my.ini to optimize performance. Save the changes and close Notpad.
Open a command prompt, Start > Run > cmd.exe.
First start mysql to make sure everything works. To do that run this command.

C:\mysql-4.1.16\bin\mysqld –console

After it runs you should see some lines of text with the last being.

mysqld: ready for connections

If there is no errors then your ready to install mysql as a service. To do that first shutdown mysql with this command

C:\mysql-4.1.16\bin\mysqladmin -u root shutdown.

To install the service invoke this command.

C:\mysql\bin\mysqld-max-nt.exe –install

Mysql is now set to start whenever you reboot the server. Now lets start the service. To do that invoke this command

net start mysql

You should see some text that says mysql is now ready for connections. If it doesn’t start open Services manager and scroll down to the mysql service and see if the path to the binary is correct. The only time I ever had problems was when I invoked the install command without using the full path to the binary. If you did as stated above there should be no errors.
Now there is one last thing to do. Add the mysql bin directory to your path so that you can work at the command line without having to be in the mysql bin dir or using the full path to the dir.

To add mysql to your path right click My Computer. Select Advanced tab. Click Environment Variables. In the second box highlight PATH and select edit. Add

;C\mysql-4.1.16\bin

to the end of the path. Make sure you add it exactly as above including the ;.

Now open another command window and type mysql. You should see mysql > ready for connections.
Close the box. Congrats you now have mysql installed. You’ll want to head over to http://mysql.com and read the documentation to set root passwords and add new users.

First lets download PHP from php.net. Select one of the zip versions preferably in the 5.x branch. Do not install PHP with the installer. Once you have PHP downloaded open a connection to your server using remote desktop. Make sure when you connect you select options. When you see all the options at the top click local resources. Check the box that says bring local disks to server. Now type in your admin login and password and connect. A box will popup asking if you want to bring your disks to the server. Click OK.Now you’re connected to your server. Open My Computer and you’ll see the server disks as well as your disks. Browse to the servers C:\Inetpub directory. If you have Inetpub on a different drive than C then browse to it. Now minimize the RDP connection. On your own computer browse to where you downloaded the php zip. You did download the zip didn’t you? Again don’t use the installer. Extract the zip. You should now have a folder called php-5.x.x.

Now we’ll move the php folder to your server. Right click the folder and select copy. Maximize you RDP connection. Make sure that C:\Inetpub is open. Right click and select paste. It might take some time for the menu to popup after you right click. It will. Select paste you’ll see a transfer box come up and it will transfer the php-5.x.x folder to C:\Inetpub. Another option and maybe a faster option is to start remote desktop and download PHP on the server.

Now that you have PHP downloaded and in place in C:\Inetpub it’s time to set IIS to use it to parse .php pages.

First thing to do is rename php.ini.recommended to php.ini. We won’t edit it at this time. The defaults of the recommended ini is good to get PHP running.

First thing to do is set up the path to php in Environment Variables.

1. Click start and right click My Computer.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Click Environment Variables

In the bottom box select Path and then Edit button. At the end of the Path variable add ;C:\Inetpub\php-5.x.x.
Substitute the folder path to what folder you actually have PHP in. There is one thing we need to do while you have the variables box open. Click the New button. In the Variable Name field put PHPRC. In the Variable Value field put C:\Inetpub\php-5.x.x. All done close that out and click apply for the changes to take affect.

Note: You might have to reboot the server so the new path and new variable take effect. To test it open a command window and type php. If you get an error then you’ll have to reboot. Don’t yet we still have work to do.

Now lets configure IIS to use PHP.

Open up IIS Manager. Start > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manger.

First thing we’ll do is add a new web service extension and enable it. In the left pane click on Web Service Extensions. in the left you’ll now see some options. Click add new web service extension. A box will popup. For the Extension name add PHP-IASPI. Click Add to add the required file. Browse to C:\Inetpub\php-5.x.x or whatever folder you put php in and select php php5isapi.dll. Check the Set extension status to allow box. Click ok to apply. IIS is now setup to use PHP, but, we aren’t quit done yet.

While still in IIS Manager expand My Websites. If you only have Default Website it’s a breeze getting PHP running.

Right click Default Website and select properties. Once the properties window comes up select Home Diretory tab. In Excutive settings in the dropdown select scripts only and click create. If you already have ASP or other scripts running on the server the Application will already be enabled for scripts. If you see an application name then skip the above step.

Click on the Configuration button. Click Add. When the box comes up you’ll see the Executable box with a browse button next to it. Click browse and navigate to the php5isapi.dll the same as you did when you added the web services extension. In the extension box add php. Uncheck Verify if exists. Click OK and apply. If you need to have php parse different extensions use the same procedure to add more extensions.

All done. Now it’s time to test it out. Open Note pad and put < ?php phpinfo(); ?> in it. Save it as test.php in your websites root. Make sure it doesn’t save as test.php.txt. If it did rename it to test.php. Open up your browser and browse to http://yoursite.tld/test.php. If you see the PHP information page then you have done everything correctly.

If you got an error when you tried to run php at the command prompt then reboot your server.

If you don’t see that page then retrace your steps to find your error.
If you have more than one website and if you want PHP to work in each you have to configure each site like you did the Default Website. In the next installment we’ll add some extensions and set up PEAR.