Turn off display errors using file "php.ini"

php

I am trying to turn off all errors on my website. I have followed different tutorials on how to do this, but I keep getting read and open error messages. Is there something I am missing?

I have tried the following in my php.ini file:

;Error display
display_startup_errors = Off
display_errors = Off
html_errors = Off
docref_root = 0
docref_ext = 0

For some reason when I do a fileopen() call for a file which does not exist, I still get the error displayed. This is not safe for a live website, for obvious reasons.

Solution 1:

I always use something like this in a configuration file:

// Toggle this to change the setting
define('DEBUG', true);

// You want all errors to be triggered
error_reporting(E_ALL);

if(DEBUG == true)
{
    // You're developing, so you want all errors to be shown
    display_errors(true);

    // Logging is usually overkill during development
    log_errors(false);
}
else
{
    // You don't want to display errors on a production environment
    display_errors(false);

    // You definitely want to log any occurring
    log_errors(true);
}

This allows easy toggling between debug settings. You can improve this further by checking on which server the code is running (development, test, acceptance, and production) and change your settings accordingly.

Note that no errors will be logged if error_reporting is set to 0, as cleverly remarked by Korri.

Solution 2:

You should consider not displaying your error messages instead!

Set ini_set('display_errors', 'Off'); in your PHP code (or directly into your ini file if possible), and leave error_reporting on E_ALL or whatever kind of messages you would like to find in your logs.

This way you can handle errors later, while your users still don't see them.

Full example:

define('DEBUG', true);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

if (DEBUG)
{
    ini_set('display_errors', 'On');
}
else
{
    ini_set('display_errors', 'Off');
}

Or simply (same effect):

define('DEBUG', true);

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', DEBUG ? 'On' : 'Off');

Solution 3:

In php.ini, comment out:

error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE
error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE | E_STRICT
error_reporting = E_COMPILE_ERROR|E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR|E_ER… _ERROR
error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE

By placing a ; ahead of it (i.e., like ;error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE)

For disabling in a single file, place error_reporting(0); after opening a php tag.

Solution 4:

In file php.ini you should try this for all errors:

error_reporting = off

Solution 5:

Let me quickly summarize this for reference:

error_reporting() adapts the currently active setting for the default error handler.
Editing the error reporting ini options also changes the defaults.
- Here it's imperative to edit the correct php.ini version - it's typically /etc/php5/fpm/php.ini on modern servers, /etc/php5/mod_php/php.ini alternatively; while the CLI version has a distinct one.
- Alternatively you can use depending on SAPI:
  - mod_php: .htaccess with php_flag options
  - FastCGI: commonly a local php.ini
  - And with PHP above 5.3 also a .user.ini
- Restarting the webserver as usual.

If your code is unwieldy and somehow resets these options elsewhere at runtime, then an alternative and quick way is to define a custom error handler that just slurps all notices/warnings/errors up:

set_error_handler(function(){});

Again, this is not advisable, just an alternative.