HowTo: PHP Extensions Compilation for Zend Server

This article is also available in our new Knowledge Base: HowTo: PHP Extensions Compilation for Zend Server

Applies to:

Zend Server 6.x or later
GNU / Linux

Summary

Zend Server includes most of the most popular PHP extensions. Of course, in some cases our users may need additional extensions for their applications. This article has two examples of PHP extensions compilation for Zend Server - the YAML extension and the SNMP extension.

There is also a more detailed explanation of the process in on-line documentation:
UNIX: Compiling PHP Extensions

Disclaimer:

Zend can provide only limited support for extensions compiled in such way.

Preparing the Build Environment

The machine where the extensions are to be compiled, obviously, must have Zend Server installed. We will also need the PHP source packages for the corresponding PHP version (5.6 in all examples below) and the following common build tools: automake, autoconf, libtool, make and gcc.

RHEL / CentOS / OEL:

# yum install php-5.6-source-zend-server autoconf automake libtool make gcc

Ubuntu / Debian:

# aptitude install php-5.6-source-zend-server autoconf automake libtool make gcc

The system is now ready.

Compiling a PECL Extension - YAML

First, we need to install the dependencies for this specific PHP extension - the 'libyaml' package and the corresponding development package:

RHEL / CentOS / OEL:

# yum install libyaml-devel libyaml

Ubuntu / Debian:

# aptitude install libyaml-dev libyaml-0-2

Note:

Obviously, each extension has its own set of dependencies and prerequisites - make sure that you carefully read the text of error and warning messages that may be displayed during configuration and compilation. In some cases you may need to perform additional internet research to satisfy such dependencies and prerequisites.

After the package installation is finished, we can compile the extension. First, we should verify that the extension can be obtained from PECL:

$ /usr/local/zend/bin/pecl search yaml

Once confirmed, we can do the actual configuration and compilation:

# /usr/local/zend/bin/pecl install yaml

The 'pecl' script will also place the compiled extension into the correct location:

$ ls -l /usr/local/zend/lib/php_extensions/yaml.so

Compiling a Built-In PHP Extension - SNMP

The first step is the same - dependencies installation:

RHEL / CentOS / OEL:

# yum install net-snmp-devel net-snmp

Ubuntu / Debian:

# aptitude install libsnmp-dev snmp

Note:

Obviously, each extension has its own set of dependencies and prerequisites - make sure that you carefully read the text of error and warning messages that may be displayed during configuration and compilation. In some cases you may need to perform additional internet research to satisfy such dependencies and prerequisites.

The extension source code is installed in the 'share' directory of Zend Server's installation tree. We need to make this our working directory:

RHEL / CentOS / OEL:

# cd /usr/local/zend/share/php-source/ext/snmp/

Ubuntu / Debian (path is different for different PHP versions):

# cd /usr/local/zend/share/php-source/php-5.6.15/ext/snmp/

To create the configuration that will match Zend Server, we need to execute 'phpize' in the source code directory:

# /usr/local/zend/bin/phpize

Then we use the generated configuration file with the 'configure' script (in the same source code directory):

# ./configure --with-php-config=/usr/local/zend/bin/php-config

Finally, we can build the extension and move the ready binary to the correct location:

# make
# make install

To verify:

$ ls -l /usr/local/zend/lib/php_extensions/snmp.so

Post-Compilation

To be able to use the compiled extensions, we need to modify PHP configuration (load the extensions):

# echo "extension=yaml.so" > /usr/local/zend/etc/conf.d/yaml.ini
# echo "extension=snmp.so" > /usr/local/zend/etc/conf.d/snmp.ini

And to be able to manage these extensions from Zend Server UI, we need to make sure that the configuration files' ownership is correct:

# chown zend:zend /usr/local/zend/etc/conf.d/yaml.ini
# chown zend:zend /usr/local/zend/etc/conf.d/snmp.ini

All that's left is Zend Server restart:

# /usr/local/zend/bin/zendctl.sh restart

After the restart you should be able to see the new extensions in 'phpinfo()' output and use these extensions' functions in your code.