Probably a silly question about the different PHP handlers, but wanting to make sure.

[BakkerM]

I have (silly) question. For some time it has been possible to select different PHP handlers with DirectAdmin, which is really great.

You have the choice of the following PHP handlers;

- mod_php
- suPHP
- lsphp
- php-fastcgi
- php-fpm

Normally we used mod_php + suPHP (with PHP 5.6 and 7.x). However this is not the best performance.
We tried php-fastcgi in the past and we had some mixed results; like some websites simply didn't work anymore and others indeed loaded faster.

Now recently we tried php-fpm and we are very happy with it so far, but is it 100% compatible with for example: mod_php & suPHP?
Because, as mentioned above, php-fastcgi, wasn't for example...

I prefer to use php-fpm, because it's really fast(er) than mod_php & suPHP in my personal opinion.
I understand that with php-fpm, php is being run as a stand-alone PHP server.

Can someone, when they are willing to, provide some insight in this. I can find information on all PHP handlers, but never a direct comparism of all handlers and if they are compatible with each other.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Regards

 

[wattie]

If you enable htscanner module, it will work compatible with the setup you are mentioning but much more secure than mod_php and with better performace than suphp. Php-fpm is the best option at the moment - highly recommended!

Without the htscanner module, you won't be able to set php flags from .htaccess file as you were able with mod_php.

 

[BakkerM]

Thank you for your reply. Highly appreciated and learning new things every day!

So, correct me if I am wrong, if I use php-fpm and I have .htaccess files (for eg. with Wordpress) it will not work without?

Example code for a Wordpress .htaccess file:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

In other words, mod_rewrites and such won't work without htscanner in combination with php-fpm?

Thanks.

 

[wattie]

No, it will work!

The htscanner module will allow you to use the php_flag options in htaccess file. Without it, htaccess still works (mod_rewrite will be ok!), but it cannot modify PHP flags like mod_php can.

For example:

php_flag display_errors off

in .htaccess will require htscanner module.

 

[BakkerM]

Sorry for the late reply, was sick.
Thank you for your replies! Highly appreciated.