Documentation???

[untotren]

LinkStack version

4.8.4

Description

I "drag and dropped" this into my iis folder, added the site, it does not work. I get a 403, I noticed that .php was not a default document, so I added it. Are there any real instructions on how to set this up on iis? The description saying this is drag and drop could not be less true. The only possible help I found, ended up being a dead link..... https://docs.linkstack.org/setup/setup/requirements.md

Details about your system

Windows 10+iis

How to reproduce

Try to drag and drop into iis

Possible Solution

Documentation

Additional Context

No response

[JulianPrieber]

Just to clarify: when we say it's "drag and drop," we're referring to environments where a proper PHP stack is already set up and running - like with Apache or Nginx. Unfortunately, IIS is not a great fit out of the box for running PHP apps like LinkStack.

IIS doesn't natively support running PHP applications it requires additional configuration (like installing PHP manually, setting up FastCGI, handling URL rewriting, etc.). I would generally not recommend it unless you're absolutely forced to use it.

Since you're on Windows, I'd strongly recommend using something like XAMPP or Laragon instead. Both are free, easy to set up, and work great with LinkStack with minimal effort.

If you have to use IIS for some reason, you’ll need to:

• Install PHP and configure it with IIS via FastCGI
• Set up URL Rewrite rules (since .htaccess won't work)
• Ensure folder permissions are set correctly
• Make sure the index.php is set as a default document

You can refer to the official IIS documentation on running PHP to guide you through this setup.

Hope that helps!

---

@tvx-matt can we fix the docs link?

[tvx-matt]

@JulianPrieber Working on the docs soon for everyone.

@untotren I also had very similar issues attempting to run LinkStack on IIS.

[untotren]

Just to clarify: when we say it's "drag and drop," we're referring to environments where a proper PHP stack is already set up and running - like with Apache or Nginx. Unfortunately, IIS is not a great fit out of the box for running PHP apps like LinkStack.

IIS doesn't natively support running PHP applications it requires additional configuration (like installing PHP manually, setting up FastCGI, handling URL rewriting, etc.). I would generally not recommend it unless you're absolutely forced to use it.

Since you're on Windows, I'd strongly recommend using something like XAMPP or Laragon instead. Both are free, easy to set up, and work great with LinkStack with minimal effort.

If you have to use IIS for some reason, you’ll need to:

• Install PHP and configure it with IIS via FastCGI
• Set up URL Rewrite rules (since .htaccess won't work)
• Ensure folder permissions are set correctly
• Make sure the index.php is set as a default document

You can refer to the official IIS documentation on running PHP to guide you through this setup.

Hope that helps!

@tvx-matt can we fix the docs link?

So I installed xampp, I had to create the DB in mysql (not drag and drop) now I am getting an error saying there is no user table. How many tables do I need to create? I am so confused because none of this is documented and it is the opposite of drag and drop

[untotren]

Got it working, now, when attempting to reverse proxy from IIS to XAMPP, I am getting an issue where the page partially loads, but all images etc are attempting to load from local 192.168.1.26. I noticed there is a configuration "Supported domains" but that as well has no documentation.

I also see "App URL" which I configured, it also has no documentation except a comment that says "only use if your setup needs it," which means nothing to anybody who is not technical. Is this for reverse proxy use? If so, it does not say that.

I also see "cache settings" with the comment "completely optional." Okay, optional for what? What does it do?

I see we can change the "APP_ENV" from local to production, but again, there is no documentation on what that does or the implications of doing so.