Build Problems

PHP Manual
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# Chapter 49. Build Problems

This section gathers most common errors that occur at build time.

1. I got the latest version of PHP using the anonymous CVS service, but there's no configure script!
2. I'm having problems configuring PHP to work with Apache. It says it can't find `httpd.h`, but it's right where I said it is!
3. When I try to start Apache, I get the the following message:
4. When I run configure, it says that it can't find the include files or library for GD, gdbm, or some other package!
5. When it is compiling the file `language-parser.tab.c`, it gives me errors that say `yytname undeclared`.
6. When I run make, it seems to run fine but then fails when it tries to link the final application complaining that it can't find some files.
7. When linking PHP, it complains about a number of undefined references.
8. I can't figure out how to build PHP with Apache 1.3.
9. I have followed all the steps to install the Apache module version on UNIX, and my PHP scripts show up in my browser or I am being asked to save the file.
10. It says to use: `--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libphp4.a`, but that file doesn't exist, so I changed it to `--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libmodphp4.a` and it doesn't work!? What's going on?
11. When I try to build Apache with PHP as a static module using `--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libphp4.a` it tells me that my compiler is not ANSI compliant.
12. When I try to build PHP using `--with-apxs` I get strange error messages.
13. During make, I get errors in microtime, and a lot of `RUSAGE_` stuff.
14. I want to upgrade my PHP. Where can I find the ./configure line that was used to build my current PHP installation?
15. When building PHP with the GD library it either gives strange compile errors or segfaults on execution.

1. I got the latest version of PHP using the anonymous CVS service, but there's no configure script!

You have to have the GNU autoconf package installed so you can generate the configure script from `configure.in`. Just run ./buildconf in the top-level directory after getting the sources from the CVS server. (Also, unless you run configure with the `--enable-maintainer-mode` option, the configure script will not automatically get rebuilt when the `configure.in` file is updated, so you should make sure to do that manually when you notice configure.in has changed. One symptom of this is finding things like @VARIABLE@ in your Makefile after configure or `config.status` is run.)

2. I'm having problems configuring PHP to work with Apache. It says it can't find `httpd.h`, but it's right where I said it is!

You need to tell the configure/setup script the location of the top-level of your Apache source tree. This means that you want to specify `--with-apache=/path/to/apache` and not `--with-apache=/path/to/apache/src`.

3. When I try to start Apache, I get the the following message:

    fatal: relocation error: file /path/to/libphp4.so:
           symbol ap_block_alarms: referenced symbol not found

This error usually comes up when one compiles the Apache core program as a DSO library for shared usage. Try to reconfigure apache, making sure to use at least the following flags:

    --enable-shared=max --enable-rule=SHARED_CORE

For more information, read the top-level Apache `INSTALL` file or the Apache DSO manual page.

4. When I run configure, it says that it can't find the include files or library for GD, gdbm, or some other package!

You can make the configure script looks for header files and libraries in non-standard locations by specifying additional flags to pass to the C preprocessor and linker, such as:

    CPPFLAGS=-I/path/to/include LDFLAGS=-L/path/to/library ./configure

If you're using a csh-variant for your login shell (why?), it would be:

    env CPPFLAGS=-I/path/to/include LDFLAGS=-L/path/to/library ./configure

5. When it is compiling the file `language-parser.tab.c`, it gives me errors that say `yytname undeclared`.

You need to update your version of Bison. You can find the latest version at ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bison/.

6. When I run make, it seems to run fine but then fails when it tries to link the final application complaining that it can't find some files.

Some old versions of make that don't correctly put the compiled versions of the files in the functions directory into that same directory. Try running cp *.o functions and then re-running make to see if that helps. If it does, you should really upgrade to a recent version of GNU make.

7. When linking PHP, it complains about a number of undefined references.

Take a look at the link line and make sure that all of the appropriate libraries are being included at the end. Common ones that you might have missed are '-ldl' and any libraries required for any database support you included.

If you're linking with Apache 1.2.x, did you remember to add the appropriate information to the EXTRA_LIBS line of the Configuration file and re-rerun Apache's Configure script? See the INSTALL file that comes with the distribution for more information.

Some people have also reported that they had to add '-ldl' immediately following `libphp4.a` when linking with Apache.

8. I can't figure out how to build PHP with Apache 1.3.

This is actually quite easy. Follow these steps carefully:

- Grab the latest Apache 1.3 distribution from http://www.apache.org/dist/.

- Ungzip and untar it somewhere, for example `/usr/local/src/apache-1.3`.

- Compile PHP by first running ./configure --with-apache=/<path>/apache-1.3 (substitute <path> for the actual path to your apache-1.3 directory.

- Type make followed by make install to build PHP and copy the necessary files to the Apache distribution tree.

- Change directories into to your `/<path>/apache-1.3/src` directory and edit the `Configuration` file. Add to the file: `AddModule modules/php4/libphp4.a`.

- Type: ./Configure followed by `make`.

- You should now have a PHP-enabled httpd binary!

Note: You can also use the new Apache `./configure` script. See the instructions in the `README.configure` file which is part of your Apache distribution. Also have a look at the `INSTALL` file in the PHP distribution.

9. I have followed all the steps to install the Apache module version on UNIX, and my PHP scripts show up in my browser or I am being asked to save the file.

This means that the PHP module is not getting invoked for some reason. Three things to check before asking for further help:

- Make sure that the httpd binary you are running is the actual new httpd binary you just built. To do this, try running: `/path/to/binary/httpd -l`

  If you don't see `mod_php4.c` listed then you are not running the right binary. Find and install the correct binary.

- Make sure you have added the correct Mime Type to one of your `Apache .conf` files. It should be: `AddType application/x-httpd-php3 .php3` (for PHP 3)

  or `AddType application/x-httpd-php .php` (for PHP 4)

  Also make sure that this AddType line is not hidden away inside a <Virtualhost> or <Directory> block which would prevent it from applying to the location of your test script.

- Finally, the default location of the Apache configuration files changed between Apache 1.2 and Apache 1.3. You should check to make sure that the configuration file you are adding the AddType line to is actually being read. You can put an obvious syntax error into your httpd.conf file or some other obvious change that will tell you if the file is being read correctly.

10. It says to use: `--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libphp4.a`, but that file doesn't exist, so I changed it to `--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libmodphp4.a` and it doesn't work!? What's going on?

Note that the `libphp4.a` file is not supposed to exist. The apache process will create it!

11. When I try to build Apache with PHP as a static module using `--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libphp4.a` it tells me that my compiler is not ANSI compliant.

This is a misleading error message from Apache that has been fixed in more recent versions.

12. When I try to build PHP using `--with-apxs` I get strange error messages.

There are three things to check here. First, for some reason when Apache builds the apxs Perl script, it sometimes ends up getting built without the proper compiler and flags variables. Find your apxs script (try the command which apxs, it's sometimes found in `/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs` or `/usr/sbin/apxs`. Open it and check for lines similar to these:

    my $CFG_CFLAGS_SHLIB  = ' ';          # substituted via Makefile.tmpl
    my $CFG_LD_SHLIB      = ' ';          # substituted via Makefile.tmpl
    my $CFG_LDFLAGS_SHLIB = ' ';          # substituted via Makefile.tmpl

If this is what you see, you have found your problem. They may contain just spaces or other incorrect values, such as 'q()'. Change these lines to say:

    my $CFG_CFLAGS_SHLIB  = '-fpic -DSHARED_MODULE'; # substituted via Makefile.tmpl
    my $CFG_LD_SHLIB      = 'gcc';                   # substituted via Makefile.tmpl
    my $CFG_LDFLAGS_SHLIB = q(-shared);              # substituted via Makefile.tmpl

The second possible problem should only be an issue on Red Hat 6.1 and 6.2. The apxs script Red Hat ships is broken. Look for this line:

    my $CFG_LIBEXECDIR    = 'modules';         # substituted via APACI install

If you see the above line, change it to this:

    my $CFG_LIBEXECDIR    = '/usr/lib/apache'; # substituted via APACI install

Last, if you reconfigure/reinstall Apache, add a make clean to the process after ./configure and before make.

13. During make, I get errors in microtime, and a lot of `RUSAGE_` stuff.

During the make portion of installation, if you encounter problems that look similar to this:

    microtime.c: In function `php_if_getrusage':
    microtime.c:94: storage size of `usg' isn't known
    microtime.c:97: `RUSAGE_SELF' undeclared (first use in this function)
    microtime.c:97: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
    microtime.c:97: for each function it appears in.)
    microtime.c:103: `RUSAGE_CHILDREN' undeclared (first use in this function)
    make[3]: *** [microtime.lo] Error 1
    make[3]: Leaving directory `/home/master/php-4.0.1/ext/standard'
    make[2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
    make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/master/php-4.0.1/ext/standard'
    make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
    make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/master/php-4.0.1/ext'
    make: *** [all-recursive] Error 1

Your system is broken. You need to fix your `/usr/include` files by installing a glibc-devel package that matches your glibc. This has absolutely nothing to do with PHP. To prove this to yourself, try this simple test:

    $ cat >test.c <<X
    #include <sys/resource.h>
    X
    $ gcc -E test.c >/dev/null

If that spews out errors, you know your include files are messed up.

14. I want to upgrade my PHP. Where can I find the ./configure line that was used to build my current PHP installation?

Either you look at config.nice file, in the source tree of your current PHP installation or, if this is not available, you simply run a

    <?php phpinfo(); ?>

script. On top of the output the ./configure line, that was used to build this PHP installation is shown.

15. When building PHP with the GD library it either gives strange compile errors or segfaults on execution.

Make sure your GD library and PHP are linked against the same depending libraries (e.g. libpng).

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