Installing "ioncube_loader" PHP module via Plesk fails: php_modules_ctl failed: readelf: Error: '/opt/plesk/php/X.X/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader.so': No such file

Taras Ermoshin

Updated January 21, 2026 03:38

kb: bug kb: fixed Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

Installing "ioncube_loader" PHP module via Plesk interface in Tools & Settings PHP Settings > X.X > Manage PECL Packages or via Plesk CLI fails:

Enabling extension
php_modules_ctl failed: readelf: Error: '/opt/plesk/php/X.X/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader.so': No such file
readelf: Error: '/opt/plesk/php/X.X/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader.so': No such file
cannot find config for extension 'ioncube_loader'
Cannot enable extension 'ioncube_loader'

Note: X.X is the affected PHP version.
After the error occurred, the file /opt/plesk/php/X.X/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader.so does not exist, but files /opt/plesk/php/X.X/lib/php/modules/ioncube_loader_lin_X.X.so and /opt/plesk/php/X.X/etc/php.d/00-ioncube-loader.ini do exist.

Product issue:

#PPPM-15104 "Fixed the issue where installing the ioncube_loader extension via the Manage PECL Packages menu failed with the No such file error."
Fixed in:
- Plesk Obsidian 18.0.73 30 September 2025 (Linux)

Please consider updating your server:

If update is not possible for some reason you may try the following

workaround

Until the bug is fixed, use the workaround:

Connect to the Plesk server via SSH.
Uncomment line zend_extension=ioncube_loader_lin_X.X.so in the file /opt/plesk/php/X.X/etc/php.d/00-ioncube-loader.ini, where X.X is the affected PHP version.
Restart related services (PHP-FPM, Apache, nginx).