Activating PHP - Linux-Specific

PHP, also known as PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is an open-source scripting language and interpreter. It is used primarily on Linux Web servers to create interactive and customized Web pages and is an alternative to Microsoft Active Server Page (ASP) technology.

PHP is run as a CGI binary. You may be familiar with PHP as an Apache module. We do not, however, run PHP as an Apache module on our shared servers. Each PHP-enabled domain has its own separate PHP environment that you can control.

When PHP script is embedded within a Web page, the Web server calls PHP to interpret and perform the operations specified in the PHP script. Web pages with embedded PHP script can use the file extensions .php.

You can upload your .php files to any directory in your Web directory other than the cgi-bin directory. PHP files uploaded to and called from the cgi-bin directory will produce an internal server error. Note, however, that the PHP binary file itself (not the PHP files you create) must remain in the cgi-bin. If you are having problems with PHP:

Check that you have requested PHP. Even if you have selected a hosting plan that supports PHP, you must still request PHP in SiteControl.

Check if PHP files are being called from the cgi-bin directory. If .php files have been uploaded to the cgi-bin directory, PHP may not operate properly. Calling a .php file from the cgi-bin directory will produce the error "500-Internal Server Error."

To activate PHP:

1	Click Website under Manage Services in the home page of SiteControl.
2	When the Website screen appears, click PHP in the Added Functionality section. You can also click PHP in the left navigation panel in SiteControl
3	The PHP Overview page appears. Click Activate PHP.
4	You will see a PHP Activation Request Received message. Once PHP has been activated, you can upload PHP files to your website directory.