To install the Zend Guard Loader, check the PHP version on the server using the command:
# php -v
Let’s begin the installation with PHP version 5.3 as an example.
Download the module archive from the official Zend Guard Loader website:
# wget http://downloads.zend.com/guard/5.5.0/ZendGuardLoader-php-5.3-linux-glibc23-x86_64.tar.gz
Extract the downloaded archive to the /usr/local/ directory:
# tar -xzvf ZendGuardLoader-php-5.3-linux-glibc23-x86_64.tar.gz -C /usr/local/
Now, set the necessary permissions to 755 for the folder:
# chmod -R 755 /usr/local/ZendGuardLoader-php-5.3-linux-glibc23-x86_64/
Create an additional configuration file zend.ini specifying the path to the module file:
# nano /etc/php5/conf.d/zend.ini
Specify the path:
# zend_extension=/usr/local/ZendGuardLoader-php-5.3-linux-glibc23-x86_64/php-5.3.x/ZendGuardLoader.so
Similar actions are performed when installing the ionCube extension.
Finally, restart the Apache server and check if the module is installed using the command:
# php -m