When using the LSAPI handler via CloudLinux or LiteSpeed, the php.ini path or settings within the php.ini will not update

Symptoms

If you are using the LSAPI Handler provided by LiteSpeed or mod_lsapi provided by CloudLinux, you may notice that changes to the php.ini path or to the php.ini file settings do not take effect.

Description 

The LSAPI handler makes use of what LiteSpeed refers to as PHP Detached Mode. When PHP is run in detached mode, the detached PHP processes must be restarted to see changes to the php.ini path or any changes within the php.ini file.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you'll need to force the detached php processes to restart. How you do this is different depending on the variant of LSAPI in use.

LiteSpeed Webserver:

LiteSpeed specifically actively monitors certain files for changes to the timestamps, so touching the files is like sending a direct command to LiteSpeed.

• You can restart the detached PHP processes of all users by touching the following file:

  touch /usr/local/lsws/admin/tmp/.lsphp_restart.txt

• You can restart the processes for a single user by touching the following file:

  touch /home/CPANELUSERNAME/.lsphp_restart.txt

CloudLinux mod_lsapi with Apache:

Similar to LiteSpeed, the lsapi module monitors the following file for changes:

touch /home/CPANELUSERNAME/mod_lsapi_reset_me

Additional Information

LiteSpeed Wiki - Detached PHP Mode