Redhat / CentOS / Fedora Linux Install XCache for PHP 5

by Vivek Gite on November 24, 2007 · 19 comments

How do I install Xcache opcode cacher for PHP 5 under RHEL / CentOS version 5.0 server?

XCache is a open-source opcode cacher, which means that it accelerates the performance of PHP on servers. It optimizes performance by removing the compilation time of PHP scripts by caching the compiled state of PHP scripts into the shm (RAM) and uses the compiled version straight from the RAM. This will increase the rate of page generation time by up to 5 times as it also optimizes many other aspects of php scripts and reduce serverload.

Step # 1: Download xcahce source code

Use wget command to download latest stable release:
# cd /opt # wget http://xcache.lighttpd.net/pub/Releases/1.2.1/xcache-1.2.1.tar.gz

Step # 2: Untar tar ball

Use tar command:
# tar -zxvf xcache-1.2.1.tar.gz # cd xcache-1.2.1

Step # 2: Compile and install xcahce

Use phpize command to prepare xcache as a PHP extension for compiling:
# phpize
Configure, compile and install xcache:
# ./configure --enable-xcache # make # make install

Default xcache.so installation location

64 bit PHP module installed at /usr/lib64/php/modules/xcache.so
32 bit PHP module installed at /usr/lib/php/modules/xcache.so

Step # 3: Create xcache.ini file

Under RHEL / CentOS, you place php modules configuration at /etc/php.d/ directory:
# cd /etc/php.d/
Create xcache.ini file:
# vi xcache.ini
Append configuration directives:

[xcache-common]
; change me - 64 bit php => /usr/lib64/php/modules/xcache.so
; 32 bit php => /usr/lib/php/modules/xcache.so
zend_extension = /usr/lib64/php/modules/xcache.so
[xcache.admin]
xcache.admin.auth = On
xcache.admin.user = "mOo"
; xcache.admin.pass = md5($your_password)
xcache.admin.pass = ""
[xcache]
xcache.shm_scheme =        "mmap"
xcache.size  =               32M
xcache.count =                 1
xcache.slots =                8K
xcache.ttl   =              3600
xcache.gc_interval =         300
; Same as aboves but for variable cache
; If you don't know for sure that you need this, you probably don't
xcache.var_size  =            0M
xcache.var_count =             1
xcache.var_slots =            8K
xcache.var_ttl   =             0
xcache.var_maxttl   =          0
xcache.var_gc_interval =     300
; N/A for /dev/zero
xcache.readonly_protection = Off
xcache.mmap_path =    "/dev/zero"
xcache.cacher =               On
xcache.stat   =               On

Save and close the file.

Alternatively, you can also copy default xcache.ini to /etc/php.d/
# cp xcache.ini /etc/php.d/ # vi /etc/php.d/xcache.ini

Restart your Apache web server:
# service httpd restart

If you are using Lighttpd web server, enter:
# service lighttpd restart

Step # 4: Make sure xcache is working

Type the following command for verification:
$ php -v
Output:

PHP 5.1.6 (cli) (built: Nov 20 2007 11:11:52)
Copyright (c) 1997-2006 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.1.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2006 Zend Technologies
    with XCache v1.2.1, Copyright (c) 2005-2007, by mOo

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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Vu The Cuong November 26, 2007

Currently in Freebsd with php5, apache22 and xdebug2,
xcache could not work with this combination.
Could you figure out to use xcache with above ones?
Thanks

2 vivek November 26, 2007

IT only works with the following PHP cvs branches versions (php 5.0 is not supported, get php 5.2)
PHP_4_3
PHP_4_4
PHP_5_1
PHP_5_2
PHP HEAD(6.x)

3 darshana nilantha January 2, 2008

For me this didn’t work untill I enabled two settings in php.ini file

; Directory in which the loadable extensions (modules) reside.
extension_dir = “/usr/local/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20060613/”

; Dynamic Extensions

extension=xcache.so

4 Ken Savage April 1, 2008

phpize isn’t found on my CentOS4 server.

is there an alternate command?

5 vivek April 1, 2008

Ken,

Install php-devel package – which lets you compile dynamic extensions to PHP. This package has phpize command. Use yum command to install the same.

6 Son Nguyen August 28, 2008

Any RPM available for RHEL/CentOS 5?

7 Dharmaraj.A September 29, 2008

Very nice article. I installed with the help of this. In the middle I faced a problem when run the command ‘phpize’. I got an error like “bash: phpize: command not found”. Instead of ‘phpize’ I run ‘yum -y install php-devel’. Then again I continue from ‘phpize’. It’s installed. Thanx for your article.

-Dharmaraj.A

8 Jase November 18, 2008

Could not get this to work with Apache, MPM Worker and PHP as fastcgi. PHP as mod_php works fine.

Any extra requirement for fastcgi?

9 Sezai February 10, 2009

Can i use xcache and Eaccelerator at the same time? I use vbulletin also..

PHP 5.2.6 (cli) (built: Sep 3 2008 06:59:35)
Copyright (c) 1997-2008 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2008 Zend Technologies
with eAccelerator v0.9.5.3, Copyright (c) 2004-2006 eAccelerator, by eAccelerator
with the ionCube PHP Loader v3.1.32, Copyright (c) 2002-2007, by ionCube Ltd., and
with Zend Extension Manager v1.2.2, Copyright (c) 2003-2007, by Zend Technologies
with Zend Optimizer v3.3.3, Copyright (c) 1998-2007, by Zend Technologies

10 Vivek Gite February 10, 2009

@Sezai,

Only use one of them at a time. Xcache is the best.

11 Tada Burke September 23, 2009

Thank you for the great article! Oh, and in Step #3, there’s a funny typo: xcahce.ini :) Cheers

12 John December 22, 2009

Hi, I’m facing a few problems.
1: After running #make install,
What gets installed is: /usr/local/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts
2: #cd /etc/php.d/… php.d is not a directoy in my setup. Where would I look alternitavely?

13 Scy December 25, 2009

/etc/php5/conf.d/

14 reza November 20, 2010: /etc/php5/conf.d/ AND /etc/php5/conf.d/ are not exist !!!!!!!!
Reply

15 Adrian July 26, 2010

Hi VIVEK GITE

Great article, after I followed your instructions which were clear I ran the command “php -v” and I got the output below, is my Xcache running as intended? Or do I need to make some adjustments? If so do you have any idea why I got the “PHP Warning: PHP Startup: memcache: Unable to initialize module” error?

Best regards

Adrian
===================
[root@server php.d]# php -v
PHP Warning: PHP Startup: memcache: Unable to initialize module
Module compiled with module API=20050922, debug=0, thread-safety=0
PHP compiled with module API=20060613, debug=0, thread-safety=0
These options need to match
in Unknown on line 0
PHP Warning: PHP Startup: memcache: Unable to initialize module
Module compiled with module API=20050922, debug=0, thread-safety=0
PHP compiled with module API=20060613, debug=0, thread-safety=0
These options need to match
in Unknown on line 0
PHP 5.2.13 (cli) (built: Mar 2 2010 15:56:41)
Copyright (c) 1997-2010 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2010 Zend Technologies
with XCache v1.2.1, Copyright (c) 2005-2007, by mOo

16 akash September 6, 2010: Works really great…Vivek you rock man.
Reply

17 Ali October 23, 2010

Hi Vivek;
Where do you think wrong?

root@server [~]# php -v
Failed loading /usr/lib64/php/modules/xcache.so: /usr/lib64/php/modules/xcache.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
PHP 5.2.9 (cli) (built: Oct 20 2010 17:50:30)
Copyright (c) 1997-2009 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2009 Zend Technologies

18 Jérôme November 19, 2010

Hello,

I am instaling on a RedHat EL4 workstation, with php 5.1.3 and
I have this pb :
/usr/include/php/ext/date/lib/timelib_structs.h:24:28: error: timelib_config.h: No such file or directory

a solution is to just use:

export CFLAGS=-I/usr/include/php/ext/date/lib

before the
./configure –enable-xcache

19 Jérôme November 19, 2010: Oups , as matter of fact is for php 5.1.2
Reply