How to Enable PHP-SOAP Extension – Guide

European commission is now using SOAP service for VIES VAT validation. In order to validate VAT numbers on your website by using any of our VAT validation extensions, you would need to activate PHP-SOAP extension on your webserver.

Here is how to activate PHP-SOAP on your server if it’s not already installed and active.

Dedicated Unix Server

If you are server administrator, you will need to log into terminal (SSH) and proceed to begin installing soap.

Ubuntu: Run “apt-get install php-soap” and restart your web server.
Debian: Run “apt-get install php5-soap” and restart your web server.
Centos: Run “yum install php5-soap” and restart your web server.

If none of those work, we recommend reaching out to your dedicated server support team for help.

Shared Server (Hosting)

Your best bet is to ask the hosting company to enable php-soap if your website is hosted on a shared plan. If you have Cpanel access, you might be able to install PHP-SOAP from the PHP Configuration section. This setting may not be available on all servers, so it’s recommended to reach out to your server provider or look for any available documentation by the server team to install PHP-SOAP.

Windows Servers

If your website is hosted on a Windows server, it’s likely that the PHP-SOAP files already exist on your web server, though they might not be activated. To activate the extension, locate the file php.ini and look for a line beginning with “soap”; remove the ; so it reads “extension=php_soap.dll”. Save php.ini after doing so, then restart your web server. You may find more instructions here.

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