Lighttpd and php on DD-WRT

Busybox httpd is good for simple static pages, now here is a tutorial for installing lighttpd and php with fastcgi support in the router. Here I choose lighttpd over Apache for its light cpu usage and small memory footprint.

Since all our software are based in /opt folder, some modification must be done to get everything working:

1. Install php5 and lighttpd
   To install php5 with fastcgi support, run
   opkg install libsqlite3
   opkg install php5-fastcgi
   opkg install php5-modgd
    
   Along with php5, the popular libgd module is also installed. Copy php.ini to its default location.
   cp /opt/etc/php.ini /etc/php.ini
   
   After that, test php installation by running:
   php-cgi -v
   
   You should see the version info and no warning/error message.
   
   Install lighttpd and some modules
   opkg install lighttpd
   opkg install lighttpd-mod-fastcgi
   opkg install lighttpd-mod-simple-vhost
   
   
2. Modify php.ini
   Edit /etc/php.ini
   Find doc_root = "/www"(or whatever) and change it to doc_root = "/opt/www"
   Find extension_dir = "/usr/lib/php" and change it to extension_dir = "/opt/usr/lib/php"
   Find ;extension=gd.so and remove the leading semicolon, i.e., change it to extension=gd.so
   Find ;date.timezone= , remove the leading semicolon and change it to
   date.timezone = "America/New_York"
   Replace the red part with yours, a full list is available here.
   
   
3. Modify lighttpd.conf
   With our installation, the configuration file for lighttpd is located at /opt/etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf. Edit this file:
   
   First, enable mod_fastcgi and mod_simple_vhost:
   
   
   Then
   find server.document-root  and change its value to "/opt/www"
   
   find #server.port = 81 and change it to server.port = 81
   This will set lighttpd server to listen port 81. If you want to use port 80, make sure to move the DD-WRT's web admin to another port, details here, step 1.
   
   add following at the end of the file:

   fastcgi.server = ( ".php" => ((
                        "bin-path" => "/opt/usr/bin/php-cgi",
                        "socket" => "/tmp/php.socket"
                    )))
   
   

4. Lighttpd startup script
   Create or edit file /opt/etc/init.d/lighttpd with below. Remove any previous contents if its not empty.
   
   

   #!/bin/sh

   source /mnt/root/.profile

   
   BIN=lighttpd
   LOG_D=/var/log/$BIN
   RUN_D=/var/run
   PID_F=$RUN_D/$BIN.pid

   COND=$1
   [ $# -eq 0 ] && COND="start"

   case $COND in
   stop)
     killall lighttpd
     killall php-cgi
     ;;
   start)
     mkdir -p $LOG_D
     mkdir -p $RUN_D
     $BIN -f /opt/etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf -m /opt/usr/lib/lighttpd
     ;;
   *)
     exit 1
   esac

   
   Set it as a service
   chmod a+x /opt/etc/init.d/lighttpd
   ln -s /opt/etc/init.d/lighttpd  /opt/etc/init.d/S80lighttpd
   

5. Test lighttpd server
   First create the home folder
   mkdir /opt/www
   
   Then the test file /opt/www/phpinfo.php with contents below:
   
   <?php
   phpinfo();
   ?>
   
   After that, launch lighttpd
   /opt/etc/init.d/lighttpd
   #to stop the lighttpd server, run /opt/etc/init.d/lighttpd stop
   
   Open browser and navigate to http://router_ip:81/phpinfo.php to check the output.