Installing ionCube Loader

How to install and enable the free ionCube Loader so PHP can run ionCube-encoded files.

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Updated 2d ago

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Installing ionCube Loader (Debian/Ubuntu)

1. Check your PHP version and architecture

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php -v
uname -m

Set your version, changing it to match yours:

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PHPV=8.3

2. Download and extract

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

On an ARM server (aarch64), use ioncube_loaders_lin_aarch64.tar.gz instead.

3. Copy the loader into the extension directory

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EXTDIR=$(php -r 'echo ini_get("extension_dir");')
sudo cp /tmp/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_${PHPV}.so "$EXTDIR/"

4. Enable it

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echo "zend_extension=ioncube_loader_lin_${PHPV}.so" | sudo tee /etc/php/${PHPV}/mods-available/ioncube.ini
sudo ln -sf /etc/php/${PHPV}/mods-available/ioncube.ini /etc/php/${PHPV}/cli/conf.d/00-ioncube.ini
sudo ln -sf /etc/php/${PHPV}/mods-available/ioncube.ini /etc/php/${PHPV}/fpm/conf.d/00-ioncube.ini

If you use Apache with mod_php, also link it into /etc/php/${PHPV}/apache2/conf.d/00-ioncube.ini.

5. Restart services

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sudo systemctl restart php${PHPV}-fpm
sudo systemctl restart nginx    # or: sudo systemctl restart apache2

6. Verify

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php -v

The output should include a line saying "with the ionCube PHP Loader".

Troubleshooting

If the site still errors after this, the loader is only enabled for the CLI. Check that the fpm/conf.d link exists, then restart PHP-FPM.

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