Installation
Before you start
Rezure needs 64-bit Windows 10 (build 1809 or newer) or Windows 11, roughly 400 MB of free disk space, and the WebView2 runtime, which is already present on virtually every current Windows install. The full list is on the download page.
One thing worth checking first: if another local server stack is running, stop it. Port 80 and port 3306 can't be shared with Rezure. You don't need to uninstall anything, just don't run two stacks at once. If you forget, Rezure tells you which program holds the port and can stop it for you. See Port Conflicts.
Install
- Download the installer from the download page.
- Verify its SHA-256 hash against the one on the release page: the verification steps take about ten seconds.
- Run the installer and accept the default location unless you have a reason not to.
- Launch Rezure from the Start menu.
Windows SmartScreen may warn you about an unrecognized publisher on the first run. That's code-signing, not a virus report: choose More info → Run anyway if the hash you checked in step 2 matched.
Run Rezure as your normal user, not with Run as administrator. Nothing in it needs that, and PostgreSQL refuses to start under an elevated Rezure.
What the installer sets up
The installer puts the app itself, plus a bundled Nginx 1.25.3, PHP 8.3, and a CA certificate bundle, into the install folder. On first launch Rezure copies those into its own home folder, C:\rezure, and everything it works with from then on lives there:
| Path | What lives there |
|---|---|
C:\rezure\www | Your projects. Each folder here is served as its own .test site. |
C:\rezure\bin | Runtimes Rezure downloaded and checksum-verified: PHP, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Node.js, Composer, Mailpit |
C:\rezure\custom | Drop-in folder for runtimes you downloaded yourself, such as custom\php |
C:\rezure\data | Service state: database data, generated Nginx and PHP config, Mailpit's mailbox |
C:\rezure\etc | Settings, database profiles and connections, linked projects, your own PHP settings |
C:\rezure\dumps | Database exports |
The full map is on Files & Folders. If C:\ isn't writable on your machine, Rezure uses %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rezure instead.
Your projects and settings live outside the install folder, so reinstalling or rolling back to an older version leaves them untouched.
Upgrading from an older Rezure
Earlier versions spread their files across %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rezure, %APPDATA%\Rezure, and %USERPROFILE%\rezure. The first time a current version starts, it moves all of that into C:\rezure for you. It never overwrites anything already there, and if a step fails it leaves the old files where they were rather than deleting them.
Administrator rights
Rezure asks for administrator approval in only two situations:
- Editing the Windows
hostsfile, so a project's.testdomain resolves. That happens when you click Sync hosts file on the Projects page and something actually needs to change. If you decline, the rest of the app keeps working: the domain just won't resolve until the entry is added. - Installing Microsoft's ODBC Driver or SQL Server LocalDB, which are real Windows installs. Windows asks once per install. See SQL Server.
Everything else (starting services, downloading runtimes, putting PHP on your PATH) runs as your normal user.
Verify the install
Open Rezure and look at the Services page. Nginx and PHP should both be listed as Stopped, with a version next to each. That's a healthy first launch. The other rows show Not installed until you add them. Head to First Run to start the services.
If Nginx or PHP is listed as Not installed instead, the bundled binaries didn't unpack. Reinstalling over the top is the fastest fix.
Related
- First Run: start your services and serve a first project
- Updates & Changelog: how Rezure updates itself
- Uninstall: remove Rezure and everything it set up