Lighttpd PHP fastcgi configuration

FastCGI is a language independent, scalable, open extension to CGI that provides high performance without the limitations of server specific APIs. FastCGI provides better scalability and performance. Instead of creating a new process (the CGI program) for every request, FastCGI uses a single persistent process which handles many requests over its lifetime. (See wikipedia article for more information)

Make sure php support fastcgi

Type any one of the following command to verify that php support fastcgi
$ php -v
Output:

PHP 5.0.4 (cli) (built: Nov  8 2005 08:27:12)
Copyright (c) 1997-2004 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.0.4-dev, Copyright (c) 1998-2004 Zend Technologies

OR
$ php-cgi -v
Output:

PHP 5.0.4 (cgi-fcgi) (built: Nov  8 2005 08:25:54)
Copyright (c) 1997-2004 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.0.4-dev, Copyright (c) 1998-2004 Zend Technologies

You must get string cgi-fcgi. Next find out full path to php-cgi or php binary:
$ which php-cgi
Output:

/usr/bin/php-cgi

Open lighttpd configuration file:
# vi /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf
First add the module mod_fastcgi (lighttpd provides an interface to a external programs that support the FastCGI interface via this module). Make sure your server.modules loades mod_fastcgi:

server.modules              = (
            "mod_access",
            "mod_accesslog",
            "mod_fastcgi",
            "mod_rewrite",
            "mod_auth"
)

Now add following lines to configuration:

fastcgi.server = ( ".php" => ((
                     "bin-path" => "/usr/bin/php-cgi",
                     "socket" => "/tmp/php.socket"
                 )))

Save the configuration and close all the files. Restart the lighttpd:
# /etc/init.d/lighttpd restart