Snuffleupagus package?

[joshg]

My hosting company is saying Snuffleupagus package is for PHP 7, not 8, and can't be installed on my shared server plan.
my admin panel is reporting "no" for Snuffleupagus.
Can anyone tell me what this package is and why i might need it for Xenforo?

 

[Ozzy47]

Snuffleupagus is not actually a requirement. In actual fact, it’s usually better if it’s off. The server environment report is for support and troubleshooting purposes. This entry is there because sometimes if it’s enabled and not configured correctly, it will cause problems.

So the recommendation is to keep it disabled.

 

[Sim]

I've never heard of it before and do not have it enabled on any of my servers running XF. It is not listed as part of the requirements.

A quick google reveals the following: https://github.com/jvoisin/snuffleupagus

It's a security module for PHP7 and PHP8

Just ignore it - it is not required.

 

[joshg]

Thanks for fast responses. Glad to know i shouldn't need it.
Can't recall why i had it enabled on my previous host... possibly there are some add-ons that needed it?

 

[Ozzy47]

I don’t believe any addon would have that as a requirement, but anything is possible.

 

[joshg]

Thanks! Are Exif, Gmp, Intl packages necessary or helpful? They were also installed at my previous host but were defaulted off at my new hosting company before I had them turned on since that AdminCP area was reporting them as "NO" status.

 

[Ozzy47]

EXIF information is essentially metadata and embedded in the image.

gmp support is required for push notifications.

INTL provides more robust handling for removing accents and romanizing strings. This is likely of greater importance for non-English users

 

[joshg]

Great, thanks as always @Ozzy47 !

 

[80sDude]

 

[Telesphoreo]

I have Snuffleupagus enabled on my server that runs XenForo. There is even a configuration file that was specifically designed for XenForo: https://github.com/jvoisin/snuffleupagus/blob/master/config/xenforo.rules

I do recommend using it as it greatly improves the security of PHP. I've never had any issues with it, have been running it since around May 2024. Unfortunately there are no packages for it in Debian. You'll have to compile it yourself but it's easy. Install php8.3-dev and then run make debian in the directory of the source code. Their documentation is pretty good overall and I recommend it for any system administrator in general.