Knowledge Base

How to install the sqlsrv extension for the Plesk PHP handlers?

Question

It is required to connect to SQLServer (MSSQL) databases via PHP script on a Linux system.

What extension should be installed and how it can be done?

Answer

Modules sqlsrv and pdo_sqlsrv should be enabled for PHP engine.

Warning: These extensions were not properly tested with Plesk and are not officially supported. Perform all operations at your own risk.

Note: The installation of pecl/sqlsrv requires PHP version >= 7.2.0. sqlsrv extension for PHP 7.1 was removed from pecl repository. Precompiled binaries for older sqlsrv which support PHP 7.1 can be found at https://github.com/microsoft/msphpsql/releases/tag/v5.6.1. Precompiled binaries for older sqlsrv which support PHP 7.0 can be found at https://github.com/microsoft/msphpsql/releases/tag/v5.3.0

Ubuntu 18.04/20.04 with Plesk PHP 8.0/7.3/7.4

Connect to the server via SSH.
Install necessary packages:

# apt-get install apt-transport-https make gcc g++ unixodbc unixodbc-dev plesk-php7X-dev

Note: "7X" is to be replaced with the PHP version. For example, "74" for PHP 7.4
Install the msodbcsql package:

Note: This step is unique for each OS. The following example is for Ubuntu 18.04. If Debian is used, replaced the URL accordingly (for ie: "/debian/10/" or "/ubuntu/20.04/")

# curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | apt-key add -
# curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/18.04/prod.list > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mssql-release.list
# apt-get update
# ACCEPT_EULA=Y apt-get install msodbcsql18
Add the pdo_sqlsrv and sqlsrv-5.8.1 modules:
- For PHP 8.0 provided by Plesk:
  
  # /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/pecl install pdo_sqlsrv
  # echo "extension=pdo_sqlsrv.so" > /opt/plesk/php/8.0/etc/php.d/pdo_sqlsrv.ini
  # /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/pecl install sqlsrv
  # echo "extension=sqlsrv.so" > /opt/plesk/php/8.0/etc/php.d/sqlsrv.ini
- For PHP 7.3/7.4 provided by Plesk:
  
  # /opt/plesk/php/7.X/bin/pecl install pdo_sqlsrv
  # echo "extension=pdo_sqlsrv.so" > /opt/plesk/php/7.X/etc/php.d/pdo_sqlsrv.ini
  # /opt/plesk/php/7.X/bin/pecl install sqlsrv
  # echo "extension=sqlsrv.so" > /opt/plesk/php/7.X/etc/php.d/sqlsrv.ini
Reread PHP handlers:

# plesk bin php_handler --reread
Reread the components properties to make modules visible in GUI:
# plesk sbin packagemng -sdf
Make sure that the required modules are enabled:

# /opt/plesk/php/7.X/bin/php -m | grep sqlsrv
pdo_sqlsrv
sqlsrv

Note: "7X" is to be replaced with the PHP version. For example, "74" for PHP 7.4
Restart the PHP-FPM master process to apply changes to FPM sites