Im new to linux and its been a steep learning curve but im stuck and was hoping someone could clear it up.

I have apache and php installed but php wont load any of the extensions and it reports that each on could not be loaded because of an undefined symbol.

I noticed building from source seems to be a common activity on linux and absent from windows. Do i need to recompile these extensions from the php source. I can jus try it but im just guessing and going in circles.

you can have a look at https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:mi...t_on_slackware

thing is, its no good mentioning problem without posting details of problem .

Welcome to LinuxQuestions.

What linux distribution/version are you running?

You might not of installed all the necessary modules to run your php script. It will help to understand what you are trying to accomplish.

It depends on the distribution but the package repository i.e the place where you download programs should have the missing modules and you should not have to build anything from source but it again depends on what you are trying ot accomplish.

Im using kali linux and i actually never installed php it was already installed with linux and upgraded to 7.3. I was actually trying to install phpmyadmin from the repository. After getting an xdebug error because mbstrings is not installed and not in the extensions dir, i downloaded php-mbstring and that was also from the repository. After downloading php-mbstrings without any luck i checked the error log for apache2 in var/log folder it showed that none of the modules were loaded in fact. Curl.so ftp.so mbstrings.so etc. The extension dir is correct and the .so files are all there but because of the error that there is an undefined symbol it can load any of them.

Ahem. Using Kali Linux? PLEASE READ!!.

After you've read that, please read https://wiki.debian.org/PHP.

Long explanation short: Stop. Kali is not a server distro.
Also, you are a newbie and therefore by definition not a Kali user.

Not so common anymore, and no, you probably (99%) don't need to.

To install modules of the same version

sudo apt install php7.3-mbstrings

But as posted kali is not a beginner distribution.

Indeed. Please see the link in post #5. The question is really about using the right tool for the job. The short version is that Kali is for a specific purpose and that purpose is penetration testing and not setting up a web server or running a desktop.

I would highly recommend choosing a more general-purpose desktop-oriented distro like Manjaro or Linux Mint. Then if you are interested in penetration testing, add the pieces from Kali that you plan to learn one at a time. As you master one, then add the next from the distro's official repository. That's the faster, easier way to learn. Furthermore, setting up a web server with Apache2 and PHP is much easier and more practical on Manjaro or Linux Mint. Those distros also pretty much an average system and therefore you will have a larger pool of people who can and will help. With Kali, there are few who can help and fewer that will help a beginner try to shoehorn it into an out-of-spec activity.

Building from source is a very rare activity for most distros. You'll find the official repositories of the general-purpose distros well-stocked with applications and languages. Quick links:

• Manjaro
• Linux Mint