Issue
I have PHP added as an env variable – set to C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.3, but when I run php from CMD the window locks up and it just hangs indefinitely. When run "C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.3\php.exe" directly then the interactive shell starts normally.
No errors in the event log. Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 redistributable is installed. No other versions of PHP present (though there was an old version installed historically).
Solution
To run PHP in an interactive mode you need to pass the -a flag
example :
php -a or C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.3\php.exe -a
Running both php or C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.3\php.exe will cause the terminal to hang and a CLI php process to start
You can quit the process by pressing Ctrl + C
Answered By – lotfio
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