<p>I fixed this by adding the PDO extensions in to my php.ini which was overriding the server one.</p>

<pre><code>extension = "pdo.so"
extension = "pdo_sqlite.so"
extension = "apc.so"
extension = "intl.so"
extension = "pdo_mysql.so"
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T15:36:36.917Z
Weird that it overrides... you'd think it's merge any parent values.
Brad Bell
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T15:35:53.100Z
2016-04-13T15:35:53.100Z
David Teal
<p>I'm trying to use php.ini to increase memory_limit etc on my site. An empty php.ini causes the front end to crash throwing a "Service Unavailable" error and the CP to throw the error "Craft requires the PDO extension to operate."</p>

<p>The server allows for php.ini files to be used. There is no craft/storage/logs/phperrors.log file and the PHP and apache logs don't seem to show anything.</p>

<p>Another user had the similar issue here but there doesn't seem to be a fix posted that works: <a href="https://craftcms.stackexchange.com/questions/11785/adding-php-ini-file-to-root-crashes-site">Adding php.ini file to root crashes site</a></p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T15:22:32.423Z
Can't you simply edit the default php.ini instead?
jlcharette
<error>
php.ini crashes CP with "Craft requires the PDO extension to operate."
# php.ini crashes CP with "Craft requires the PDO extension to operate."

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-13)

I'm trying to use php.ini to increase memory\_limit etc on my site. An empty php.ini causes the front end to crash throwing a "Service Unavailable" error and the CP to throw the error "Craft requires the PDO extension to operate."

The server allows for php.ini files to be used. There is no craft/storage/logs/phperrors.log file and the PHP and apache logs don't seem to show anything.

Another user had the similar issue here but there doesn't seem to be a fix posted that works: [Adding php.ini file to root crashes site](https://craftcms.stackexchange.com/questions/11785/adding-php-ini-file-to-root-crashes-site)

Thanks!

**Tags:** error
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Can't you simply edit the default php.ini instead?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2016-04-13. Score: 1

I fixed this by adding the PDO extensions in to my php.ini which was overriding the server one.
extension = "pdo.so"
extension = "pdo_sqlite.so"
extension = "apc.so"
extension = "intl.so"
extension = "pdo_mysql.so"

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Weird that it overrides... you'd think it's merge any parent values.  

---

