ionCube Loader 15.0 User Guide
=====================================

This document describes the available php.ini configuration options of the
ionCube Loader that relate to processing of PHP encoded files, and also the
ionCube24 service. It also describes which encoded files can be run by each
ionCube Loader.

PERFORMANCE OF ENCODED FILES
----------------------------

We recommend that the encoded paths feature (see below) is used 
with encoded files in order to maximise performance.

ENCODED FILES  
-------------

INI entry: ioncube.loader.encoded_paths

Purpose:   Specify the locations of encoded files

  The ionCube Loader will normally examine a PHP file before processing
  to test whether it is encoded, and will run the file itself if necessary.
  Although this checking is very efficient, restricting which files the
  Loader tests for being encoded may give extra performance. If set to 
  a series of paths or files, only files in those locations are tested.

  Entries should be separated by a : on Unix and ; on Windows. 
  A path may be prefixed with + or - to add or remove that path from
  the possible locations. + is assumed if no character is given.


Examples: (... means ioncube.loader.encoded_paths)

  * Site with a single encoded module in /var/www/html/modules/RSS

... = "/var/www/html/modules/RSS"


  * As above, with a site configuration file encoded too.

... = "/var/www/html/modules/RSS:/var/www/html/config/config.php"


  * Encoded files may be anywhere except for /var/www/html/framework

... = "/:-/var/www/html/framework"


  * Site with most modules encoded except for one

... = "/var/www/html/modules:-/var/www/html/modules/plain"


  * As above, with an encoded config file in the plain directory

... = "/site/modules:-/site/modules/plain:/site/modules/plain/config.php"


Locations:

  The ioncube.loader.encoded_paths property can be set in a php.ini
  file, in a .htaccess file (when using Apache), in a .user.ini file
  (when using CGI PHP 5.3+) or using ini_set within a PHP script. In ini
  files only the last value will be used for the encoded_paths property. If
  you wish to build up the value in several lines then, for PHP 5.1+, you
  can use the following syntax:

ioncube.loader.encoded_paths = "/path1"  
ioncube.loader.encoded_paths = ${ioncube.loader.encoded_paths}":/path2"  
; etc...

LIMITATIONS OF LOADERS AND ENCODED FILES
----------------------------------------

Encoded files can, in general, run on versions of PHP equal to
or greater than the source language of the Encoder used to
produce them. So a file produced by the Encoder for PHP 7.2
can be run by the Loaders for PHP 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4, but 7.1. This 
means that the Loaders offer good backwards compatibility, 
however there are the following limitations:

  * The Loader for PHP 8.4 can run files produced by the PHP 8.2, 8.3
    and 8.4 Encoders.

  * The Loader for PHP 8.3 can run files produced by the PHP 8.2 and
    8.3 Encoders.

  * The Loader for PHP 8.2 can only run files produced for
    PHP 8.2. Updates for files produced for PHP 8.1 should
    be obtained to use them with PHP 8.2.

  * The Loader for PHP 8.1 can only run files produced for
    PHP 8.1.

  * The Loaders for PHP 7.1 through 7.4 can only run files 
    produced by the Encoders for PHP 7. 

  * The Loader for PHP 7.0 can only run files produced by the
    Encoder for PHP 5.6.

  * The Loaders for PHP 5.5 and PHP 5.6 cannot run files 
    produced by the PHP 4 Encoder.


IONCUBE24 : real-time intrusion protection and PHP error reporting
---------
### (Available for Linux 32 and 64 bit x86 servers using PHP 7)

ionCube24 (https://ioncube24.com) is an ionCube service that uses the
ionCube Loader to provide both real-time protection against the exploit of
website vulnerabilities and alerting of website errors.

Vulnerabilities in PHP applications are common, particularly in sites using 
Wordpress and other plugin based systems. Exploits result in website
defacement or customer data being compromised, and ionCube24 provides a 
uniquely powerful defense. 

PHP errors can cause intermittent or even persistent blank pages or errors for
visitors until discovered, and without active monitoring this could go
undetected indefinitely. ionCube24 active monitoring ensures you are always
aware of problems in your website code.

ionCube24 is free to try, with the server side support built into the Linux
Loaders as standard. With the Loader installed, ionCube24 can be activated
at any time to give active intrusion protection and error reporting.

## php.ini settings

ionCube24 has a powerful real-time web interface to configure, monitor and
manage things, and there are also settings that can be used in a php.ini
file as summarised below.

The setup process at https://ioncube24.com automatically gives the settings
that you need to get started, but you may wish to make changes yourself
once setup. The default values are given with each example.

### Global settings

INI entry: ic24.enable ; default 0

Purpose: Enable or disable all ionCube24 features. 

This defaults to 0 (off), and in this case no ionCube24 behaviour is
activated.

Example:

  ic24.enable = 1

----------

INI entry: ic24.api_access_key ; provided during setup

Purpose: An authentication key for adminstration requests. 

  This value is provided when adding a server to ionCube24.

----------

INI entry: ic24.api_check_ip ; default 1

Purpose: Specify whether the IP for admin requests should be validated

  If set, ionCube24 refuses access to API functions unless the calling IP
  is a known ionCube IP address. This option should be left with the
  default setting unless web requests pass through a proxy and your site
  appears to be accessed from the IP of the proxy instead of ionCube. Note
  that access to API functions will still be authenticated by access key.

----------

INI entry: ic24.api_max_timeout ; default 7

Purpose: Maximum timeout period when sending notifications to ionCube24.

  The actual period is adaptive so that a brief increase in typical latency
  will favour a timeout followed by a retry rather than a longer than usual
  timeout.

----------

INI entry: ic24.home_dir ; no default

Purpose: The home directory for ionCube24 related system files. 

  A location outside of the web root is recommended.  It should be writable
  by the web server during startup.

Example:

ic24.home_dir = /var/www/ic24_home

----------

INI entry: ic24.update_domains_retry_interval ; default 30

Purpose: The number of seconds to wait before retrying a fetch of the set
of domains being managed.


### Security related settings

INI entry: ic24.sec.enable ; default "auto"

Purpose: Enable the intrusion protection feature of ionCube24.

Accepted values:

   * "auto" (default) - allow setting from the ionCube24 control panel.
   * 1 : always enabled.
   * 0 : disabled.

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.initial_state ; default 1

Purpose: The default for whether security should be enabled or
disabled. The default is to enable protection. Any files on a protected
domain will become blocked if they are changed, so setting this to 0 will
avoid accidental blocking when using ionCube24 for the first time.
Protection may be enabled and disabled using the ionCube24 control panel and
also via the User API.

Accepted values:

   * 1 : protection will be active when ionCube24 initialises.
   * 0 : protection will be disabled.

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.initial_action ; default "block"

Purpose: The initial setting for how new and modified files should be
treated when about to execute. The default is to block. The action is taken
only if protection is enabled, and the setting may be changed via the
ionCube24 control panel.

Accepted values:

   * "block" : prevent execution of new or modified files
   * "allow" : allow execution of new or modified files

Note that depending on the notification settings, a notification may still
be generated when a new or modified file is about to execute even if it is
not blocked.

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.initial_notify ; default "always"

Purpose: The initial setting for whether a notification is generated the 
first time an unacknowledged new or modified file is attempted to be
executed. This setting can be changed via the ionCube24 control panel.

Accepted values:

   * "always" : always notify of a new modification 
   * "once"   : only the first detected modification is reported
   * "never"  : never notify of new and modified files

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.exclusion_key ; provided during setup

Purpose: A key that if present at the start of a file, will identify the
file as trusted. This value is provided when adding a server to ionCube24.

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.trusted_include_paths ; no default

Purpose: List paths from where files can be included and automatically
trusted.

Example:

ic24.sec.trusted_include_paths = "/var/cache:/var/cache2"

Directories can be excluded from the list by prefixing with a minus
character -. e.g.

"/var/cache:-/var/cache/subdir"

This is useful if your site creates and/or modifies files by itself from
time to time, e.g. in a cache directory. Requests that *directly* access
files on a trusted include path will be blocked but the file itself will
not be blocked, so requests that use the file as intended will still work.
See ioncube24.com for more details once signed up.  As an alternative, if
possible we recommend producing files that include the exclusion key.

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.block_uploaded_files ; default 1

Purpose: If set, block any uploaded files in ionCube24 that are processed
using the standard PHP mechanism for uploaded files. This applies even if
the file is subsequently included and where included files being
automatically approved with the previous setting.

----------

INI entry: ic24.sec.block_stdin ; default 1

Purpose: Refuse code that PHP sees via stdin.  If disabled, code via
stdin will run without security checking as there is no filepath. This
setting should be left on as PHP would normally never receive a script via
stdin.

### PHP Error reporting settings

INI entry: ic24.phperr.enable ; default "auto"

Purpose: Enable reporting of PHP errors to ionCube24.  When enabled, any
non-ignored errors are reported to ionCube24 in realtime, triggering
alerting so errors can be investigated as necessary.

Accepted values:

   * "auto" (default) - allow setting from the ionCube24 control panel.
   * 1 : always enabled.
   * 0 : disabled.

----------

### Deprecated settings

Deprecated settings are subject to removal in a future
release.

INI entry: ic24.phperr.ignore ; default 0

Purpose: Specify default error levels to always ignore for all domains.

Note that default and per-domain errors to ignore can also be set via the
web interface, and are combined with this setting. Leaving this unset and
using the web interface is recommended for maximum flexibility.

Example: 

ic24.phperr.ignore = E_NOTICE | E_DEPRECATED

(c) ionCube Ltd. 2025
