Install Phalcon PHP on cPanel with EasyApache 4

Updated: 4 November 2026 · Applies to: cPanel and WHM with EasyApache 4 (PHP 8.1 to 8.3), Phalcon 5.23

On a cPanel server, install Phalcon as root in WHM: Software › Module Installers › PHP PECL › Manage, choose the PHP version (for example ea-php83), enter phalcon and click Install Now. On shared hosting with CloudLinux, tick phalcon in cPanel under Select PHP Version › Extensions instead. Phalcon 5 is a PHP framework delivered as a C extension and needs PHP 8.1 or newer.

This guide is for cPanel servers. For a server without cPanel (Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux), see Install Phalcon on Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

Install from WHM (server root)

1. Log in to WHM as root.
2. Open Software › Module Installers and click Manage next to PHP PECL.
3. Choose the PHP version your sites use, such as ea-php83.
4. Type phalcon in Install a PHP PECL and click Install Now.
5. Repeat for every PHP version that needs Phalcon.

The build compiles Phalcon from source and needs a lot of memory. On our Ubuntu 24.04 test server the same PECL build ran for over an hour on one CPU and was still stopped by the out-of-memory killer with 3 GB of memory plus 1 GB of swap. Plan for more than 4 GB of free memory (memory plus swap) and run it when the server is quiet.

Install from SSH (server root)

The same install for PHP 8.3 from the command line:

/opt/cpanel/ea-php83/root/usr/bin/pecl install phalcon

Then restart PHP-FPM so websites load the extension:

/scripts/restartsrv_apache_php_fpm

Check that it works

List the loaded modules for that PHP version:

/opt/cpanel/ea-php83/root/usr/bin/php -m | grep -i phalcon

Print the Phalcon version:

/opt/cpanel/ea-php83/root/usr/bin/php -r 'echo (new Phalcon\Support\Version())->get(), PHP_EOL;'

It prints the installed version, for example:

5.23.0

To check what a website really loads, create a file with <?php phpinfo(); in its folder, open it in the browser, search for "phalcon", then delete the file.

Shared hosting (cPanel account, CloudLinux)

1. In cPanel, open Software › Select PHP Version.
2. Choose a PHP version of 8.1 or newer.
3. Open Extensions and tick phalcon. The change applies at once.

If Select PHP Version is not there, the server does not use CloudLinux and only the server owner can install extensions.

If the build fails

• Out of memory or killed ("Killed signal terminated program cc1"): the compiler ran out of memory. Add swap or move to a plan with more memory, then try again.
• Missing headers or compiler: the PECL installer needs the PHP development files and gcc; WHM installs these with the PHP version in EasyApache 4.
• PHP 8.0 or older: Phalcon 5 does not support it. Switch the site to PHP 8.1 or newer in MultiPHP Manager first.

On Ucartz shared and reseller hosting you cannot install server software yourself. If an extension is not offered in Select PHP Version, open a ticket and our support team will check it for you.