Activate Full WAF on Hetzner Webhosting with PHP 8

Can you add the directive for PHP 8 to your .htaccess and then run the troubleshooter script:
https://nintechnet.com/share/wp-check.txt

Hey, I just did that. Here’s the relevant part (I masked the paths with […]):

HTTP server	:	Apache
PHP version	:	8.2.23
PHP SAPI	:	CGI-FCGI

auto_prepend_file	:	none
.htninja	:	found in […]/.htninja
wp-config.php	:	found in […]/wp-config.php
NinjaFirewall detection	:	NinjaFirewall WP Edition is loaded (WordPress WAF mode)

Loaded INI file	:	/home/httpd/php82-ini/[…]/php.ini
user_ini.filename	:	none
user_ini.cache_ttl	:	300 seconds
User PHP INI	:	php.ini found -
 	 	 
DOCUMENT_ROOT	:	[…]
ABSPATH	:	[…]
WordPress version	:	6.6.2
WP_CONTENT_DIR	: […]/wp-content
Plugins directory	:	[…]/wp-content/plugins
User Role	:	Administrator
User Capabilities	:	manage_options: OK - unfiltered_html: OK
Log dir permissions	:	[…]/wp-content/nfwlog dir is writable
Cache dir permissions	:	[…]/wp-content/nfwlog/cache dir is writable

Can you ask your host how/where to add the PHP auto_prepend_file directive? That’s very odd that it stopped working with PHP 8. Or maybe there’s a new option in your hosting admin panel where you can add the directive?

I created a ticket and just received a response that Hetzner can manually set this in the PHP.ini for each account. I also asked if there’s any way to make the change myself, but haven’t received an answer on that yet. Creating a support ticket with Hetzner for each site is a bit tedious. I’ll post an update here once Hetzner gets back to me.

I just received the response. Hetzner no longer uses mod_php (at least not from PHP 8 onwards). The setting simply needs to be added without the “IfModule mod_phpX.c” directive ??

Just write it like

# BEGIN NinjaFirewall
php_value auto_prepend_file "[…]/wp-content/nfwlog/ninjafirewall.php"
# END NinjaFirewall

Can you please tell me where it should be inserted? .htaccess or php.ini?

Will it then also work with PHP 8.x?

Thank you!

Just put it in the .htaccess without the “IfModule mod_phpX.c” directive. I’m currently using it with PHP 8.2 and 8.3

Thank you very much for your feedback. Unfortunately, I haven’t managed it yet. What do I actually have to select here?

@euronur, select the first one (Apache + PHP7 module).

Consider updating your PHP to a supported version (8.3+), as you appear to be running an old 7.x version that is no longer supported.

Your support was worth its weight in gold. I found out that another plugin does not support PHP 8.x and caused the error message. In retrospect I can say: NinjaFirewall runs with PHP 8.4 in Full WAF mode without any problems. Thank you! ??

No question, just a big thank you to @agssl for posting the information about Hetzner and the mod_phpX.c.

I was about to install NinjaFirewall on a Hetzner server and had the same issues, but this thread and your answer solved it <3