PHP Cheat Sheet

February 15, 2026 | By

all-scribbly, coding

PHP Cheat Sheet

The only paths that matter (Homebrew PHP 8.5 + Apache)

PHP binary

  • /opt/homebrew/bin/php

PHP 8.5 config folder

  • /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.5/

Extra scanned INI files

  • /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.5/conf.d/

PHP-FPM main config

  • /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.5/php-fpm.conf

PHP-FPM pool configs

  • /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.5/php-fpm.d/

    • yours: /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.5/php-fpm.d/sandbox.conf

Apache vhost file (your php sandbox site)

  • /private/etc/apache2/extra/php-sandbox.local.conf

Apache main config

  • /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

Apache logs (your sandbox vhost)

  • /private/var/log/apache2/php-sandbox-error_log
  • /private/var/log/apache2/php-sandbox-access_log

Your docroot

  • /Users/shawneee/PHP_Sandbox/public

The only commands you need next time

A) Verify PHP and version

php -v
php --ini

B) Start / stop / restart PHP-FPM (this is the big one)

brew services list | grep php
brew services restart php@8.5

C) Confirm PHP-FPM is listening on your port (9001)

lsof -nP -iTCP:9001 -sTCP:LISTEN

D) Restart Apache + verify config

sudo apachectl -t
sudo apachectl restart
apachectl -S | sed -n '1,120p'

E) If something breaks: check the 2 logs

tail -n 80 /private/var/log/apache2/php-sandbox-error_log
tail -n 80 /opt/homebrew/var/log/php-fpm.log 2>/dev/null || true

The two config lines that “make it work”

1) Apache → PHP-FPM handoff (in

php-sandbox.local.conf

)

<FilesMatch \.php$>
  SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9001"
</FilesMatch>

2) PHP-FPM pool is listening (in

sandbox.conf

)

listen = 127.0.0.1:9001

If those two agree on the same host/port, you’re golden.

Your “don’t screw me later” rule

If you upgrade PHP again (8.5 → 8.6 someday), the paths change from /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.5/… to /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.6/….

So the fastest way to “re-find everything” is always:

php --ini
brew services list | grep php

That tells you the active config paths and which service is running.

If you want, I can compress this into a 10-line ~/bin/php-sandbox-status script you can run anytime (no magic, just prints status + the key paths).

Need to restart php on restart?

Nope! Because you used the

brew services start command, PHP will start automatically every time you log in or restart your Mac. Homebrew Services creates a background agent (that .plist file we fixed the permissions for) that handles this for you.

How to check if it’s running:

If you ever feel like it’s acting up after a reboot, just run:

bash

brew services list

Use code with caution.

You should see php@8.5 listed as started.

When you WOULD need to run a command:

You only need to manually restart the service if you:

  1. Edit your php.ini: Changes to your config file won’t take effect until you restart.

    bash

    brew services restart php@8.5

    Use code with caution.

  2. Manually stop it: If you use brew services stop php@8.5, it won’t start on the next reboot until you “start” it again.

Quick Tip for Next Time

If you decide to upgrade to PHP 8.6 later, you’ll need to stop the 8.5 service and start the 8.6 one. They can’t both use the same port (usually 9000) at the same time!

Do you want to know where your php.ini file is located so you can tweak your memory or upload limits, or are you ready to start coding?

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