How to install Composer on shared servers

Composer is a tool for dependency management in PHP. It allows you to declare the libraries your project depends on, and it will manage (install/update) them for you. Composer is not a package manager in the same sense as Yum or Apt are. Yes, it deals with ‘packages’ or libraries, but it manages them on a per-project basis, installing them in a directory (e.g., vendor) inside your project. By default, it will never install anything globally. Thus, it is a dependency manager.

To install Composer:

1. SSH access should be enabled for your hosting account with us. Follow the steps provided in this article to switch SSH access on.

2. To access your account via SSH, download and install one of the available SSH clients. You can find the list of free SSH clients here. In case you are using a Unix-based OS (Linux or OSX), you can easily run the Terminal application and connect to the server using the command:

ssh username@servername -pPORT

ssh – command for logging into the remote server
username – your cPanel username
servername– name of the server where your hosting account is located (you can find it using this tutorial)
PORT – connection port – 21098 for a Shared Hosting servers, 22 – for a VPS/Dedicated server 

3. Open your SSH client, put your domain name or the IP address of the server into the Host Name field, enter 21098 or 22 into the Port field, choose SSH as your connection type and press the Open button:

4. If you receive PuTTY Security Alert, press Yes:

When prompted, enter your cPanel username and password (when you enter the password, it is automatically hidden for security purposes):

5. Composer requires PHP 5.5+ version, so we need to check whether the needed version is set up. Type the php -v command in PuTTY (or in Terminal) and you will get the following output:

6. If you need to change PHP version, log in to your cPanel, navigate to Software and Services section >> Select PHP Version menu:

7. Select 5.5-7.2 version from the drop-down menu and then click on the Set as current button:

NOTE: Composer requires allow_url_fopen. It is enabled by default for all php versions on our shared servers. Still, you may check if it is On by going to Switch to PHP Settings in Select PHP version menu:

You can also find additional information about PHP selector here.

8. Next, navigate to the folder you want to install Composer in. In our example, we will install Composer in public_html:

cd public_html

9. Now, you will need to find or create the php.ini file and some values to it. Log in to cPanel and navigate File Manager menu:

10. Go to the folder your Composer will be installed in and create a new file named php.ini using the +File button:

11. Open it by right-clicking the created php.ini file >>  Edit:

12. Then add the following values to the file and hit the Save Changes button:

max_execution_time = 300
max_input_time = 300
memory_limit = 512M
suhosin.executor.include.whitelist = phar
detect_unicode = Off

13. When all the preparations are done, you are ready to install Composer. Open PuTTY window where you have logged into your cPanel account and fill in the following command:

php -r “readfile(‘https://getcomposer.org/installer’);” | php -c php.ini

This will execute the Composer installation:

In case you get a notification Some settings on your machine make Composer unable to work properly, make sure that the PHP version is 5.5 or higher and all the changes in the php.ini file are saved.

How to change contact information in cPanel

cPanel has its own settings regarding a user’s contact information and user notification.

For cPanel Basic Theme:

1. 1. Log in to your cPanel.
   2. Locate the “Preferences” section. By default, it is located on the lower side of your cPanel settings.
   3. Select the “Contact Information” menu:

1. 1. The primary email address can be edited in the top row and a secondary email address can be added in the second row. Both email addresses will be used for the notifications:

1. 1. This menu allows you to set the notification preferences using check marks.
   2. After editing the contact mailboxes and preferences, click the “Save” button:

1. Done! cPanel Your contact email has been updated.

For cPanel Retro Theme:

1. 1. Log in to your cPanel.
   2. Locate the “Preferences” section. By default, it is located on the lower side of your cPanel settings.
   3. Select the “Contact Information” menu:

1. 1. The primary email address can be edited in the top row and a secondary email address can be added in the second row. Both email addresses will be used for the notifications:

1. 1. This menu allows you to set the notification preferences using check marks.
   2. After editing the contact mailboxes and preferences, click the “Save” button:

1. Done! cPanel Your contact email has been updated.

The LSPHP directive is a powerful tool for managing PHP versions on shared servers. Here’s what you need to know:

What is LSPHP?

LSPHP (Linux Shared PHP) is a module that allows you to manage multiple PHP versions on a single server, giving you more flexibility and control over your PHP configurations.

How does LSPHP work?

LSPHP creates a separate PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) instance for each PHP version, allowing you to run multiple PHP versions simultaneously. This enables you to switch between different PHP versions for different domains or subdomains.

Configuring LSPHP

To configure LSPHP, you’ll need to edit the php.ini file and add the following directives:

[lsphp]
; Set the PHP version
php_version = 7.4

; Set the document root for this PHP version
document_root = /path/to/document/root

; Set the socket file for this PHP-FPM instance
listen = /path/to/socket/file

; Set the user and group for this PHP-FPM instance
user = username
group = groupname

Replace php_version with the desired PHP version (e.g., 7.4, 7.3, or 5.6), and document_root with the path to your website’s document root.

Enabling LSPHP

To enable LSPHP, add the following line to your httpd.conf file (or apache2.conf on Ubuntu-based systems):

Include /path/to/lsphp.conf

Restart Apache

After making changes to the configuration files, restart Apache to apply the changes:

sudo service apache2 restart

Switching between PHP versions

To switch between PHP versions, simply update the php_version directive in your php.ini file and restart Apache.

For example, if you want to switch from PHP 7.4 to PHP 7.3:

[lsphp]
php_version = 7.3

Then, restart Apache:

sudo service apache2 restart

Tips and considerations

• Make sure to update the php.ini file for each domain or subdomain that requires a specific PHP version.
• You can have multiple LSPHP instances running on the same server, allowing you to run different PHP versions for different domains or subdomains.
• Be cautious when updating the php.ini file, as it can affect all domains or subdomains using that PHP version.
• If you’re not familiar with LSPHP configuration, consider consulting your hosting provider’s documentation or seeking assistance from their support team.

By mastering LSPHP, you can gain more control over your PHP configurations and take advantage of the latest features and security patches.

On a shared hosting server, the availability of PHP modules and extensions can vary depending on the hosting provider and the specific plan you’re using. However, here’s a general overview of the most common PHP modules and extensions that are typically available on shared hosting servers:

PHP Core Modules

1. ctype: Provides functions for checking and manipulating character types.
2. date: Functions for working with dates and times.
3. fileinfo: Provides information about file types and contents.
4. filter: A filtering system for input data.
5. gd: Library for image manipulation.
6. iconv: Character set conversion functions.
7. json: JSON encoding and decoding functions.
8. mcrypt: Encryption and decryption functions.
9. mysql: MySQL database extension.
10. openssl: SSL/TLS encryption functions.
11. pcre: Perl-compatible regular expressions.
12. pdo: PHP Data Objects for database interactions.
13. ** Reflection**: Object reflection and introspection.
14. session: Session management functions.
15. spl: Standard PHP Library for working with arrays, strings, and other data types.

Additional PHP Extensions

1. apcu: Alternative PHP Cache Userland Extension (a caching system).
2. curl: CURL library for transferring data over HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, etc.
3. domxml: Document Object Model (DOM) parser for XML files.
4. exif: EXIF metadata reader and writer for images.
5. fannypdf: PDF generation and manipulation library.
6. ftp: FTP client library.
7. gd2: Image manipulation library (successor to gd).
8. imagick: ImageMagick library for image manipulation.
9. ioncube_loader: IonCube loader for encoded PHP code.
10. mhash: Message-Digest Algorithm 5 (MD5) hash functions.
11. oci8: Oracle Database extension.
12. pgsql: PostgreSQL database extension.
13. soap: SOAP web services extension.
14. wddx: WDDX (Web Distributed Data Exchange) serialization format.

Third-Party Extensions

Many third-party extensions are also available, which can be installed manually or through the cPanel control panel’s “PHP Select Python” interface:

1. Xdebug: A debugging extension for PHP code.
2. XCache: A caching system for improving performance.
3. Zend Guard: An obfuscation tool for protecting PHP code.

Keep in mind that not all hosting providers may have all these extensions available, so it’s essential to check with your hosting provider to see which ones are supported on your specific plan.

If you need a specific extension not listed here, you can try contacting your hosting provider to see if they can install it for you or recommend an alternative solution.

Changing PHP version on a shared server can be a bit tricky, but it’s doable. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through the process:

Before you begin:

1. Check if you have access: Make sure you have the necessary permissions and access to modify the server configuration.
2. Check the hosting provider’s documentation: Familiarize yourself with your hosting provider’s documentation on how to change PHP versions.

Method 1: Using cPanel (if available)

1. Log in to your cPanel account.
2. Click on the “Software” section and select “MultiPHP Manager”.
3. Click on the “Select PHP Version” dropdown menu and choose the desired PHP version from the list.
4. Click “Update” to apply the changes.
5. Restart your website or reload the page to ensure the changes take effect.

Method 2: Using .htaccess file (if cPanel is not available)

1. Log in to your file manager (e.g., FileZilla) and navigate to your website’s root directory.
2. Open the .htaccess file and add the following lines at the end:

<IfModule mod_php7.c>
    PHPIniDir /path/to/php.ini
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_php8.c>
    PHPIniDir /path/to/php8.ini
</IfModule>

Replace /path/to/php.ini and /path/to/php8.ini with the actual paths to your PHP configuration files.

Method 3: Using SSH (if you have SSH access)

1. Connect to your server using SSH.
2. Navigate to your website’s root directory using the command cd /path/to/website.
3. Create a new file called php.conf with the following contents:

<?php
php_flag[display_errors] = On
php_value[error_reporting] = E_ALL
?>

This sets PHP’s error reporting level to E_ALL and displays errors. 4. Save the file and then update the Apache configuration by running:

sudo /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl restart

This restarts Apache and applies the changes.

Verify PHP version

To verify that you have successfully changed the PHP version, you can use one of the following methods:

1. Check your website’s phpinfo() function: Create a new file with a .php extension (e.g., info.php) and add the following code:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Open this file in a web browser to see the PHP information, including the version. 2. Check your hosting provider’s control panel: If you’re using a control panel like cPanel, you can check the PHP version from there.

Remember to always test your website after changing PHP versions to ensure everything is working as expected.

Keep in mind that changing PHP versions can affect your website’s functionality, so be cautious when making these changes, especially if you’re not familiar with PHP or have a complex setup.