Install the PHP gRPC extension

Google’s gRPC is a remote procedure call (RPC) framework that communicates over HTTP/2, uses Protocol Buffers to serialize data, works across programming languages, and provides many other features such as pluggable authentication.

The gRPC extension supports PHP 5.6+.

Install the gRPC extension

Installing the extension involves the following steps:

1. Install build dependencies (packages that are required to build the extension).
2. Build the extension’s library file.
3. Enable the extension in the PHP configuration.

Note

You must be logged into your server as root to install PHP extensions.

Caution

Your server must have at least 4GB of memory and 10GB of free disk space to build the gRPC extension. These requirements are only for building the extension, not for using the extension.

Install build dependencies

Set environment variables for the package manager.

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

Install a compiler and other packages that are required for building PHP extensions.

sudo apt-get -y install gcc g++ make autoconf libc-dev pkg-config

Install additional packages that are required to build the gRPC extension.

sudo apt-get -y install zlib1g-dev

Build the extension

The PECL install command compiles the extension’s .so library file.

php8.4

yes '' | sudo pecl8.4-sp install grpc

php8.3

yes '' | sudo pecl8.3-sp install grpc

php8.2

yes '' | sudo pecl8.2-sp install grpc

php8.1

yes '' | sudo pecl8.1-sp install grpc

php8.0

yes '' | sudo pecl8.0-sp install grpc

php7.4

yes '' | sudo pecl7.4-sp install grpc

php7.3

yes '' | sudo pecl7.3-sp install grpc

php7.2

yes '' | sudo pecl7.2-sp install grpc

php7.1

yes '' | sudo pecl7.1-sp install grpc

php7.0

yes '' | sudo pecl7.0-sp install grpc

php5.6

yes '' | sudo pecl5.6-sp install grpc

Enable the extension

Configure PHP to load the extension.

php8.4

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php8.4-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php8.3

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php8.3-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php8.2

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php8.2-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php8.1

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php8.1-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php8.0

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php8.0-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php7.4

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php7.4-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php7.3

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php7.3-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php7.2

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php7.2-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php7.1

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php7.1-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php7.0

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php7.0-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

php5.6

sudo bash -c "echo extension=grpc.so > /etc/php5.6-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini"

Restart PHP-FPM.

php8.4

sudo service php8.4-fpm-sp restart

php8.3

sudo service php8.3-fpm-sp restart

php8.2

sudo service php8.2-fpm-sp restart

php8.1

sudo service php8.1-fpm-sp restart

php8.0

sudo service php8.0-fpm-sp restart

php7.4

sudo service php7.4-fpm-sp restart

php7.3

sudo service php7.3-fpm-sp restart

php7.2

sudo service php7.2-fpm-sp restart

php7.1

sudo service php7.1-fpm-sp restart

php7.0

sudo service php7.0-fpm-sp restart

php5.6

sudo service php5.6-fpm-sp restart

Verify the extension is enabled in PHP.

php8.4

php8.4-sp -i | grep grpc

php8.3

php8.3-sp -i | grep grpc

php8.2

php8.2-sp -i | grep grpc

php8.1

php8.1-sp -i | grep grpc

php8.0

php8.0-sp -i | grep grpc

php7.4

php7.4-sp -i | grep grpc

php7.3

php7.3-sp -i | grep grpc

php7.2

php7.2-sp -i | grep grpc

php7.1

php7.1-sp -i | grep grpc

php7.0

php7.0-sp -i | grep grpc

php5.6

php5.6-sp -i | grep grpc

If the extension is enabled, you will see output like the following.

grpc
grpc support => enabled
grpc module version => 1.9.0

Uninstall the gRPC extension

Uninstalling the extension involves the following steps:

1. Disable the extension in the PHP configuration.
2. Remove the extension’s library file.

Disable the extension

Remove the extension’s configuration from PHP.

php8.4

sudo rm /etc/php8.4-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php8.3

sudo rm /etc/php8.3-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php8.2

sudo rm /etc/php8.2-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php8.1

sudo rm /etc/php8.1-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php8.0

sudo rm /etc/php8.0-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php7.4

sudo rm /etc/php7.4-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php7.3

sudo rm /etc/php7.3-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php7.2

sudo rm /etc/php7.2-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php7.1

sudo rm /etc/php7.1-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php7.0

sudo rm /etc/php7.0-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

php5.6

sudo rm /etc/php5.6-sp/conf.d/grpc.ini

Restart PHP-FPM.

php8.4

sudo service php8.4-fpm-sp restart

php8.3

sudo service php8.3-fpm-sp restart

php8.2

sudo service php8.2-fpm-sp restart

php8.1

sudo service php8.1-fpm-sp restart

php8.0

sudo service php8.0-fpm-sp restart

php7.4

sudo service php7.4-fpm-sp restart

php7.3

sudo service php7.3-fpm-sp restart

php7.2

sudo service php7.2-fpm-sp restart

php7.1

sudo service php7.1-fpm-sp restart

php7.0

sudo service php7.0-fpm-sp restart

php5.6

sudo service php5.6-fpm-sp restart

Remove the extension

The PECL uninstall command removes the extension’s .so library file.

php8.4

sudo pecl8.4-sp uninstall grpc

php8.3

sudo pecl8.3-sp uninstall grpc

php8.2

sudo pecl8.2-sp uninstall grpc

php8.1

sudo pecl8.1-sp uninstall grpc

php8.0

sudo pecl8.0-sp uninstall grpc

php7.4

sudo pecl7.4-sp uninstall grpc

php7.3

sudo pecl7.3-sp uninstall grpc

php7.2

sudo pecl7.2-sp uninstall grpc

php7.1

sudo pecl7.1-sp uninstall grpc

php7.0

sudo pecl7.0-sp uninstall grpc

php5.6

sudo pecl5.6-sp uninstall grpc