How to Configure SSL in PHP

It's up to all of us to keep the Internet secure.

The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol is a vital part of information security on the Internet. If your PHP application needs to work directly with SSL---creating and reading encryption keys---then you need to add OpenSSL support to your PHP installation. Configuring your PHP server to use SSL functions is difficult, but relatively straightforward.

Instructions

Install PHP with OpenSSL Enabled

1. Download OpenSSL from the OpenSSL website and install it. The instructions for installing it can be found there. The installation procedure will vary according to your operating system.

   Once you install OpenSSL, make a note of which folder, or "directory," it was installed in.

2. Download the most recent version of PHP from the PHP website. Refer to that website for the PHP installation procedure.

3. Create your "SSL support configuration directive." At the configuration step of the PHP installation process, you need to add a directive, a piece of text instructing the computer to do something, to the configuration command. This directive looks like "--with-open-ssl=" followed by the name of the folder where OpenSSL was installed. For example, if OpenSSL was installed in the "/usr/local/ssl" folder, then your SSL support configuration directive will be "--with-open-ssl=/usr/local/ssl".

4. Add your SSL support configuration directive to the end of the whole configuration command and run the command as directed in the PHP installation instructions. Then finish the PHP installation according to the instructions for your operating system.

5. Make sure that SSL support was properly installed by creating and running a PHP script with the following contents:

   <?php phpinfo(); ?>

   When you run the script, it will output a lot of boxes full of configuration information. Look for a box with header, "OpenSSL." If you see it there, then your PHP installation now has SSL support enabled.

Tips & Warnings

• There are no configuration options for SSL in "php.ini", the file used to configure PHP and it's modules.

References

• PHP: Installing/Configuring OpenSSL

Resources

• OpenSSL
• PHP Website
• My Online Log: How to Add OpenSSL PHP Extension on SuSE Linux 9.1