Joomla does not read custom php.ini

Question

I placed a custom php.ini file in my public_html folder:

Now browsing example.com/phpinfo.php says the new config works:

However, Joomla's still not using the new config. When you go to Joomla's Admin area > Site > System Information > PHP Information it still says 2M.

Any ideas why?

Answer 1

This link stipulates that the 6th block on the PHP Information page (shown in your question) displays the path to the php.ini used by the Joomla installation.

Link: http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?t=350630

A good point mentionned again in the Joomla forum post from the link is that if you're on a shared host, you typically don't have access to the php.ini file. Still, someone mentionned this:

You can create php.ini at Joomla Directory. I do it usually.

Perhaps you can try that alternative? Is your public_html folder the top level Joomla installation folder?

EDIT: Someone mentionned that he had the same exact problem you have (upload size), and this is what he did:

I found that my host said that the php.ini need to be where the script was ran. In this case for media manager it had a limit of 2mb. Reason for this was uploading large files Acrobat PDF I simply place a php.ini file into the administration folder of Joomla 1.5. Upon this PHP recognized the new php settings. Here are the php.ini file i created:

 register_globals = Off  
 upload_max_filesize = 30M  
 post_max_size = 30M 
 memory_limit = 30M  
 upload_tmp_dir = 30M  
 max_execution_time = 180

Again coming from the Joomla forums post in the provided link. You can replace the 30M with whatever value you need.

Answer 2

Joomla overrides it with its own setting. You can change it under Admin area > Site > Global config > system > Maximum Size (under Media).

Answer 3

If your server is running php as cgi (or speedy cgi, fcgi, etc) then local php.ini files are probably only valid within their specific folder, the settings do not cascade to sub-folders.

This would explain differences between front-end behaviour and /administrator/ behaviour within your website.

Try copying your php.ini file to your /administrator/ folder - that usually fixes things.