How to use PHP OPCache?

Installation

OpCache is compiled by default on PHP5.5+. However it is disabled by default. In order to start using OpCache in PHP5.5+ you will first have to enable it. To do this you would have to do the following.

Add the following line to your php.ini:

zend_extension=/full/path/to/opcache.so (nix)
zend_extension=C:\path\to\php_opcache.dll (win)

Note that when the path contains spaces you should wrap it in quotes:

zend_extension="C:\Program Files\PHP5.5\ext\php_opcache.dll"

Also note that you will have to use the zend_extension directive instead of the "normal" extension directive because it affects the actual Zend engine (i.e. the thing that runs PHP).

Usage

Currently there are four functions which you can use:

opcache_get_configuration():

Returns an array containing the currently used configuration OpCache uses. This includes all ini settings as well as version information and blacklisted files.

var_dump(opcache_get_configuration());

opcache_get_status():

This will return an array with information about the current status of the cache. This information will include things like: the state the cache is in (enabled, restarting, full etc), the memory usage, hits, misses and some more useful information. It will also contain the cached scripts.

var_dump(opcache_get_status());

opcache_reset():

Resets the entire cache. Meaning all possible cached scripts will be parsed again on the next visit.

opcache_reset();

opcache_invalidate():

Invalidates a specific cached script. Meaning the script will be parsed again on the next visit.

opcache_invalidate('/path/to/script/to/invalidate.php', true);

Maintenance and reports

There are some GUI's created to help maintain OpCache and generate useful reports. These tools leverage the above functions.

OpCacheGUI

Disclaimer I am the author of this project

Features:

• OpCache status
• OpCache configuration
• OpCache statistics
• OpCache reset
• Cached scripts overview
• Cached scripts invalidation
• Multilingual
• Mobile device support
• Shiny graphs

Screenshots:

URL: https://github.com/PeeHaa/OpCacheGUI

opcache-status

Features:

• OpCache status
• OpCache configuration
• OpCache statistics
• Cached scripts overview
• Single file

Screenshot:

URL: https://github.com/rlerdorf/opcache-status

opcache-gui

Features:

• OpCache status
• OpCache configuration
• OpCache statistics
• OpCache reset
• Cached scripts overview
• Cached scripts invalidation
• Automatic refresh

Screenshot:

URL: https://github.com/amnuts/opcache-gui