Compiling PHP 8 on Ubuntu 25.04 with module support and optimized compilation. Included MariaDB and MySQL compatibility.

php_build_ubuntu.sh

#!/bin/bash

# PHP 8 Compile #
# Author: Maulik Mistry
# Please share support: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/m1st0
# References:
#   http://www.zimuel.it/install-php-7/
#   http://www.hashbangcode.com/blog/compiling-and-installing-php7-ubuntu
#   root-talis https://gist.github.com/root-talis/40c4936bf0287237839ccd3fdfdaec28
#
# License: BSD License 2.0
# Copyright (c) 2015-2025, Maulik Mistry
# All rights reserved.
#
# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
#     * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
#       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
#     * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
#       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
#       documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
#     * Neither the name of the <organization> nor the
#       names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
#       derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
#
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
# ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
# WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
# DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL <COPYRIGHT HOLDER> BE LIABLE FOR ANY
# DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
# (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
# LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
# ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
# (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
# SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

# Text message colors
RED="\033[0;31m"
YELLOW="\033[0;33m"
END_TEXT="\033[0m"

# Desired PHP branch if not using git tag autodetection
PHP_VERSION="8.4.9"

# I like to setup thing here so that it doesn't bother Kubuntu/Ubuntu
PHP_DIR="/usr/local"

# Stop execution if things fail to move forward.
set -e

## DEPENDENCIES

# Setup dependencies for PHP 8
# Add any missing needs from configuration area
#sudo apt update
#sudo apt upgrade
#sudo apt clean
sudo apt install libldap2-dev \
  libldap-common \
  libtool-bin \
  libzip-dev \
  lbzip2 \
  libxml2-dev \
  bzip2 \
  re2c \
  libbz2-dev \
  apache2-dev \
  libjpeg-dev \
  libxpm-dev \
  libxpm-dev \
  libgmp-dev \
  libgmp3-dev \
  libmcrypt-dev \
  libpspell-dev \
  librecode-dev \
  libcurl4-openssl-dev \
  libxft-dev \
  libonig-dev \
  libsqlite3-dev \
  ccache

  if dpkg -l | grep -q '^ii  mysql-server'; then
    echo "MySQL server detected."
    USE_MYSQL=1
  elif dpkg -l | grep -q '^ii  mariadb-server'; then
    echo "MariaDB server detected."
    USE_MARIADB=1
  else
    echo "No MySQL or MariaDB server found."
    # Decide on default or exit
    exit 1
  fi

  if [ "$USE_MYSQL" = "1" ]; then
    sudo apt install libmysqlclient-dev
  elif [ "$USE_MARIADB" = "1" ]; then
    sudo apt install libmariadb-dev
  fi


# LDAP does not recognize these without additional symlinks
if [[ ! -e /usr/lib/libldap.so ]]; then
  sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libldap.so /usr/lib/libldap.so
fi

if [[ ! -e /usr/lib/liblber.so ]]; then
  sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblber.so /usr/lib/liblber.so
fi

if [[ ! -e /usr/include/gmp.h ]]; then
  sudo ln -sf /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/gmp.h /usr/include/gmp.h
fi

## CONFIGURE

if [ -d ./php-src ]; then
  cd ./php-src 
  git reset --hard HEAD
  git fetch --tags --force
  
  # Check if we are already on the desired tag
  if [ "$(git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null)" != "php-${PHP_VERSION}" ]; then
    git checkout "php-${PHP_VERSION}" 2>/dev/null || git checkout -b "PHP-${PHP_VERSION}" "php-${PHP_VERSION}"
  else
    printf "\n${YELLOW}Already on php-${PHP_VERSION}${END_TEXT}\n"
  fi

  # Obtain latest tag
  # Sometimes the latest tag is not properly found using either of the following
  # or we don't want the latest Release Candidate
  #tag=$(git describe --tags `git rev-list --tags --max-count=1`)
  #tag=$(git describe --tags `git rev-list --branches --max-count=1`)  
  #git checkout tags/$tag -b $tag
  #git checkout tags/php-${PHP_VERSION} -b PHP-${PHP_VERSION}
else
  git clone https://github.com/php/php-src
  cd ./php-src
  git switch --create PHP-${PHP_VERSION} php-${PHP_VERSION}
fi

# Helped fix configure issues and ignored files needing an update
./buildconf --force

# Compile options
export CC="ccache gcc" && export CXX="ccache g++"
./configure --prefix="$PHP_DIR/php8" \
    --with-config-file-path="$PHP_DIR/php8/etc/" \
    --with-config-file-scan-dir="$PHP_DIR/php8/etc/conf.d/" \
    --enable-mbstring \
    --with-zip \
    --enable-bcmath \
    --enable-pcntl \
    --enable-ftp \
    --enable-exif \
    --enable-calendar \
    --enable-sysvmsg \
    --enable-sysvsem \
    --enable-sysvshm \
    --enable-intl \
    --enable-zts \
    --with-curl \
    --with-iconv \
    --with-gmp \
    --with-pspell \
    --with-zlib-dir=/usr \
    --enable-gd-jis-conv \
    --with-openssl \
    --with-gettext=/usr \
    --with-zlib=/usr \
    --with-bz2 \
    --with-apxs2=/usr/bin/apxs \
    --with-ldap \
    --with-mysql=mysqlnd \
    --with-mysqli=mysqlnd \
    --with-pdo-mysql=mysqlnd \
    --with-xdebug
 #   --with-mcrypt \
 #   --enable-wddx \
 #   --with-gd \
 #   --with-jpeg-dir=/usr \
 #   --with-png-dir=/usr \
 #   --with-xpm-dir=/usr \
 #   --with-freetype-dir=/usr \
 #   --enable-gd-native-ttf \
 #   --with-recode=/usr \
 #   --without-xml

## COMPILE

# Cleanup for previous failures
make clean

# Build 
CPUNUM=`nproc`
make -j ${CPUNUM}

# Install
sudo make install

# Update paths for easy switching
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/php php $PHP_DIR/php8/bin/php 50 \
  --slave /usr/share/man/man1/php.1.gz php.1.gz \
  $PHP_DIR/php8/php/man/man1/php.1

# Provide PHP version choice
printf "Select the version of PHP you want active in subsequent shells and the \
  system:\n"
sudo update-alternatives --config php

## APACHE SETUP

# Provide Apache2 libphp.so for later configuration
printf "Running 'libtool --finish ./libs' as recommended.\n"
libtool --finish ./libs
sudo mkdir -p "$PHP_DIR/php8/lib/apache2/modules"
sudo cp "./libs/libphp.so" "$PHP_DIR/php8/lib/apache2/modules/"

# Left unconfigured between Apache2 vs CLI
sudo mkdir -p "$PHP_DIR/php8/etc/"
sudo cp "php.ini-development" "$PHP_DIR/php8/etc/"
sudo cp "php.ini-production" "$PHP_DIR/php8/etc/"

# Work on non-threaded version from configure
#sudo a2dismod mpm_worker
#sudo a2enmod mpm_prefork
# Work on threaded --enable-zts version from configure
sudo a2dismod mpm_prefork
sudo a2enmod mpm_worker

PHP_MODULE_CONF="/etc/apache2/mods-available/php8.conf"
if [[ ! -e "$PHP_MODULE_CONF" ]]; then
  sudo tee "$PHP_MODULE_CONF" > /dev/null <<EOF
<IfModule php_module>
  <FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p|tml)$">
    SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
  </FilesMatch>
  <FilesMatch ".+\.phps$">
    SetHandler application/x-httpd-php-source
    
    # Deny access to raw php sources by default
    # To re-enable it's recommended to enable access to the files
    # only in specific virtual host or directory
    Require all denied
  </FilesMatch>

  # Deny access to files without filename (e.g. '.php')
  <FilesMatch "^\.ph(ar|p|ps|tml)$">
    Require all denied
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
EOF

fi

PHP_MODULE_LOAD="/etc/apache2/mods-available/php8.load"
if [[ ! -e "$PHP_MODULE_LOAD" ]]; then
  sudo tee "$PHP_MODULE_LOAD" > /dev/null <<EOF
LoadModule php_module		$PHP_DIR/php8/lib/apache2/modules/libphp.so
EOF

fi

sudo a2dismod php
sudo a2enmod php8

# Restart Apache if all went well.
sudo systemctl restart apache2
sudo systemctl status apache2

# View any errors for Apache startup.
printf "\n${YELLOW}Any errors starting Apache2 with PHP can be seen with 'sudo journalctl -xe' .${END_TEXT}\n"

# An example:
# 
# Running PHP scripts in user directories is disabled by default
# 
# You may commnt this out as needed in conf files at
# /etc/apache2/mods-available/
# to re-enable PHP in user directories
# from <IfModule> to </IfModule>
#
#<IfModule mod_userdir.c>
#    <Directory /home/*/public_html>
#        php_admin_flag engine Off
#    </Directory>
#</IfModule>"

# Return to reprevious location
cd -

You can add commit messages to new revision, in case you didn't know. I think those would be better place for change descriptions. To achieve this, you need to clone and manage the Gist as a Git repository.

Hello, how do I install pdo_firebird driver?

I was getting the following error while enabling mpm_prefork

Considering conflict mpm_event for mpm_prefork:
ERROR: Module mpm_event is enabled - cannot proceed due to conflicts. It needs to be disabled first!
Considering conflict mpm_worker for mpm_prefork:

This ultimately led to the following error while starting apache

* The apache2 configtest failed.
Output of config test was:
[Fri Feb 19 07:25:37.100983 2016] [:crit] [pid 16524:tid 140221303203712] Apache is running a threaded MPM, but your PHP Module is not compiled to be threadsafe.  You need to recompile PHP.
AH00013: Pre-configuration failed
Action 'configtest' failed.

I Solved it by apt-get install libapache2-mod-php7.0

you can save a lot of hdd space and time by shadow cloning a particular branch instead the whole repository:
$git clone https://github.com/php/php-src = 320MB
$git clone -b PHP-7.0.6 https://github.com/php/php-src --depth 1 = 19.7 MB
(my revision: https://gist.github.com/vanilla-thunder/83149000fcc7974b58a157f3f3020a9d/revisions )

I am not seeing any folder "/etc/php7/". so anyone guide me about this issue?

when you run :

./configure
.....
--with-apxs2=/usr/bin/apxs

i got that error :

sorry i cannot run apxs. possible reasons follow

to resolve this you need to configure with :
--with-apxs2=/usr/bin/apxs2

and if you got that error :

configure: error: freetype-config not found.

you will need to install libfreetype6-dev

in some machines you will need to do some manual search for those files
libldap.so , liblber.so , gmp.h

on AMD64 system you will not be able to locate that folder
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
and i found this folder under i386-linux-gnu name

so that part in some machines may be as like that

sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libldap.so /usr/lib/libldap.so
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/liblber.so /usr/lib/liblber.so
sudo ln -sf /usr/include/i386-linux-gnu/gmp.h /usr/include/gmp.h

you will face a problem with --with-t1lib
from php.net
T1lib To enable support for T1lib (Postscript Type 1 fonts) add --with-t1lib[=DIR] (Removed as of PHP 7.0.0).

I recommend --with-readline as well, to make sure you don't get stuck with libedit. Eg you can cut and paste text with ^U/^W and ^Y in interactive mode.

Line with t1lib is unnecesarry because of depreciation. (75)

http://php.net/manual/en/image.installation.php

T1lib To enable support for T1lib (Postscript Type 1 fonts) add --with-t1lib[=DIR] (Removed as of PHP 7.0.0).

Generally great script. I am impressed!

On Ubuntu server 16.04 , before executing configure you should install bison package.

Configure: error: bison is required to build PHP/Zend when building a GIT checkout!

Ubuntu 15.04 ERROR: Module php7 does not exist!

I used your script to install php 5.6.
Works like a charm. Thanks

I am installing php-7.1.5 and able to build it smoothly using source code. I have one doubt, which url should I check if php server is running fine

I have updated the gist here: https://gist.github.com/root-talis/40c4936bf0287237839ccd3fdfdaec28

@m1st0 please consider pulling the changes.

How do you create a pull request for a gist?..