Installing/configuring Gzip for VB on Win 2k server

[MsLedd]

Finally we have got our boards running smoothly, and we're wanting/needing to employ the compression features to get our page sizes down.

What do I need to do to get Gzip running on a Windows 2000 server. The server is our own, so there's no host to deal with... I just need to know *what* to do.

Any/all help is much appreciated. :D

[Pingu]

IIS 5 has it's own compression built in.

You can turn it on via Internet Service Manager. Goto properties of your server, edit the www service and you'll find the compression stuff on the Service tab.

Though I think that only works for IIS "native" stuff like static html and asp...

[MsLedd]

Thanks but the compression features of IIS are not what I'm needing help with.

I am looking for specific information as to what files I need and how to install and configure Gzip for the compression features of vBulletin on a Win 2K server.

[nuno]

Tiny faq on how to install gzip on a w2k server running Apache ;)


Download ApacheModuleGzip.dll (http://www.remotecommunications.com/apache/mod_gzip/src/1.3.19.1a/ApacheModuleGzip.dll) and place it in your Apache/modules folder

Edit httpd.conf and add the line
LoadModule gzip_module modules/ApacheModuleGzip.dll
to LoadModule section

Edit php.ini, find
;extension=php_zlib.dll
replace it with
extension=php_zlib.dll

Also in php.ini find
extension_dir = ./
replace it with
extension_dir = c:/php/extensions

restart apache
test it at http://leknor.com/code/gziped.php
It will say that page is gzipped if you did it right. :)

[JamesUS]

On Windows 2000 with IIS you don't need gzip as IIS uses it's own compression which is very similar to gzip.

[MsLedd]

Thanks for the reply, but perhaps (amazingly) I wasn't clear before about what I was asking?

At any rate, I have figured it out and we are now happily serving small and quick Gzip (not IIS) compressed VBulletin pages from our Windows 2K (not Apache) server. :D

[Pingu]

At any rate, I have figured it out and we are now happily serving small and quick Gzip (not IIS) compressed VBulletin pages from our Windows 2K (not Apache) server
That's it? You're not even going to let us in on the secret??? Bummer! :( :( :(

[rawnet]

Hi MsLedd,

I know what you wanted to do, and why, and I'd like to as well!! Is it PHP.ini which must change ?

; Transparent output compression using the zlib library
; Valid values for this option are 'off', 'on', or a specific buffer size
; to be used for compression (default is 4KB)
zlib.output_compression = Off


Presumably one must set this to "= On" to use gZip?

Ross

[MsLedd]

Hi Ross,

Actually, no (and this is one of the things that held me up as well, I assumed it should be on as it was to enable zlib for UBB)

Leave this setting as it is:
zlib.output_compression = Off

What you need to do is load the zlib extension (in php.ini)

look for:

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Dynamic Extensions ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

locate and uncomment the zlib extension in the list:

extension=php_zlib.dll

(note: that if your extensions dir is not default, you may need to set it in php.ini using "extension_dir")

Also, this assumes that you have zlib installed in Windows (I had done that when we still used UBB)

Once you have finished editing and have saved php.ini (now, this I found to be crucial, that is enough time between stopping and restarting to be sure it "takes") restart IIS.

Then go to your vB control Panel and turn on Gzip compression (We use level 9) and that's it :)

Hope that helps!

[rawnet]

Hi MsLedd,

Thankyou very much for the advice.

I've followed the instructions, and I think it's now working, but how do I check? Also - I didn't put anything DLLs into the Windows directory. I put the php_zlib.dll file into the default directory, where specified in the php.ini, but have not added any DLLs beyond that. Is that right?

Thanks for the help - hope this thread helps future users as well,

Cheers,

Ross

[eva2000]

Originally posted by rawnet
Hi MsLedd,

Thankyou very much for the advice.

I've followed the instructions, and I think it's now working, but how do I check? Also - I didn't put anything DLLs into the Windows directory. I put the php_zlib.dll file into the default directory, where specified in the php.ini, but have not added any DLLs beyond that. Is that right?

Thanks for the help - hope this thread helps future users as well,

Cheers,

Ross check at http://leknor.com/code/gziped.php

[rawnet]

Aaaaaah. Bugger. Okay - it's not working then.

Thanks Eva. That's a good utility. Shall look into it - maybe I need a DLL for Windows as well as in the PHP directory?

[JamesUS]

MsLedd: Level 9 offers no real benefits over level 1 but takes lots more CPU - we always recommend that no-one uses a level higher than one. You'll typically get 2 - 3% more compression at level 9 but CPU usage can be a lot higher.

[MsLedd]

rawnet, yes you will need to install zlib for windows. You can get it HERE (http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/zlib.htm)

If I remember correctly, the installation was pretty straightforward and easy to do. At least I don't recall having any problems with it. YMMV

JamesUS, thanks for that info.... good to know, and I will check it out. :D

[rawnet]

Hi Guys,

I've downloaded zlib-1.1.3-bin.zip which contains zlib.dll - I believe this is the file I need?

Where do I put this under Windows2000 though? I can handle self-installing software, but am a bit concerned about straight DLL files like this!!

Please advise as I'd really like to get this up and running - shall write a dummies guide once I'm done and post that up to help others in the future,

Cheers for now,

Ross

[rawnet]

Hiya,

Seems to be working now - had already restarted IIS but decided to reboot the server and tis all groovy. Am now gZipping.

Many thanks,

Ross

[eva2000]

Originally posted by rawnet
Hiya,

Seems to be working now - had already restarted IIS but decided to reboot the server and tis all groovy. Am now gZipping.

Many thanks,

Ross glad to hear.. may your bandwidth costs go down! :)

[live2travel]

Go to Gibson Research Corp(http://www.grc.com) and download this TINY freeware program called IDServe (there are a bunch of other useful links/utilities/internet security information there too)

The link

http://grc.com/files/idserve.exe

You can use it to query any server and get the server info such as headers, type of server (IIS4.0/IIS5.0/Apache on Unix/Linux),
and encoding.

This will ALSO tell you whether you're gzipping or not.

Cheers.

Mark

[SloppyGoat]

On Windows 2000 with IIS you don't need gzip as IIS uses it's own compression which is very similar to gzip.

Sorry, but this is dead wrong. Running gzip on my IIS server made all the difference in the world. It had the exact same effect as using it in Apache.

[SloppyGoat]

Tiny faq on how to install gzip on a w2k server running Apache ;)


Download ApacheModuleGzip.dll (http://www.remotecommunications.com/apache/mod_gzip/src/1.3.19.1a/ApacheModuleGzip.dll) and place it in your Apache/modules folder

Edit httpd.conf and add the line
LoadModule gzip_module modules/ApacheModuleGzip.dll
to LoadModule section

Edit php.ini, find
;extension=php_zlib.dll
replace it with
extension=php_zlib.dll

Also in php.ini find
extension_dir = ./
replace it with
extension_dir = c:/php/extensions

restart apache
test it at http://leknor.com/code/gziped.php
It will say that page is gzipped if you did it right. :)

Can you please tell me why this won't load. I did exactly that, and I got this.