How to install PHP Ncurses on Debian

Short note on how to install PHP Ncurses on Debian. This post assumes root level access.

Install pear and the and ncurses development packages:

apt-get update apt-get install -y php-pear apt-get install -y php5-dev apt-get install -y ncurses-dev apt-get install -y libncursesw5-dev

Install PHP ncurses (hit return on any prompts):

sudo pecl install ncurses

Edit /etc/php5/cli/php.ini and register the new extension by adding the following in the “; Dynamic Extensions ;” part:

extension=ncurses.so

To verify your install issue:

php -i | grep -i ncurses

Should output something similar to:

ncurses ncurses support => enabled ncurses library version => x.x