How do I get PHP command line to use a php.ini file when it is not using one?

Question

This is for a MacOSX. I need to put a line in the php.ini file for PHP 5.6 - however, I have found out from this:

php -r "php_ini_loaded_file();"

That PHP is not using an ini file!

OK, so that was a surprise.. how do I either tell PHP to use an ini file, or add the line I would have added in that ini file? Thanks!

-- EDIT --

Using php --ini gives me the same thing.

samuelfullman$ php --ini
Configuration File (php.ini) Path: /etc
Loaded Configuration File:         (none)
Scan for additional .ini files in: (none)
Additional .ini files parsed:      (none)

Answer 1

You can find the command-line switches in the manual or with the help switch:

php -h

I believe you want one of these:

-c <path>|<file> Look for php.ini file in this directory
-d foo[=bar]     Define INI entry foo with value 'bar'

Otherwise, PHP will search for the php.ini file according to the documented rules . I understand that CLI interface makes use of the PHPRC environment variable if it exists.

Answer 2

The following worked for me. I typed

php --ini

which also told me that there was no config file, but it DID tell me the default directory was /etc .

So I did a sudo nano /etc/php.ini

and added a comment (starting with a ; ) and did php --ini again - and it showed the file was present! Just to be sure, I added some illegal characters, and went back to php --ini which told me there was a parse error.

So it appears you can always add a php.ini file - even if it starts out blank.