ionCube Loader 10 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 5.3
can be run by the Loaders for PHP 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and PHP 5.6. This 
means that the Loaders are highly backwards compatible. However, there
are the following limitations:

  * The Loader for PHP 7.1 can only run files produced by the
    Encoder for PHP 7.1 included in the version 10 Encoder.

  * 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)

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: A key that is part of the authentication process for
adminstration requests. This value is provided when adding a
server to ionCube24.

----------

INI entry: ic24.api_check_ip ; default 1

Purpose: 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: If fetching the set of domains being managed fails,
retry after the specified number of seconds. 


### 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.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. 2017
