Use .user.ini files to configure PHP

A .user.ini file allows you to change the configuration of PHP on a per-app and per-directory basis. A .user.ini file is PHP’s equivalent of Apache’s .htaccess file.

Create a .user.ini file in an app’s web root directory to apply the file’s directives to all requests for the app.

apps/APPNAME/public/.user.ini

The directives in a .user.ini file can be overridden by a .user.ini file in a subdirectory.

Use the phpinfo() function to confirm a PHP setting was changed.

Create and edit .user.ini files

You can create and edit .user.ini files either over SSH or with an SFTP client.

Learn how to edit files over SSH.

Show hidden .user.ini files

Files beginning with a dot (.) are often hidden in directory listings.

SSH

To show hidden files when using the ls command, add the -a (all files) flag.

ls -a apps/APPNAME/public/

SFTP

To show hidden files in the Cyberduck SFTP client:

1. Open Cyberduck.
2. Click View in the menu bar.
3. Select Show hidden files.

To show hidden files in the Filezilla SFTP client:

1. Open Filezilla.
2. Click Server in the menu bar.
3. Select Force showing hidden files.

Format of .user.ini files

Each line in a .user.ini file has the format:

.user.ini

setting_name = setting_value

Lines in .user.ini files that start with a semicolon (;) are comments and are ignored by PHP.

Settings that can be changed

Most PHP settings can be changed through a .user.ini file.

To confirm that a setting can be changed through a .user.ini file, check the “Changeable” column in PHP’s list of settings. A setting with the “Changeable” mode of INI_PERDIR or INI_USER can be changed through a .user.ini file.

Note

Settings with the “Changeable” mode of INI_USER can also be changed from within an app’s PHP code using the PHP ini_set() function.

Change max_execution_time

The PHP max_execution_time is the number of seconds PHP will allow a script to run before PHP terminates the script.

Change the PHP max_execution_time setting:

.user.ini

; The value of max_execution_time is the number of seconds.
max_execution_time = 120

Change memory_limit

Note

Using .user.ini does not change the WordPress memory limit. Check out our tutorial on using wp-config.php to increase your WordPress memory limit.

Change the PHP memory_limit setting.

.user.ini

; The value of memory_limit is the number of bytes. Use -1 for no limit.
memory_limit = -1

To completely disable PHP’s memory limit, use the following.

.user.ini

memory_limit = -1

Change max_input_vars

Change the PHP max_input_vars setting.

.user.ini

; The value of max_input_vars is the number of input variables.
max_input_vars = 5000

Change upload_max_filesize and post_max_size

To increase the maximum size of files that can be uploaded to an app, change the PHP upload_max_filesize and post_max_size settings.

upload_max_filesize = 100M
post_max_size = 100M

Note

Cloudflare limits the size of uploaded files. See Cloudflare’s file upload size limits.

Disable register_argc_argv

To disable PHP’s register_argc_argv, use the following.

register_argc_argv = 0

Note

You can also disable register-argc-argv globally.

Change the PHP timezone

The default timezone used by all PHP date/time functions is UTC regardless of your server’s timezone.

To change the PHP timezone for an app, use the following.

.user.ini

date.timezone = America/Los_Angeles

See PHP’s list of supported timezones to find the names of all possible timezones you can use for the date.timezone setting.