PHPlib:Manual: Testing your install of PHPlib

Testing your install of PHPlib

These instructions apply to PHPLIB running with CGI PHP. Most of them is valid for mod_php as well, though. This section offers an incremental approach to find installation problems, should the above installation process fail.

We do have a support mailing list available under the address phplib-users@lists.sourceforge.net. To subscribe to the list, send a message with subscribe as the subject to the address phplib-users-reguests@lists.sourceforge.net.

Checking that the web server is up and running

Make sure your web server is up and serving the virtual host you just set up. To do this, construct a small file test1.html in your DocumentRoot and access test1.html through your web server.

Checking that the web server is executing CGI programs

Make sure your web server is up and does run CGI. Check the current directory, the UID/GID it is running programs under and have a look at the environment variables. Install the following shell script (for most cases cutting and pasting)

	#! /bin/sh --

	echo "Content-Type: text/plain"
	echo
	id
	echo
	pwd
	echo
	env | sort
	echo

in your cgi directory under the name of cgi-test/ and in your document root under the name of cgi-test.cgi. Make it executable. Try to access /cgi/cgi-test?par1=one&par2=two and cgi-test.cgi?par1=one&par2=two and check the output.

What UID/GID are you running under, what is the output of pwd and what environment variables are set? What does QUERY_STRING look like? What does the PATH variable look like, what does the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable look like and are all libraries needed by PHP accessible to PHP running in the CGI environment (Check by running the Unix ldd command on PHP).

In particular, if you built Oracle support into PHP and linked libclntsh dynamically: Can it be loaded from the CGI environment? If not, PHP will not come up later in the next step.

Checking that the PHP interpreter is running (Assuming CGI PHP)

Copy your PHP binary into the cgi binary directory (which should NOT be below DocumentRoot!) and make it executable. Copy php3.ini or php.ini into the same directory. In DocumentRoot, create a test2.php3 and put <?php phpinfo() ?> into it.

Are you running Apache? Add

    Action       php3-script /cgi/php
    AddHandler   php3-script .php3 .php
    DirectoryIndex index.php3 index.php index.html index.htm
    FancyIndexing on

to your httpd.conf. This will map all requests to files ending in .php3, php to the php-script handler and define /cgi/php as the URL handling php-script requests internally.

Open test2.php3 in your browser and see that it is being executed. Make changes to your php.ini(preferable some color definitions) and reload. Are they reflected in the output of phpinfo()? If not, your php.ini is not being found and your are having a problem. Recompile with proper settings.

Check the output of phpinfo() carefully! Is your PHP version current? Are your database interfaces present in the output of phpinfo()? If not, recompile again.

Can you access test2.php3 under the URL /cgi/php/test2.php3 as well? If so, you did not compile your PHP interpreter with --enable-force-cgi-redirect. PHPLIB will not work with this interpreter. Recompile with the switch being set.

Checking that the PHP interpreter is running (Assuming mod_php)

Assuming your server is already correctly setup (don't forget to activate the PHP lines in httpd.conf!), enter the following file and save it as test2.php3 under your DocumentRoot.

	<? phpinfo() ?>

If you access this using a web browser now, it should spit out much info about PHP, Apache and its environment.

Checking PHPlib inclusion

Does you PHP include PHPLIB properly? Check your php.ini file. It must include the following settings:

    include_path = pathname to directory with all the .inc files
    auto_prepend_file = path to prepend.php3
    track_vars = On

If PHPlib is included properly by your setup, the following page will execute without errors:

    <?php
    $db = new DB_Example;
    print "It works without error messages.<br>\n";
    ?>

Checking database connectivity

PHPLIB installation requires that you adapt local.inc properly. Particularly, the provided class DB_Example must be customized for your database connection. Test that your web server can access the database with the following page:

    <?php
        include("table.inc"); // requires include_path to be functioning

        $db = new DB_Example;
        $db->query("select * from auth_user");

        $t = new Table;
        $t->heading = "on";
        $t->show_result($db);
    ?>

When executing properly, this page will show you the user entry for kris, password test, permissions admin from the auth_user table. If this does not happen, your DB_Example definition in local.inc is broken.

Checking that sessions work

Access the page index.php3 that has been provided with the distribution. This page will try to set a cookie in your browser. Allow that cookie to be set.

The page will display a headline with a counter. Reload that page. The counter must increment. If not, either your browser cannot deal properly with cookies or PHPlib cannot properly read or write the table active_sessions in your database. Check that the cookie is being set by viewing the output of phpinfo(). Check your database permissions with your database command line interface.

Checking that Authentication works

Try loading showoff.php3 that has been provided with the distribution. This page will require a login. Login as kris, using a password of test. If the login is successful, you will see the per-session counter and a per-user counter again. Reload that page: The counters must increment.

If you can't login, you probably have a problem with cookies. Check again that your browser accepts and sends session cookies. Another problem may be access to the auth_user table. You must be able to SELECT on that table and there must be at an entry for the user you are trying to login.

	Thursday, August 28, 2008
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