Overview
PHP is a popular server-side scripting language used to build websites and other backend functionality. This article explains how to install PHP on a DreamCompute instance running Debian or Ubuntu with Apache.
View the Getting started article and make sure you have completed the following steps before proceeding.
- Create an instance running Debian or Ubuntu
- Log into the instance in a terminal
Step 1 — Add the repository
You must first run the following command to add a repository before installing PHP.
[user@instance]:$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Step 2 — Update packages
Run the following to update your list of packages.
[user@instance]:$ sudo apt update
Step 3 — Install PHP
You have the choice to install PHP as a module or FPM.
Installing as a PHP module
Run the following commands to install and load PHP.
[user@instance]:$ sudo apt install php8.0 libapache2-mod-php8.0
Installing as FPM
Run the following commands to install, enable, and load PHP-FPM.
[user@instance]:$ sudo apt install php8.0-fpm libapache2-mod-fcgid
Step 4 — Confirm PHP is installed
Finally, run the following command to view the version you installed.
[user@instance]:$ php -v PHP 8.0.5 (cli) (built: May 3 2021 11:30:57) ( NTS ) Copyright (c) The PHP Group Zend Engine v4.0.5, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies with Zend OPcache v8.0.5, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies
Install modules (extensions)
After PHP is installed, you can proceed with installing any modules (also called extensions) needed.
View available modules you can install
This command lists all modules available for you to install.
[user@instance]:$ sudo apt search php8.0-*
Install a module
After locating the correct name of a module, you can install it using the following command.
[user@instance]:$ sudo apt install php8.0-sqlite3
You can also install several modules at once. This assumes the module names start with php8.0-.
[user@instance]:$ sudo apt install php8.0-{mysql,imap,zip}
View modules currently loaded
The following command lists all modules currently loaded by PHP.
[user@instance]:$ php -m
Configuration Files
There are a few configuration files for PHP that are used for the CLI and the Apache modules (or PHP-FPM) specifically. Change <version> to your specific version of PHP.
/etc/php/cli/<version>/php.ini
The primary configuration file for PHP when executed from the CLI.
/etc/php/<version>/apache2/php.ini
The primary configuration file for PHP when run from the Apache module.
/etc/php/<version>/fpm/php.ini
The primary configuration file for PHP when run from as PHP-FPM.
