Php/docs/configuration.file.per-user
.user.ini files
Since PHP 5.3.0, PHP includes support for configuration INI files on a
per-directory basis. These files are processed only by
the CGI/FastCGI SAPI. This functionality obsoletes the PECL htscanner
extension. If you are running PHP as Apache module, use .htaccess
files for the same
effect.
In addition to the main php.ini
file, PHP scans for INI files in each
directory, starting with the directory of the requested PHP file, and
working its way up to the current document root (as set in
$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']
). In case the PHP file is
outside the document root, only its directory is scanned.
Only INI settings with the
modes PHP_INI_PERDIR
and
PHP_INI_USER
will be recognized in .user.ini-style INI
files.
Two new INI directives, user_ini.filename and user_ini.cache_ttl control the use of user INI files.
user_ini.filename sets the name of the file PHP looks for
in each directory; if set to an empty string, PHP doesn't scan at all. The
default is .user.ini
.
user_ini.cache_ttl controls how often user INI files are re-read. The default is 300 seconds (5 minutes).