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Introduction

This guide is intended for server administrators who want to install Zend Optimizer or ionCube on servers running DirectAdmin. These tools are essential for running encrypted or encoded PHP files, often required for commercial or proprietary PHP applications. Zend Optimizer and ionCube Loader help decode these scripts and ensure they function correctly on your server. This guide will walk you through the steps to install and enable these tools on a DirectAdmin-based server.

Prerequisites

• Root access to your server.
• DirectAdmin installed and running on the server.
• A basic understanding of Linux commands and server management.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Access the server via SSH

• Open a terminal window on your computer.
• Connect to your server using SSH:

ssh root@your_server_ip

• Enter your root password when prompted.

Step 2: Update your server packages

Before installing any new software, it’s recommended to update your server to ensure all packages are current. Run the following command:

yum update

For Debian-based systems, use:

apt-get update

Step 3: Install ionCube Loader

• • Navigate to the /usr/local directory:

    cd /usr/local

• • Download the latest version of ionCube Loader:

    wget https://downloads.ioncube.com/loader_downloads/ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.tar.gz

• • Extract the downloaded file:

    tar -zxvf ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.tar.gz

• • Move the ionCube files to the appropriate PHP extension directory:

    cp ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_7.4.so /usr/local/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20190902/

• • Replace 7.4 with your PHP version. You can check the PHP version by running:

    php -v

• • Edit the PHP configuration file to enable ionCube Loader. Open the file using a text editor:

    vi /usr/local/lib/php.ini

• • Add the following line at the beginning of the file:

    zend_extension=/usr/local/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20190902/ioncube_loader_lin_7.4.so

• • Save and exit the editor.

Step 4: Restart the web server

After editing the PHP configuration, restart your web server to apply the changes.

For Apache, use:

service httpd restart

For Nginx:

service nginx restart

Step 5: Verify ionCube installation

To confirm that ionCube Loader has been installed successfully, create a phpinfo.php file in your web root directory:

vi /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Add the following content:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Save and exit the file, then open http://your_server_ip/phpinfo.php in your browser. Search for “ionCube” in the output to verify the installation.

Step 6: Install Zend Optimizer (optional)

If you also need to install Zend Optimizer, follow these steps:

• • Install Zend by running the following command:

    yum install zend-optimizer

  • For Debian-based systems, use:

    apt-get install zend-optimizer

• • Restart the web server again to apply changes:

    service httpd restart

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can install and enable ionCube Loader and Zend Optimizer on your DirectAdmin-based server. These tools are essential for running encrypted PHP files, providing necessary support for various commercial and proprietary PHP applications.

For additional assistance or if you encounter any issues, please contact our support team at support@ipserverone.com.

Article posted on 16 April 2020 by Louis