Install ionCube Loader

This information only applies to self-hosted WHMCS installations. WHMCS Cloud handles the installation and initial configuration process for you automatically.

ionCube® Loader is an extension for PHP that allows the system to decode and execute encoded files. Encoded files execute and load faster, giving better performance results for WHMCS. ionCube Loader is a requirement for running WHMCS.

WHMCS Support cannot assist with ionCube Loader problems. For help, contact ionCube support directly.

Checking for ionCube Loader

If you do not know whether you have ionCube Loader, you can check by creating a phpinfo page and visiting it in your browser:

    <?php phpinfo(); ?>

Install ionCube Loader

  • For Linux® applications, installation requires root access to the server. If you do not have root access and your server does not have ionCube Loader already, contact your hosting provider or system administrator for assistance.
  • To find the correct ionCube Loader version for your PHP version, see our System Requirements.

Install Using WHM

To install via WHM:

  1. Go to WHM » EasyApache.
    The EasyApache 4 interface in WHM.
  2. Find ioncubeXX in the PHP Extensions list, where XX is the ionCube Loader version.
    Find the ionCube loader version in WHM.
  3. Select the correct package for your PHP version.
    Select the ionCube loader version in WHM.
  4. Finalize the installation.

Other Control Panels

To install ionCube Loader using other control panels:

  1. Download the latest supported version of ionCube Loader.

  2. Extract the contents of the archived file on your local computer.

  3. Upload the IONCUBE folder via FTP to your domain.

  4. Establish an SSH connection with the server using a suitable client (for example, PuTTY or Terminal). Usually, this requires you to run the following command and supply your password:

    SSH [email protected]

  5. Browse to the public folder that contains the IONCUBE directory.

  6. Move the folder to a permanent location:

    mv ioncube /usr/local

  7. Locate the php.ini file. Usually, you can find it at /usr/local/lib/php.ini.

  8. Edit the file using your preferred editor.

  9. Find the other Zend extensions (zend_extension).

  10. Add a new line for ionCube Loader:

    zend_extension = /usr/local/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_x.so

    Replace x with your version of PHP.

  11. Save the changes.

  12. Restart the server:

    /etc/init.d/httpd restart

Install Using SSH

To install via SSH:

  1. SSH in to your server as the root user.

  2. Run the following command, where XX is the desired ionCube Loader version and YY is the desired PHP version:

    yum install ea-phpYY-php-ioncubeXX

Verify Installation

To verify that installation was successful, check the PHP Info output for your server. You should see a new section:

Additional Modules
Module Name ionCube Loader
ioncube php installation

Last modified: 2025 October 17