This tutorial is tested only on CentOS 5.6 but might also work on other CentOS 5 versions.

This is done on a fresh install of CentOS 5.6.

Update your packages:

# yum -y update

Install the repo that we will use to download php-fpm package:

For i386 architecture:

# rpm -ivh http://centos.alt.ru/repository/centos/5/i386/centalt-release-5-3.noarch.rpm

For x86_64 architecture:

# rpm -ivh http://centos.alt.ru/repository/centos/5/x86_64/centalt-release-5-3.noarch.rpm

Install nginx:

# yum -y install nginx

Install PHP5 and php-fpm:

# yum -y install php php-mysql php-fpm php-suhosin

Configure nginx:

# vi /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

On line 77, uncomment the following:

location ~ \.php$ {
	root           html;
	fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:9000;
	fastcgi_index  index.php;
	fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  /scripts$fastcgi_script_name;
	include        fastcgi_params;
}

On line 81, change the line with the one below:

fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  /usr/share/nginx/html$fastcgi_script_name;

Start nginx and php5-fpm:

# chkconfig nginx on
# /etc/init.d/nginx start
# chkconfig php-fpm on
# /etc/init.d/php-fpm start

Create phpinfo script to access it from your browser:

# echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > /usr/share/nginx/html/x.php

Go to your browser and access:

http://localhost/x.php

Restarting php5-fpm is necessary only if you changed something on your php.ini. Restarting nginx isn't' necessary.