Apache 2 and php5 on new server

[peterr]

Currently moving a site to a new server, here is the info from CPanel:

Operating system Linux
Kernel version 2.6.16.29-11774_1
Apache version 2.0.63
PERL version 5.8.8
PHP version 5.2.5
MySQL version 5.0.45-community
cPanel Build 11.18.3-RELEASE 21703
cPanel Pro 1.0 (RC1)

The server I used before allowed me to modify the php settings, by the use of the "php_flag" commands, however when I tried them on this new server, an error message:

/home/username/public_html/.htaccess: Invalid command 'php_flag', perhaps mis-spelled or defined by a module not included in the server configuration

The php settings that I have needed to change in the past are these from .htaccess:

php_flag session.use_trans_sid off
php_flag register_globals off
php_flag allow_url_fopen off

plus forcing any php errors to a file outside of the web root (and no php errors to the browser of course). I don't think the new server uses phpsuexec , but instead: Mod SuPHP, UniqueId, Userdir, and maybe Fileprotect.

The settings from "EasyApache" are as follows:

Apache 2.0.63

Access
Actions
Alias
AuthnDefault
AuthzHost
Autoindex
DIR
Expires
Fileprotect

Prevent Users from reading other webroots

Frontpage
Headers
Log Config
Mime
Negotiation
Mod SuPHP

This option will make the following changes to your profile prior to the build:
Enables:
CGI (PHP v4)
CGI (PHP v5)

Proxy
Setenvif
Status
UniqueId
Userdir
Mod Security

v1.9.5 for Apache 1.3, v2.1.4 for Apache 2.x This option will make the following changes to your profile prior to the build:
Enables:
UniqueId

Mod Bandwidth

v2.1 for Apache 1.3, v0.8 for Apache 2.x - see documentation that can found by clicking "More Info" for details

Zend Optimizer for PHP

3.3.3 - please read documentation that can found by clicking "More Info" to fully understand this option

PHP 5.2.5

Bcmath
Calendar
Curl
CurlSSL
FTP
GD
Imap
Magic Quotes
Mbstring
Mcrypt
Mhash
Mysql

compile mysql support against php bundled libraries (if the system mysql is checked it takes precedence of this option)

Mysql of the system

compile mysql (and mysqli if its checked) support against the system libraries

MySQL "Improved" extension.

MySQLi does not replace the standard MySQL extension. Requires MySQL 4.1 or later. !! mysqli may not work on all systems, contact your support provider for mysqli support !!

Openssl
Pspell
Sockets
TTF (FreeType)
XSL
XmlRPC
Zlib

Requires that zlib is installed and up to date

Now for some questions please.

1. Is there any method that I can use, to place the "php_flag" commands into .htaccess ?
2. Is modifying php.ini the ONLY method to modify the php settings ?

I have tried a small php.ini to override one php setting, as a test, it worked okay, however my understanding of using php.ini is .........

(i) I will need a complete copy of the current php.ini , and then modify that
(ii) The file php.ini then needs to be in every sub-path as well, at least every sub-path that has an include statement.

There must be an easy way to do this, after all, don't they call it "EasyApache" ?

[peterr]

Just noticed this from suPHP - FAQ ..

Can I use the php_value directives in .htaccess files with suPHP?

suPHP does not support the php_value/php_admin_value directive known by mod_php to parse configuration options to scripts for certain virtual hosts or directories. However there is a PECL extension named htscanner that can be used with PHP CGI (called by suPHP) to parse such options being present in .htaccess files. Be sure to take a look at the README file provided with the htscanner distribution on how to make Apache ignore the php_value directives in .htaccess files instead of throwing an error.

[peterr]

Does anyone know anything about suPHP ?

[verdon]

Put a line like this in your htaccess file..

suPHP_ConfigPath /home/userdir

Then create a file /home/userdir/php.ini

Now you have a local php.ini file where you can set your directives. The syntax is a little different from what you were using in .htaccess, for example...
php_flag register_globals off

becomes..
register_globals = off

[peterr]

Then create a file /home/userdir/php.ini

Thanks, I assume I only need to specify it once, in the .htaccess of the web root, and also that there would only need to be one php.ini , that is the one in /home/userdir/php.ini

Peter

[verdon]

That's correct. One note of caution, doing it this way does not just add the values to your php configuration.. actually it completely negates the server-wide php.ini settings (going to some sort of built-in php default I guess) and then applies what you have in php.ini. That may not mean anything to you, but it could mean you have to put other tweaks in your own php.ini to get it back to what you had before you added your own custom php.ini. I.E. you may need to also reset things like max_upload size and error reporting.

[peterr]

Okay, thanks for advising on that.