Did this something like two months ago, made some notes which never made it to the public. Haven't time to go over them now, but this is what I wrote at that time:
Installing Joomla on Windows 2003
* Install a default Windows 2003 server with Service Pack 1 integrated.
* Run Windows update and install the latest patches.
Install IIS
* Select 'Start' --> 'Control Panel' --> 'Add or remove programs'.
* Select 'Add/Remove Windows components'.
* Select 'Application Server' and click 'Next'. Note: You need the Windows CD that was being used for the Windows installation to do this.
* Click Finish.
Install PHP
* Download PHP from
http://www.php.net. The installed version for this tutorial is PHP 5.1.4. Choose the PHP 5.1.4 installer. This version will also configure IIS for you.
* Download 'Collection of PECL modules for PHP 5.1.4' and 'php-5.1.4-win32.zip'. There are a few files in there we need later on.
* Select 'Advanced' on 'Type of installation'.
* Select 'C:\PHP' on 'Destination folder'.
* Select 'Yes' on 'Do you want to create backups.
* Select 'C:\PHP\BACKUP' for the destination directory.
* Select 'C:\PHP\UPLOADTEMP' as the temporary directory for file uploads.
* Select 'C:\PHP\SESSIONDATA' as the directory for session storage data.
* Currently I don't have a SMTP server, so the settings will stay default.
* Select 'Display all errors, warnings, and notices'. Later on, we will trim this down to a lower level.
* Select 'Microsoft IIS 6 or higher' on 'Server type'.
* Select 'php' on file extensions interpreted by PHP.
If all is correct, the notice 'IIS scriptmap configuration completed'.
* Select 'No' on 'Would you like to register CScript as your default host for VBScript'.
* Note that php.ini is automatically copied to your %WINDIR%, C:\Windows by default on a Windows 2003 server.
* Create a directory 'C:\PHP\EXT'.
* Extract 'php-5.1.4-win32.zip' and copy 'mysqli.php' and 'mysql.php' to 'C:\PHP\EXT'.
* Open C:\WINDOWS\PHP.INI' in a text editor.
* Change the 'extension_dir' configuration to 'extension_dir = "C:\PHP\EXT"'
* Add the following lines under '; Windows Extensions'
extension=php_mysql.dll
extension=php_mysqli.dll
* Restart IIS
Configure IIS
When opening a browser on the server and typing
http://localhost, a message will be visible about starting IIS manager. This message is from the file iisstart.html in the root of your website at c:\inetpub\wwwroot.
* Select 'Start' --> 'Run'.
* Type 'inetmgr' and click on
.
* Open your server, and select 'Web service extensions' with the right mouse button.
* Select 'Add a new web services extension'.
* Type 'PHP' on 'Extension name'.
* Click 'Add'.
* Browse to 'C:\PHP\PHP-CGI.EXE' and select it.
* Select 'Set extension status to allowed'.
* Select 'Web site' with the right mouse click in IIS manager and select 'Properties'.
* Go the tab 'Documents'.
* Click on 'Add' and add 'index.php' as a 'Default content page'.
* Click on 'Add' and add 'index.html' as a 'Default content page'.
* Move index.php to the top, and index.html right below it.
* Create a file called 'info.php', with the following code:
phpinfo();
?>
* Call the file from your browser, and the php configuration should be visible.
Install Mysql
* Download Mysql-win32 from http://www.mysql.com.
* Open the zip-file and start the installer.
* Select 'Default' on 'Setup type'.
* Your own choice if you want to create a Mysql account.
* After installing, it should start with the 'Mysql Service Instance Configuration Wizard'.
* Select standard configuration, after all it's only a test setup.
* Select 'Install as Windows service'.
* Select 'Include bin directory in Windows path'.
* Enter a new root password, don't forget this. The service is automatically started.
* Open the Mysql command line client from the Start menu.
* Type 'create database website'.
Install Joomla
* Download the latest version of Joomla!. At the time of this tutorial, it was 1.0.10.
* Create the directory 'C:\INETPUB\WWWROOT\JOOMLA', and unpack the Joomla! archive file there.
* Start the browser and go to 'http://localhost/joomla'. If all is correct
Disclaimer: This is not an ideal server setup. This tutorial is made to show that it is possible to use Joomla on the latest Windows version. The reason for this install is that we want to have an IIS server to test possible issues with Joomla. It is only tested with Windows 2003.
.