Symptoms
When you are trying to start Apache, the following error appears in the Apache error log:
PHP Fatal error: [ionCube Loader] The Loader must appear as the first entry in the php.ini file in Unknown on line 0
Cause
This error occurs because your PHP extensions are loading in the wrong order in your PHP configuration.
Requirements
Before you start, this article has the following dependencies:
- You must have SSH access set up for root or a sudo user.
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Resolution
Zend extensions can be loaded directly from /etc/php.ini file or included from /etc/php.d/ directory.
In the following example, this ioncube line must appear before any Zend configuration sections. These sections usually begin with [Zend] so they should be easy to see:
zend_extension=/usr/lib/ioncube/php_ioncube_loader_lin_X.X.soIf extensions are loaded from /etc/php.d, they are loaded in alphabetical order. Usually the ioncube file is named /etc/php.d/ioncube.ini and zend is /etc/php.d/zend.ini. In this scenario, it should not present a problem.
Finally, make sure that ioncube is loaded only once. The following command should only return one result:
grep 'zend_extension.*ioncube' /etc/php.ini /etc/php.d/* If you make any configuration changes, always be sure to restart Apache:
/etc/init.d/httpd restart