ionCube24

What is ionCube24 and how does it work?

ionCube24 is a three-part suite for monitoring service availability and performance, ensuring security and protection against malware, and capture of PHP and JavaScript errors.

Monitoring is performed every minute by testing the time it takes to connect and receive a response. Alerts are raised for error conditions, and both real-time and historical charts are available to view performance trends. Common services such as Website, DNS, SMTP can be monitored, with a choice of regions of the world to connect from.

PHP errors in website and CLI code are captured with a PHP extension, so no code changes are required, and JavaScript errors are captured by adding a script tag to web pages. Errors can be easily viewed, filtered and prioritised via the ionCube24 web interface.

ionCube24 keeps websites secure by blocking files added or modified on the server after security is enabled, and sends notifications when new or modified PHP files are detected. As some websites may routinely generate new files, file blocking is switched off by default to avoid accidental blocking and behaviour to be monitored. Enabling and disabling of security, blocking behaviour, whitelisting and whether files are blocked or unblocked can all be controlled via the web interface. Security can also be managed via an API.

How do I install and setup ionCube24?

After creating an account and logging in, the next step is to add a Server item and then your first Domain. The server could be named based on where you host your website, e.g. GoDaddy. The domain will be the domain name of your website. The current ionCube24 features of intrusion protection and error reporting use a plugin to PHP called the ionCube Loader. This is widely used and may be installed already, but if not your hosting provider should be able to assist. We can also give assistance. You will be guided through the necessary steps to get setup when you add your first domain.

Will ionCube24 slow down my website?

Our performance tests have not shown any impact, and if your site already uses the ionCube Loader then enabling ionCube24 may actually improve performance. This is because ionCube24 eliminates the need for the Loader to check whether a file has been secured by the ionCube PHP Encoder every time it is accessed.

Can I request features?

Sure, we are always interested to hear about features that could help your business run smoother. Whether it's a request for something that we don't offer right now, a change to an existing feature or comments on how an active dev feature is shaping up, do get in touch.

How can I uninstall ionCube24?

You can disable ionCube24 on the ionCube Loader by setting the entry ic24.enable to 0 in your php.ini file:

ic24.enable = 0

This will disable ionCube24, while leaving the ionCube Loader intact. Should you wish to uninstall the ionCube Loader, you can remove the relevant zend_extension entry pointing to your ionCube Loader files from your php.ini, as well as remove any ionCube Loader files from your system.

My Web Server is not accessible from the Internet. Can I still use ionCube24?

Not currently because our servers must communicate with your Web Server when you make configuration changes. However, if you can give permission to access port 80 for our IP addresses, and if your server can connect back to our servers, it could be used.

Frequently Asked Questions