How to Install and Configure PHP Event Extension with libevent on Linux

PHP Event is a PHP extension that enables event‑driven programming, allowing developers to create, listen to, and handle events for asynchronous servers, real‑time communication, and long‑running tasks.

Dependencies

libevent library : a lightweight, high‑performance, cross‑platform event notification library that abstracts OS‑specific I/O multiplexing mechanisms.

OpenSSL library : a full‑featured cryptographic toolkit used for secure communication.

Installation

Install libevent

Check whether libevent is already installed: ls -al /usr/lib | grep libevent Download the source package:

wget https://github.com/libevent/libevent/releases/download/release-2.1.12-stable/libevent-2.1.12-stable.tar.gz

Extract the archive: tar -zxvf libevent-2.1.12-stable.tar.gz Configure the installation directory and compile:

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/libevent-2.1.12
make && make install

Verify the installation:

ls -al /usr/local/ | grep libevent

Install PHP Event extension

Official PECL package: http://pecl.php.net/package/event

Download the latest release: wget http://pecl.php.net/get/event-3.1.0.tgz Extract the package: tar -zxvf event-3.1.0.tgz Prepare the build environment:

cd event-3.1.0.0
/usr/local/php-8.3.1/bin/phpize

Configure the extension, linking it with the previously installed libevent:

./configure --with-php-config=/usr/local/php-8.3.1/bin/php-config \
    --with-event-libevent-dir=/usr/local/libevent-2.1.12/

Use --with-event-libevent-dir to specify the libevent directory.

Compile and install:

make
sudo make install

Add the extension to php.ini:

extension=event.so

sudo vim /usr/local/php-8.3.1/etc/php.ini

Verify the installation from the command line:

/usr/local/php-8.3.1/bin/php -m | grep event
# output: event

Confirm the extension works in a browser by creating a PHP script that uses the Event functions (screenshot omitted).