Compiling shared PECL extensions with the pecl command

PECL makes it easy to create shared PHP extensions. Using the » pecl command, do the following:

 $ pecl install extname    

This will download the source for extname, compile, and install extname.so into your extension_dir. extname.so may then be loaded via php.ini

By default, the pecl command will not install packages that are marked with the alpha or beta state. If no stable packages are available, you may install a beta package using the following command:

 $ pecl install extname-beta    

You may also install a specific version using this variant:

 $ pecl install extname-0.1    

Note: After enabling the extension in php.ini, restarting the web service is required for the changes to be picked up.