ini_set include_path not working

Question

It seems something on my server has been changed, and I'm seeing the inclusion failed error message on my every website on the server, here is one example:

Warning: require(xconstants_fa.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/blahblah/public_html/fa/companies/ads/index.php on line 26 

And in line 26 it says:

ini_set ("include_path", "../../includes/"); require "xconstants_fa.php"; 

So it's obvious that somehow my server has stopped using the "ini_set" function(because it was just working fine before), I looked into php.ini disable_functions, nothing is there, I commented all the disabled functions and also the open_basedir, not working there.

and if I:

ini_set ("include_path", "../../includes/") or die('ERROR HERE'); 

It echos ERROR HERE on the page

What's happening here? I would appreciate any kind of help.

Answer 1

Your best bet would be to check PHP Error logs as it may explain in more detail what the problem is.

php_admin_value could be set

http://php.net/manual/en/configuration.changes.php

php_admin_value name value Sets the value of the specified directive. This can not be used in .htaccess files. Any directive type set with php_admin_value can not be overridden by .htaccess or ini_set(). To clear a previously set value use none as the value.

suhosin could be installed

http://www.hardened-php.net/suhosin/

sessions could be getting in the way

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11384416/cant-use-ini-set-because-session-is-active

Warning: ini_set() [function.ini-set]: A session is active. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time in C:\xampp\htdocs******.php on line 3