Moving from Windows php to Linux

In most cases you should not have to change anything. There are a few Windows/Linux specific things that can be done in php but for the most part everything should work. To import your php app you will want to:

1.) Create a new droplet. I would recommend the LAMP Application image as this will provide you with a ready to use server environment with php.

2.) Upload your files using SFTP to the /var/www/html directory

3.) Navigate to your droplet by IP (or domain if you have configured one) in a browser and test your script.

Of course if your app includes a database there will be additional steps to import your data.

Moving a PHP application from a Windows environment to a Linux one (to be served by Apache) can be relatively straightforward, but there are some key differences you’ll need to account for:

1. Case Sensitivity:

   • Linux filesystems are case-sensitive, which means File.php and file.php are considered different files. Make sure all your include, require, and file references use the correct case.

2. Path Delimiters:

   • Windows uses \ for filesystem paths, while Linux uses /. Use the DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR PHP constant or simply use forward slashes (/), which work in both Windows and Linux.

3. File Permissions:

   • Linux has a permission model for files and directories. You’ll need to make sure that the Apache user (usually www-data on Ubuntu/Debian systems) has the appropriate read (and write, if necessary) permissions to the files and directories of your website.
   • Typically, you’ll set folders to 755 and files to 644 permissions. For any folder that needs to be written to by the application (like a cache or upload directory), you might need to set it to 775 or 777 depending on your specific requirements and security model.

4. Server Configuration:

   • Apache uses .htaccess files for directory-level configuration. If your application relies on URL rewrites or specific server configurations, you’ll need to translate IIS web.config rules to .htaccess rules.

5. PHP Configuration (php.ini):

   • There may be differences in the php.ini file between Windows and Linux. You’ll need to ensure that your PHP configuration on Linux mirrors the necessary settings from your Windows environment.
   • Some extensions might have different names or might not be available on Linux. You’ll need to install and enable the required PHP extensions using apt or yum, depending on your Linux distribution.

6. Database Paths:

   • If you’re using SQLite and your application includes the database path, you’ll need to update it to the correct Linux path.

7. Environment Variables:

   • Some applications rely on environment variables which might be set differently on Linux.

8. Scheduled Tasks:

   • If your application uses scheduled tasks (like Windows Task Scheduler), you’ll need to replicate this functionality with cron jobs in Linux.

9. Dependency Management:

   • If your project uses Composer (PHP’s dependency manager), make sure you run composer install on your Linux server to install all PHP dependencies required for your project.

10. Error Handling:

-   Check how your application handles errors and ensure that error logging paths are correctly configured for your Linux environment.

11. Testing:

-   Before going live, thoroughly test your application in the Linux environment to catch any issues that may arise due to the platform change.

As a final note, if you’re not comfortable with performing these tasks yourself as you’re new to Linux, it might be a good idea to work with someone who has experience with PHP and Linux to help you migrate your application. Alternatively, you can take this as an opportunity to learn about Linux server management, which is a valuable skill to have.

Heya,

There are few things that you’ll need to check and adjust to make the transition from a windows server to a linux based server.

To make your website compatible with Apache on a Linux server, you may need to make a few adjustments to your PHP files and possibly your server configuration. Here are some steps you can take:

Windows and Linux use different file path separators. In PHP code, make sure you’re using forward slashes (/) instead of backslashes () in file paths. For example:

Windows path include: 'C:\\xampp\\htdocs\\example.php';

Linux path include: '/var/www/html/example.php';

Windows file systems are case-insensitive, while Linux is case-sensitive. Ensure that file names and paths referenced in your code match exactly in terms of case.

Windows and Linux use different line endings in text files. Ensure that your PHP files use Unix-style line endings (LF) rather than Windows-style line endings (CRLF).

Hope that this helps!