Configure Apache and PHP with PHP-FPM using WHM /cPanel

PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) is an alternative PHP FastCGI implementation with some additional features useful for sites of any size, especially busier sites. For more information please follow php-fpm.org

Step 1. WHM settings for to PHP-FPM configuration

1. Go to Home » Service Configuration » Configure PHP and suEXEC and set the following options

PHP 5 Handler: none
Apache suEXEC: off
Apache Ruid2: off

2. Add the PHP-FPM and FastCGI flags to EasyApache by editing the following line.

vi /var/cpanel/easy/apache/rawopts/all_php5

Add the following lines:

--enable-fastcgi
--enable-fpm

Step 2. Rebuild EasyApache

Go to Home » Software » EasyApache (Apache Update) and click Start customizing based on profile. Make sure to check the following options

1. Select Apache 2.2.x
2. Select PHP 5.4.x
3. Disable Frontpage
4. Disable Mod SuPHP
5. Disable Mod Ruid2
6. Select MPM Worker
7. Disable MPM Prefork and MPM Event

After that Click Save and build to start rebuilding EasyApache with selected options.

Step 3. Configure PHP-FPM

Once the EasyApache build is successfully completed proceed with the following configurations

1. Add php-fpm to init.d scripts

cd /home/cpeasyapache/src/php-5.4.x/sapi/fpm/
cp init.d.php-fpm.in /etc/init.d/php-fpm
chmod 755 /etc/init.d/php-fpm

2. Configure /etc/init.d/php-fpm

vi /etc/init.d/php-fpm

then, change the foloowing option in php-fpm

prefix=
exec_prefix=
php_fpm_BIN=/usr/local/sbin/php-fpm
php_fpm_CONF=/usr/etc/php-fpm.conf
php_fpm_PID=/var/run/php-fpm.pid

3. PHP-FPM configuration file

cd /home/cpeasyapache/src/php-5.4.x/sapi/fpm/
cp php-fpm.conf.in /usr/etc/php-fpm.conf
vi /usr/etc/php-fpm.conf

then, change the following options in php-fpm.conf file

user = nobody
group = nobody

Note :-  In some cases /var/run/php-fpm.pid cannot be created so you need to run the following command to create.

touch /var/run/php-fpm.pid

Step 4. Set the PHP-FPM handler in Apache configuration

Edit the following file by running the command below.

vi /usr/local/apache/conf/includes/post_virtualhost_global.conf

Now, Add the following lines to file

    LoadModule fastcgi_module modules/mod_fastcgi.so

    <IfModule mod_fastcgi.c>
    FastCGIExternalServer /usr/local/sbin/php-fpm -host 127.0.0.1:9000
    AddHandler php-fastcgi .php

    #<LocationMatch "/status">
    # SetHandler php-fastcgi-virt
    # Action php-fastcgi-virt /usr/local/sbin/php-fpm.fcgi virtual
    #</LocationMatch>

    Action php-fastcgi /usr/local/sbin/php-fpm.fcgi
    ScriptAlias /usr/local/sbin/php-fpm.fcgi /usr/local/sbin/php-fpm

    <Directory /usr/local/sbin>
    Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks
    SetHandler fastcgi-script
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    </Directory>
    </IfModule>

Step 5. Install mod_fastcgi

cd /tmp/
wget http://www.fastcgi.com/dist/mod_fastcgi-2.4.6.tar.gz
tar -xzf mod_fastcgi-2.4.6.tar.gz
cd mod_fastcgi-2.4.6
cp Makefile.AP2 Makefile
vi Makefile

Set the following in Makefile ( Apache version with you are using )

op_dir = /home/cpeasyapache/src/httpd-2.2.x

then, run the following commands to buid the code.

make
make install

Step 6. Start php-fpm service

Enable PHP-FPM to start at boot time by running following command.

chkconfig php-fpm on

At last, restart the following services to take affects on the configurations.

/etc/init.d/php-fpm restart
/etc/init.d/httpd restart

Now, check your phpinfo() file it should look like image below which would have enable-fasatcgi and enable-fpm configure command.

After completion of all above steps you will have php-fpm using whm through easy steps.