Godaddy custom php.ini problems and solutions

Godaddy can be a killer of time for a programmer. It can take ages to figure out some things that are just now standard to webhosting.

Recently I took care of a client that had a windows hosting package and needed a script setup that required custom modifications to php.ini.

I’ve placed php5.ini to root web directory (for godaddy if you have php5 installed, php5.ini is required otherwise php.ini) the custom settings were in effect and guess what? mysql wasn’t working anymore:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function mysql_connect() in xxxxxxxx

Solution is to set up a complete php.ini file (you can take it from your computer) from which settings like upload_tmp_dir should be set up from the original php.ini

Of course how the heck you can read the original php.ini? You don’t need to, just create a a test.php and place  phpinfo(); there and you should be able to read all the variables that required path alterations to fit the server.

Questions? Please let me know