Tuesday, February 9, 2010

PHP FastCGI Error on IIS 6

Version: PHP 5.2.9-2, IIS 6

Problem:

PHP websites reporting FastCGI error in browser as follows:

FastCGI Error
The FastCGI Handler was unable to process the request.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Error Details:

The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly
Error Number: -1073741819 (0xc0000005).
Error Description: Unknown Error
HTTP Error 500 - Server Error.
Internet Information Services (IIS)

Solution:

While there can be many reasons for this error – a common issue is due to missing lib file dependencies for dlls in php.ini.

E.g.
In php.ini the following line exists: extension=php_mhash.dll
This requires the dependant file: /Program Files/PHP/libmhash.dll

Run the following on the command line to report missing library files: "C:\Program Files\PHP\php-cgi.exe" –v

Reset IIS after php.ini changes.  Run the following on the command line: iisreset