My PHP Information

One of the most widely used scripts within web design is PHP (Hypertext PreProcessor). There are various options, versions and modules within PHP that software often requires. One way of finding this out would be to contact you web hosting company, depending on the company this can take a while.

The best way of finding out information regarding PHP on the server you are on is to create an info page. A php info page will list, in great detail everything to do with PHP including its version number. Each webhosting company may have a different version of PHP along with different modules installed with it, this may even differ server by server so it is useful to know.

To create a php info page it is simple. Initially you will need to create a file, call this ‘info.php’. Once created enter the following text within the file:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save the file and upload, then goto the site within a browser. If this info.php file was located within the document root folder then navigate to : DOMAIN.COM/info.php ,The page should then display and scrolling down will reveal all the details necessary as the picture shows.

If you need to upgrade or install PHP you will need shell (SSH) access.? According to dedicated server hosting experts 34SP.com, this is most common on a Budget Dedicated Server or VPS environment. If you are on a shared hosting solution you must contact your web host. If not you can install ‘yum’ which can manage the download and installation of php and various other packages. To install this enter:

wget http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/yum/yum-2.4.2-0.4.el4.rf.noarch.rpm

From the command line, one must then enter ‘yum install php’

If you have PHP already installed, enter ‘yum update php’ and this will update it to a stable release.

Author: Mike Poland is a freelance technical writer and expert in Computer Science and Networking. He holds a degree in Computing from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Mr. Poland has work experience as a system administrator, web designer, and technical support operative.