Requirement for ionCube PHP Loader ioncube_loader_win_5.3.dll to be installed?

Question

I'm using AMPPS on a Windows machine, and when I try and navigate to http://localhost to make some modifications to my localhost server, I recieve the following error:

Site error: the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Ampps\ampps\softaculous\enduser\inc.php requires the ionCube PHP Loader ioncube_loader_win_5.3.dll to be installed by the website operator. If you are the website operator please use the ionCube Loader Wizard to assist with installation.

I checked out my php.ini file, and can't see anything wrong:

;ionCube Loader
zend_extension="{$path}\{$php_dir}\ioncube_loader_win_5.3.dll"

When I echo phpinfo(), I can find no references to this IonCube loader whatsoever.

When I try and fix the problem by using the IonCube installation wizard, I have no idea what to enter for the base URL and base Directory fields.

Can someone help me out here? Thanks.

Solution 1

You are facing this issue because Enduser panel files are encoded, so PHP requires ioncube loader to execute this files.

Try this:

First check which PHP version you are using. login to localhost/ampps and click on phpinfo option and check your php version.

If you are using PHP 5.3 or PHP 5.4 then download ioncube loader Windows VC9 (32 bits) zip file.

If you are using PHP 5.5 or PHP 5.6 then download ioncube loader Windows VC11 (32 bits) zip file.

Extract and copy Your_PHP_Version.dll file in /Ampps/php folder. example if you are 5.6 then copy ioncube_loader_win_5.6.dll"

Now open PHP config. AMPPS control panel --> PHP --> Configuration.

Search for the zend_extensions line and edit it with the following line:

zend_extension="C:\Program Files (x86)\Ampps\php\ioncube_loader_win_5.6.dll"

Restart Ampps Apache.

Hope it helps :)

Solution 2

I am using Ampps. I've successfully installed ioncube on Ampps. Firstly, I downloaded ioncube from ioncube.com. Then I extracted the zipped file and executed the program.

Check my screenshot:

Hope it help!

Solution 3

A few things to consider:

1. Are there any messages concerning the Loader in your error log? If so, does the error message indicate a wrong path or something else?

2. If you are using PHP 64bit, you should switch to the 32bit version instead. The 64bit version is still marked as experimental on Windows according to windows.php.net

3. Even though rare on Windows, some Apache installations have restricted read/write access, even on Windows. Are you sure Apache/PHP can read the ionCube Loader files? Error logs could help here, once again.

4. Did you download the correct Loaders? PHP as well as the ionCube Loaders are very picky with respect to Thread-safety, architecture and version. You should be able to get the required information from your phpinfo().

5. Although I'm unfamiliar with AMPPS, this forum posts seems to suggest that AMPPS does not require the ionCube Loader, so removing the line seems to work for some.

6. Lastly, you could try using the ionCube Loader Script (download) which could help you determine why the ionCube Loader is not being loaded.