How to add php environment variable?

Question

php 5.4/fcgi on apache 2.4, centos 7.1. php/apache are built/managed by cpanel easyapache.

I'm trying to add an entry to the "environment" section that displays on phpinfo()

I have tried the following :

SetEnv in httpd.conf - it doesn't add it as an environment variable, it appears under $_SERVER
add to /etc/sysconfig/httpd - has no effect whatsoever.
FcgidInitialEnv MY_VARIABLE SomeValue in httpd.conf - also no effect.

Any advice appreciated. Note this section in phpinfo is NOT for showing system environment variables.

Have you tried export PATH=$PATH:/new/folder/path from the terminal if you're just looking to add to your path? — mquinn
– mquinn, Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 13:45
I'm not looking to add to the path, I'm looking to add a totally new variable. — Sherif Buzz
– Sherif Buzz, Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 13:50
Then you should be able to just do export EXAMPLE=1 from terminal — mquinn
– mquinn, Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 13:55
I'm not talking about system environment variables, updated question to clarify this — Sherif Buzz
– Sherif Buzz, Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 14:09

Oliver Hader · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-07 14:21:19Z

3

Assuming you're using mod_fcgi and you configured a wrapper script like this:

FcgidWrapper /var/www/wrapper/php72wrapper .php

The wrapper script php72wrapper then defines the environment variables when the request is dispatched to the real php binary - MY_VARIABLE has been added as example:

#!/bin/sh
export PHPRC="/var/www/wrapper/php72wrapper"
export MY_VARIABLE="Whatever it should contain"
exec /usr/bin/php72

In PHP you could access that value by e.g. using getenv('MY_VARIABLE'). Besides that MY_VARIABLE is also listed in the "Environment" section of phpinfo().

An alternative way is to use FcgidInitialEnv in your Apache VirtualHost configuration:

FcgidInitialEnv MY_VARIABLE "Whatever it should contain"

see https://httpd.apache.org/mod_fcgid/mod/mod_fcgid.html#fcgidinitialenv

edited Jan 7, 2018 at 14:21

answered Jan 7, 2018 at 14:06

Oliver Hader

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4 Comments

Sherif Buzz Over a year ago

Thanks Oliver, note that php/fcgi/apache is managed by cpanel, and there doesn't seem to be any clear way to add a wrapper script.

Oliver Hader Over a year ago

Search for ORIG_SCRIPT_FILENAME in the output of phpinfo() that's the wrapper script being used.

Oliver Hader Over a year ago

Updated answer by FcgidInitialEnv MY_VARIABLE SomeValue in your Apache VirtualHost configuration

Sherif Buzz Over a year ago

Thx again, I'd already tried FcgidInitialEnv also to no avail. Updated my answer to include this

Sherif Buzz · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-08 07:11:04Z

0

Finally found a solution, the only way that works is to add a wrapper script around the calling of php, and setting the values there - thanks to Oliver Hader for the tip.

answered Jan 8, 2018 at 7:11

Sherif Buzz

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