FreeBSD: Nginx FastCGI PHP Configuration

Q. How do I configure PHP as FastCGI under FreeBSD Nginx webserver?

A. You can easily configure php as FastCGI application under Nginx for performance. You need following components:

FreeBSD Install PHP5

If php5 is not installed type the following commands (make sure you select FastCGI option):
# cd /usr/ports/lang/php5
# make config
# make install clean

Fig.01 Enable FastCGI support by selecting FastCGI option

Also installed required php extensions such as php-msyql, php-gd and so on:
# cp /usr/local/etc/php.ini-recommended /usr/local/etc/php.ini
# cd /usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions/
# make install clean

Install spawn-fcgi

Grab latest spawn-fcgi from another Lighttpd installation or just install it as follows:
# pkg_add -r -v lighttpd
Sample output:

scheme:   [ftp]
user:     []
password: []
host:     [ftp.freebsd.org]
port:     [0]
document: [/pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-7.0-release/Latest/lighttpd.tbz]
---> ftp.freebsd.org:21
looking up ftp.freebsd.org
connecting to ftp.freebsd.org:21
>> USER anonymous

Now you can use /usr/local/bin/spawn-fcgi to swap process. If you want you can copy /usr/local/bin/spawn-fcgi to /root or other directory and just delete lighttpd package by typing the following commands:

# cp /usr/local/bin/spawn-fcgi /root/

# pkg_delete -v lighttpd-1.4.18_1

# cp /root/spawn-fcgi /usr/local/bin/spawn-fcgi

Now you can start PHP Fastcgi from command line as follows:

# /usr/local/bin/spawn-fcgi -a 127.0.0.1 -p 9000 -u www -g www -f /usr/local/bin/php-cgi

Where,

• -a 127.0.0.1 : PHP FastCGI bind IP address, where Nginx will connect.
• -p 9000: PHP FastCGI port number, where Nginx will connect.
• -u www : PHP FastCGI username.
• -g www : PHP FastCGI groupname.
• -f /usr/local/bin/php-cgi : Path to PHP5 fastcgi binary.

Verify that php running as FastCGI, enter:
# sockstat -4 | grep 9000
Sample Output:

www      php-cgi    8998  0  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9000    *:*
www      php-cgi    8997  0  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9000    *:*
www      php-cgi    8996  0  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9000    *:*
www      php-cgi    8995  0  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9000    *:*
www      php-cgi    8994  0  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9000    *:*
www      php-cgi    8993  0  tcp4   127.0.0.1:9000    *:*

Sample Shell Script To Start / Stop PHP FastCGI process

#!/bin/sh
# NGINX FastCGI php5 startup shell script
# Feedback <vivek@nixcraft.com>
# http://bash.cyberciti.biz/web-server/fastcgi-php-server-start-stop-script/
# Set ME #
PROVIDES=php-cgi
LIGHTTPD_FCGI=/usr/local/bin/spawn-fcgi 
SERVER_IP=127.0.0.1
SERVER_PORT=9000 
SERVER_USER=www
SERVER_GROUP=www 
PHP_CGI=/usr/local/bin/php-cgi
PGREP=/bin/pgrep
KILLALL=/usr/bin/killall
### No editing below ####
cmd=$1
 
pcgi_start(){
  	echo "Starting $PROVIDES..."
 	$LIGHTTPD_FCGI -a $SERVER_IP -p $SERVER_PORT -u $SERVER_USER -g $SERVER_GROUP -f $PHP_CGI
}
 
pcgi_stop(){
	echo "Killing $PROVIDES..."
	$KILLALL $PROVIDES
}
 
pcgi_restart(){
	pcgi_stop
	pcgi_start
}
 
pcgi_status(){
        $PGREP $PROVIDES > /dev/null
	[ $? -eq 0  ] && echo "$PROVIDES running" || echo "$PROVIDES NOT running" 
 
}
 
pcgi_help(){
  	echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
}
 
 
case ${cmd} in
[Ss][Tt][Aa][Rr][Tt]) pcgi_start;;
[Ss][Tt][Oo][Pp]) pcgi_stop;;
[Rr][Ee][Ss][Tt][Aa][Rr][Tt]) pcgi_restart;;
[Ss][Tt][Aa][Tt][Uu][Ss]) pcgi_status ;;
*)      pcgi_help ;;
esac

Install above shell script:
# cd /tmp
# fetch http://bash.cyberciti.biz/dl/251.sh.zip
# unzip 251.sh.zip
# mv 251.sh /usr/local/etc/rc.d/php.cgi.sh
# chmod +x /usr/local/etc/rc.d/php.cgi.sh
# rm 251.sh.zip
To start php FastCGI, enter:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/php.cgi.sh start
# sockstat -4 | less
To stop php FastCGI, enter:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/php.cgi.sh stop

Connect Nginx Webserver To PHP FastCGI Process

Open your ngixn.conf file, enter:
# vi /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Append following config directives so that Nginx can pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on 127.0.0.1:9000:

location ~ \.php$ {
            fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:9000;
            fastcgi_index  index.php;
            fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  /websites/example.com/http$fastcgi_script_name;
            include        fastcgi_params;
    }

If your website is hosted at /home/www/theos.in/http, your config should look like as follows:

server {
	listen  80;
        server_name  theos.in www.theos.in;
 
        access_log  /var/log/nginx/theos.in/access.log  main;
 
        location / {
            root   /home/www/theos.in/http;
            index  index.php index.html index.htm;
        }
 
        error_page   500 502 503 504  /50x.html;
        location = /50x.html {
            root   /usr/local/www/nginx-dist;
        }
 
       # pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on 127.0.0.1:9000
        location ~ \.php$ {
            fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:9000;
            fastcgi_index  index.php;
            fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  /home/www/theos.in/http$fastcgi_script_name;
            include        fastcgi_params;
        }
 
        location ~ /\.ht {
            deny  all;
        }
}

Restart Nginx web server

# nginx -c /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf -t
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nginx restart
Test php with following sample script:

<?php
  phpinfo();
?>