Is is possible to run Coldfusion & PHP on the same server and website?

Question

I would like to be able to port some new site pages over to PHP using the same db as in the coldfusion site. Is it possible to have PHP run pages in say other directory and

Answer 1

Yes,

It's technically no different to Windows servers which have both PHP and .Net installed, or a Linux server with Perl and PHP.

Speaking generally, after installing the languages you're using you set up your web server to handle files of different extensions. This is done differently depending on whether you're using IIS or Apache, but you effectively say .php files should be handled by the PHP interpreter and .cfm files handled by the Coldfusion interpreter.

Answer 2

As others have said, yes, it is possible. Your configuration doesn't really matter, (unless you're looking for help getting it setup), because it can be done on any modern webserver (Apache, IIS, etc).

Something to think about, though, is the default document. If your web application uses urls like:

http://example.com/myApp/ (no index.cfm or index.php in the url)

Then you need to be aware of the explicit order of default documents. If you have both an index.php and an index.cfm template in the same directory, which will execute?

If your default document list is (a variation of):

index.cfm index.php default.aspx index.html

Then the ColdFusion page will be the one to execute. On the other hand, if the default document list is (a variation of):

index.php index.cfm default.aspx index.html

Then the PHP page will be the one to execute.

Answer 3

Yes, this is possible, I have this available on my production web server (RedHat but it shouldn't matter). If you're looking for details on configuration I couldn't help you though, I had my host set it up. I wouldn't imagine a standard install of both would conflict, just set up the proper handling for each file extension and you should be good to go, keeping them in separate directories or mixing them in one.

Answer 4

It is possible as long as you are running the same web server (i.e. IIS or Apache) for both ColdFusion and PHP. If you let us know what your environment is, people may be able to further assist you - but the answer to your question is yes.

Answer 5

As others have said, its entirely possible and not hard to setup. Just watch out for Default Document as Adam Tuttle said.

I will take it a step further: you even run CF and PHP in the same application server!

Use Cauchos Resin for CF and its Quercus support for PHP:

http://quercus.caucho.com/

Of course, if your PHP app is non-trivial and/or relies on some custom extensions or extensions that Quercus doesnt support than your SOL. But might be interesting to check out.