In this tutorial:
When you are running a PHP file from the command line (on Cloud VPS Hosting or otherwise), there may be times when you need to make changes to the PHP settings. In this guide, we will show you how to specify the php.ini file, and change a PHP setting in the command line. If you are not working in the command line, you can change your PHP settings in cPanel.
Specify the php.ini File in Command Line
- Connect to your server using SSH.
- You can specify the php.ini file in the command line by using the following syntax:
php -c [Path to php.ini file] [Path to .php file]
For example:
php -c /home/userna5/public_html/php.ini /home/userna5/public_html/example.php
Now the example.php file will run, with the limitations set in the php.ini file located here: /home/userna5/public_html
Change PHP settings
- Connect to your server using SSH.
- You can specify php.ini settings in the command line with this syntax:
php -c [Path to php.ini file] [Path to .php file] -d [PHP setting]
For example:
php -c /home/userna5/public_html/php.ini /home/userna5/public_html/example.php -d memory_limit=256M
In this example, you can see I am setting the memory limit to 256 Megabytes. Here are some other PHP settings that are often modified:
max_execution_time max_input_time upload_max_filesize
Congratulations, now you know how to set the php.ini file, and change your PHP settings from the command line!
Is there a way to comment out a line in the php.ini file from the command prompt?
Hello,
You can comment out a line in the php.ini from the command prompt by using a text editor such as nano or vim. I have included a link to a guide on how to use nano below.
https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/ssh/how-to-edit-files-using-nano
thanks for this, however how do i just change the php.ini settings from command line and not worry about defining “[Path to .php file]”
Hello kp,
Thank you for contacting us. You must specify the path to the .php file, or the command will not know what to run.
Thank you,
John-Paul