How to know which php.ini is used?

php --ini

For the webserver-SAPIs use phpinfo()

Here's some sample output:

bash-3.2# php --ini
Configuration File (php.ini) Path: /usr/local/php5/lib
Loaded Configuration File:         /usr/local/php5/lib/php.ini
Scan for additional .ini files in: /usr/local/php5/php.d
Additional .ini files parsed:      /usr/local/php5/php.d/10-extension_dir.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/20-extension-opcache.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/40-openssl.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-apcu.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-curl.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-gmp.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-imap.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-intl.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-mcrypt.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-mssql.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-pdo_pgsql.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-pgsql.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-propro.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-raphf.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-readline.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-xdebug.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/50-extension-xsl.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/60-extension-pecl_http.ini,
/usr/local/php5/php.d/99-liip-developer.ini

You can use php_ini_loaded_file()

Taken from php.net:

$inipath = php_ini_loaded_file();
if ($inipath) {
    echo 'Loaded php.ini: ' . $inipath;
} else {
    echo 'A php.ini file is not loaded';
}

You may also want to check php_ini_scanned_files()

Also, you should note that if you run a PHP script from CLI, it's possible that a different php.ini file will be used than if a server (ie nginx or apache) runs it.

Other options:

• php -i|grep 'php.ini'
• create info.php that contains <?php phpinfo(); in the webroot, and run it in your browser

Note that the configuration loaded for PHP when it's being used on the console is different from the configuration for the web process. Most PHP installations would come with a php.ini for apache and another for CLI.

To know which configuration file is used for the console commands, use

$ php -i | grep "Configuration File"

To know which configuration file is used for the web processes, follow these steps

1. Create an info file [preferably in the root folder]
2. The contents of this file should be <?php phpinfo(); ?>
3. Ctrl+F and search for "Configuration File"