PHP Windows Builds

Universal automated Windows builds of PHP — any version, any php/php-src ref — plus a patched Imagick extension that follows whichever PHP you build.

Thread Safe (ZTS) for Apache mod_php / XAMPP. x64 + x86, each also as an AVX2-optimized build.

History. This repository started as php86-windows-builds and tracked the PHP 8.6.0-dev master snapshots (see the INIT 8.6 section). On 2026-09-26, php/php-src master bumped to 8.7.0-dev after the PHP-8.6 release branch was cut, so the repository was renamed to php-windows-builds and made version-agnostic end to end. Old URLs (git remote, releases, API) redirect automatically.

The build-php-dev-latest workflow builds a complete PHP distribution from whatever ref you point it at:

The version label for artifacts and releases is auto-detected from the source that is actually built (main/php_version.h; the php_version input defaults to auto). A build can therefore never be mislabeled — the release job derives its tag, title and asset table from build metadata, not from a hardcoded string.

• php.exe, php-cgi.exe (CLI + FastCGI)
• php8ts.dll (Thread Safe engine), php8apache2_4.dll (Apache 2.4 module)
• ext/*.dll — 40+ extensions (mysqli, opcache, curl, gd, intl, mbstring, soap, xsl, sockets, …)
• dependency DLLs (libcrypto, libssl, icu, brotli)
• php.ini-development / php.ini-production
• devel pack (x64): headers, .lib files, phpize.bat — for building PECL extensions

Compiler: Visual Studio 2024 (VC18) on a windows-2025 runner. Build type: Thread Safe (ZTS) — Apache mod_php / XAMPP.

1. Download x64-AVX2.zip for best performance on modern CPUs
2. Stop Apache
3. Replace php8ts.dll, php8apache2_4.dll, php.exe, ext/ in C:\xampp\php\
4. Start Apache
5. Verify: C:\xampp\php\php.exe -v

Trigger: Actions → Build PHP TS Windows VS18 (x86 + x64 + AVX2, any php/php-src ref) → Run workflow.

The build-imagick workflow builds php_imagick.dll (x64, Thread Safe + Non-Thread Safe, each ± AVX2) against any PHP this repository provides:

• TS variant — compiled against a PHP release from this repository, selected by the php_release input:

  • latest (default) — the newest php-* release
  • a series, e.g. 8.6 or 8.7 — the newest release of that series
  • an exact tag, e.g. php-8.6.0RC2

  Artifact and release labels are derived from the release that was actually used, so they can never lie.

• NTS variant — compiled against the official windows.php.net QA build selected by qa_version (default 8.6.0RC3), labeled accordingly.

If the TS and NTS variants end up on different PHP series, the release is published as an explicit multi-version release and every asset carries its own version in the filename.

PHP 8.6 turned zend_is_callable() from an exported API function into a non-exported static zend_always_inline function. Every Imagick DLL built for PHP ≤ 8.5 imports zend_is_callable directly and dies on startup with:

The procedure entry point zend_is_callable could not be located in the dynamic link library php8ts.dll.

The vendored, pre-patched Imagick source (vendor/imagick-patched.zip) switches the call to zend_is_callable_ex, which is still an exported ZEND_API function — one fix for every PHP from 8.6 onward (8.6, 8.7, …). The workflow fail-fast-verifies the patch is present before building.

PHP checks ZEND_MODULE_API_NO when an extension is loaded, so headers, import libs and the runtime must all come from the same PHP build. The TS job therefore uses the official QA pack only as a tooling base (script/, phpize.bat, win32/ extras) and overlays both include/ and lib/ from the selected own-repo devel pack — headers and php8ts.lib always match the exact binary being built against, for any series. The built-in load test (php.exe -d extension=php_imagick.dll) fails loudly if anything ever mismatches.

Trigger: Actions → Build Imagick PHP VS18 x64 (from own releases) → Run workflow.

The build-mysql workflow builds php_mysql.dll — the classic mysql_* API from PHP 3-5 (removed from the core in PHP 7, maintained as php/pecl-database-mysql) — x64, Thread Safe + Non-Thread Safe, following whichever PHP you build, exactly like Imagick:

• TS variant — compiled against a PHP release from this repository, selected by the php_release input (latest (default) / a series like 8.6 or 8.7 / an exact tag)
• NTS variant — compiled against the official php.net QA build selected by qa_version (default 8.6.0RC3), labeled accordingly

No AVX2 variants: php_mysql.dll is pure C and ABI-identical for the AVX2 and standard builds of a series (php.net also ships its PECL extension DLLs per TS/NTS only) — one DLL per variant covers both.

PHP 8.7 removed the mysqlnd reverse API (php/php-src PR #21409, commit 58b4cc2df0, 2026-09-30). Every php_mysql.dll built against PHP ≤ 8.6 imports mysqlnd_reverse_api_register_api from php8ts.dll and dies at load time on PHP 8.7 with:

httpd.exe - Entry Point Not Found The procedure entry point mysqlnd_reverse_api_register_api could not be located in the dynamic link library …\ext\php_mysql.dll

— taking Apache down with it (and unpatched source does not even compile for 8.7: the header is gone).

The registration only existed so mysqli / PDO_MYSQL could accept foreign mysql_* connection resources via zval_to_mysqlnd(); those consumers dropped the feature upstream in the same commit, so skipping it on 8.7+ is lossless — ext/mysql keeps working through its own resource handling.

On top of that, current php-src (both the PHP-8.6 branch and master) also removed zval_dtor() and zend_exception_get_default() from the public API and changed php_get_current_user() to return a zend_string* — unpatched pecl-database-mysql master does not compile against current 8.6 or 8.7 at all.

The vendored, pre-patched source (vendor/mysql-patched.zip) fixes all four issues:

— one source builds unchanged for 8.6 and 8.7+ (verified locally by compiling against a fresh php-src master build: zero errors, clean load, no mysqlnd_reverse_api_* imports). The workflow fail-fast-verifies all fixes are present before compiling and, for PHP ≥ 8.7 targets, additionally verifies via dumpbin that the produced DLL imports no mysqlnd_reverse_api_* symbol — the exact import that crashed Apache.

Trigger: Actions → Build MySQL extension PHP VS18 x64 (from own releases) → Run workflow.

• PHP source: php/php-src — any ref via php_ref
• PHP SDK: php/php-sdk-binary-tools
• Imagick source: Imagick/imagick — patched, vendored
• Ubuntu .deb builds: markusfoo/php-apt-builder

• PHP 8.7 removed the mysqlnd reverse API (php/php-src PR #21409, commit 58b4cc2df0, 2026-09-30). Every php_mysql.dll compiled against PHP ≤ 8.6 imports mysqlnd_reverse_api_register_api from php8ts.dll and kills Apache at startup on 8.7 with "Entry Point Not Found" (observed live on XAMPP-Lite 8.7.0). New build-mysql.yaml + vendored patched source (vendor/mysql-patched.zip) fix this exactly the way Imagick was fixed for 8.6. The patch covers FOUR upstream API removals: the 8.7 mysqlnd reverse-API removal (registration version-guarded with #if PHP_VERSION_ID < 80700), plus zval_dtor() → zval_ptr_dtor(), zend_exception_get_default() → zend_ce_exception and the zend_string* return of php_get_current_user() — the latter three removed/changed in the PHP-8.6 branch as well, so unpatched pecl-database-mysql master compiles against current neither 8.6 nor 8.7. Verified locally against a fresh php-src master (8.7.0-dev) build before pushing; TS builds against own releases, NTS against the official php.net QA build, with fail-fast patch verification and — for PHP ≥ 8.7 targets — a dumpbin check that the DLL imports no mysqlnd_reverse_api_* symbol. No AVX2 variants: the DLL is pure C and ABI-identical across the AVX2/standard PHP builds of a series (php.net ships PECL DLLs per TS/NTS only).
• build-imagick.yaml default qa_version bumped 8.6.0RC2 → 8.6.0RC3 — php.net deleted the RC2 QA packages, so the old default would 404 on a fresh run.
• README: documented the MySQL extension; fixed the broken php-apt-builder link.

• php/php-src master bumped to 8.7.0-dev after the PHP-8.6 release branch was cut, which made the old repository name (php86-windows-builds) and the version-coupled workflow inaccurate. The repository is renamed to php-windows-builds; all old URLs redirect automatically.
• build-php-dev-latest.yaml (renamed from build-php86-dev-latest.yaml) is fully version-agnostic:
  • new php_ref input — build any php/php-src ref: master, a release branch, a tag, or a SHA
  • new php_version=auto default — the version label is auto-detected from main/php_version.h of the checked-out source; the release job consumes build metadata via a build-meta artifact, so tag/title/asset table are all derived from what was actually built
  • validated by the first universal run: release php-8.7.0-dev-2026-09-26 — correctly labeled 8.7.0-dev (the same-day php-8.6.0-dev-2026-09-26 snapshot was 8.7.0-dev content under an 8.6 name and was removed in its favor)
• build-imagick.yaml — per-variant, honest versioning:
  • the php_version naming-only input was removed; the new php_release input (latest / a series like 8.6 / an exact tag) selects which own-repo release the TS variant builds against, and TS artifact names are derived from the release actually used
  • NTS artifact names derive from qa_version (default moved to the current php.net QA cycle: 8.6.0RC2, previously 8.6.0beta2)
  • the TS job now overlays the own devel pack's include/ on the official QA base (in addition to lib/), because PHP checks ZEND_MODULE_API_NO at extension load (8.6 = 20260924, 8.7.0-dev = 20260925) — a DLL compiled against another series' headers would fail to load
  • the release tag/name/asset table/version line are generated from the assets that were actually built; mixed TS/NTS series produce an explicit multi-version release
  • own-releases API URL updated to the new repo name; vendored source renamed to vendor/imagick-patched.zip; job names and banners made version-agnostic
• README rewritten to be fully version-agnostic (version specifics now live only in this changelog); stale php86-apt-builder link fixed → php-apt-builder

The repository was created to track the PHP 8.6.0-dev master snapshots:

• TS (ZTS) VS18 Windows builds on windows-2025 runners — x64 + x86, each also as an AVX2 variant (--enable-native-intrinsics=avx2), XAMPP-ready (php8ts.dll + php8apache2_4.dll), with a devel pack (headers + .lib + phpize.bat) for building PECL extensions
• Releases: v1.0.0-php8.6.0beta1, php-8.6.0-dev-2026-08-19, php-8.6.0-dev-2026-08-27, plus imagick-php8.6-vs18-x64-* extension releases. A php-8.6.0-dev-2026-09-26 snapshot was also published, but master had already moved to 8.7.0-dev by then — that mislabel is what triggered the universalization above (the release was later removed)
• Patched Imagick for the PHP 8.6 API change (zend_is_callable no longer exported → zend_is_callable_ex), with a hard fail-fast check that the patch is present in the vendored source before building
• Imagick build matrix extended to TS + NTS × ± AVX2, with the ImageMagick headers/libs layout fixed to match config.w32 expectations and the official QA devel pack used as the script/ source