Unable to Load Dynamic Library: Resolving PHP Startup Errors

When attempting to execute a PHP command, such as php -a, users may encounter error messages indicating a failure to load dynamic libraries. These errors can significantly impact PHP functionality, making it crucial to troubleshoot and resolve them promptly.

One common cause of this issue is attempting to load PHP extensions that are not installed. To determine the relevant extensions, search for lines containing extension= in the PHP configuration files. Utilize the grep command to search recursively within the PHP configuration directories:

$ grep -Hrv ";" /etc/php5 | grep -E "extension(\s )?="

For example, an output might resemble:

/etc/php5/mods-available/curl.ini:extension=curl.so
/etc/php5/mods-available/mysqli.ini:extension=mysqli.so

Locate the files listed in the output that correspond to the extensions causing errors. Disable loading these extensions by commenting out the relevant lines with a ;.

;extension=curl.so
;extension=mysqli.so

Modify the appropriate configuration files and restart Apache or PHP to implement the changes. This should effectively resolve the error and prevent further attempts to load the missing libraries.