Enable PHP on local Apache2 server

[Klaus-Peter Schrage]

I have set up a local webserver for testing static html (of which I have 
some basic knowledge) and dynamic html (which is quite new to me). After 
I had set proper permissions on /var/www/ and had copied my testfiles to 
the appropriate locations, httpd worked out of the box (i. e. with the 
original httpd.conf that came with Fedora 16). I could run Perl scripts 
(e. g. a guestbook) in cgi-bin, but no PHP scripts. Apache's error log gave:

(8)Exec format error: exec of '/var/www/cgi-bin/test.php' failed
Premature end of script headers: test.php

The script test.php simply calls phpinfo() and works on my hired 
external webspace, so this must be a configuration issue with my local 
webserver. Strange enaugh, I didn't find many clues on enabling PHP in 
the Apache.org documentation and even elsewhere.

Thanks for any pointers
Klaus