How do I install IonCube Loader in a site using the Custom Environment?

NOTE: These instructions relate to a much older version of Local and do not work in newer versions of Local.


Some plugins and themes require IonCube Loader to load obfuscated code. If you are using one of those themes or plugins, you will need to install the IonCube Loader PHP extension.


Note: This is only for sites running the Custom environment in Local. The instructions below will not work for sites running the Preferred environment.


  1. Download the latest version of IonCube Loader for 64-Bit Linux (direct download)
  2. Extract the downloaded archive to the site’s app/public folder. It should look something like the screenshot below.

  1. Visit your site and add ioncube/loader-wizard.php to the end of the URL. If your Local site domain is fauxtography.local, you’ll want to naviage to http://fauxtography.local/ioncube/loader-wizard.php. You will see a page like the screenshot below.

  1. Go back to Local, right-click on the site in the sidebar and click “Open Site SSH”. A Terminal or Cmd.exe window should open.

  2. This next step requires that you copy and paste some paths and run a command. Note the two unique paths in the yellow box that starts with “Please note also the following issue:”.

    • The path that begins with /app is the path where the file currently is (ORIGIN). The path beginning with /opt is where it needs to be moved to (DESTINATION).
    • Using ORIGIN and DESTINATION as an example, the command you want to run is mv ORIGIN DESTINATION
    • In the case of the screenshot above (you may need to adjust the paths accordingly), the command to run is:
mv /app/public/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_7.0.so /opt/php/7.0.3/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20151012
  1. Click on “this new php.ini file” in the “Installation Instructions” box. This will download a modified PHP config file.

  2. Move the downloaded php.ini file into the site’s conf/php/VERSION folder (VERSION being the current PHP version that the site is running)

  3. Restart the site

  4. Refresh the IonCube page. You should see a success message like the following:

  1. Important: Remove the ioncube folder in the site’s app/public directory

  2. Done!


If you’d like to see IonCube Loader as a default extension in Local, please let us know!

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