Chapter 14 · 14.2
Enabling and disabling PHP extensions
Watch it in a short video
A PHP extension is an add-on for PHP that handles a particular task: editing images, creating zip files, multilingual support, caching and so on. A lot of software requires a specific extension. WordPress, for example, mentions imagick or intl in Site Health, and a plugin might report that it needs ioncube_loader or sourceguardian. You enable these yourself in Select PHP version.
Enabling an extension
- In DirectAdmin, under Extra Features, click Select PHP version.
- At the top, check under PHP version that the correct version is selected. Extensions are set per version.
- On the Extensions tab, you'll find all extensions listed alphabetically.
- Tick the extension you need (1). To disable one, untick it.
The change is saved immediately and takes effect within a minute. You don't need to restart anything.
Extensions with a greyed-out tick (2) are built into PHP. These are always enabled and can't be disabled.
Commonly requested extensions
| Extension | What's it for? |
|---|---|
| opcache | Stores compiled PHP code in memory, making your site faster. WordPress asks for this with "enable opcode cache". |
| imagick or gd | Resizing and editing images, for example when uploading in WordPress. |
| intl | Correctly displaying languages, dates and currencies. Many webshops and multilingual sites need this. |
| zip | Creating and extracting zip files, for example for backup and migration plugins. |
| redis | Needed if you use Redis as a cache (see Redis). |
| ioncube_loader and sourceguardian | For paid software with encrypted code. The developer will tell you which of the two you need. |
| soap | Integrations with certain external services, such as accounting or shipping software. |
Tip: Only enable what you need. More extensions don't make PHP faster; each extension uses a bit of memory.
Back to default
Not sure what you've changed, or has something stopped working? Click Reset PHP Extensions to default at the top. The extensions for the selected version will then revert to our servers' default settings.
Frequently asked questions
The extension I'm looking for isn't listed.
Then it isn't available for that PHP version. Some extensions only exist for older or newer versions. Choose a different version, or ask us via a ticket.
I've enabled an extension, but my site still says it's missing.
Check that you've enabled the extension for the version your site actually uses (the version marked (current)). Have you set a different version for a folder via .htaccess (see PHP settings per directory and via .htaccess)? Then the extension needs to be enabled for that version too.