How To Install PHP IMAP on Ubuntu Server 16: E: Unable to Locate Package php5-imap

In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of installing PHP IMAP on Ubuntu Server 16. This article is especially useful if you’ve encountered the error: “E: Unable to Locate Package php5-imap”.

Introduction

IMAP, or Internet Message Access Protocol, is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve messages from a mail server. PHP IMAP is an extension that allows you to retrieve and send email messages using PHP scripts. However, the package php5-imap is not available in the default repositories of Ubuntu Server 16, which might cause the error message mentioned above.

Understanding the Error

The error “E: Unable to Locate Package php5-imap” is usually encountered when you try to install php5-imap on Ubuntu Server 16. This happens because the php5-imap package is not available in the default repositories.

The Solution

The solution to this issue involves two steps:

1. Install php7.0-imap if you’re using PHP 7.
2. If you specifically need PHP 5, install php5.6-intl.

Installing php7.0-imap

To install php7.0-imap, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get install php7.0-imap

Here, sudo is used to execute the command with root privileges. apt-get is the package handling utility in Ubuntu. install is the command to install a new package, and php7.0-imap is the package name.

Installing php5.6-intl

If you need PHP 5.6, you can install php5.6-intl using the following command:

sudo apt-get install php5.6-intl

Again, sudo is used to execute the command with root privileges. apt-get is the package handling utility in Ubuntu. install is the command to install a new package, and php5.6-intl is the package name.

Adding a Personal Package Archive (PPA)

If you’re still unable to locate the package, you might need to add a PPA to your system. A PPA, or Personal Package Archive, is a software repository for uploading source packages to be built and published as an APT repository by Launchpad.

The PPA ppa:ondrej/php is often recommended for PHP related packages. To add this PPA, execute the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

After adding the PPA, you can try installing the desired package again.

Restarting Apache

After installing any PHP extension, it’s important to restart Apache for the changes to take effect. You can do this using the following command:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Here, sudo is used to execute the command with root privileges. systemctl is a system and service manager for Linux. restart is the command to restart a service, and apache2 is the service name.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve covered how to install PHP IMAP on Ubuntu Server 16 and how to handle the error “E: Unable to Locate Package php5-imap”. We’ve discussed how to install php7.0-imap or php5.6-intl depending on your PHP version, how to add a PPA to your system, and the importance of restarting Apache after installing any PHP extension.

Remember, understanding the commands you’re executing and the packages you’re installing is crucial to maintaining a secure and efficient server. Always ensure you’re installing packages from trusted sources.