PHP .ini

So I'm sure this has been up here a lot, but I was hoping for some help. I've reviewed the wiki page on how to setup your own .ini file to change the .ini settings.

I have very limited knowledge of UNIX, and so I'm kind of scared of installing my own PHP setup then losing complete access to PHP on my website(s).

For the commands, if I don't have an indepth knowledge of UNIX, am I likely to screw up my website? I have basic knowledge as well as a good understanding of general coding. Also, the commands listed on the wiki are all done through SSH?

I would appreciate any help. I am desperately trying to shut off magic_quotes and to increase the file upload size.

Sure, you can mess things up if you make mistakes. Only you know how big a problem it would be for you. Some say don't try if you're not sure. Others say mistakes are learning experiences.

Jesus saves and backs up.

Don't use rm -rf carelessly. :-)

The best way of doing this is to do a test. Create a "fully-hosted" subdomain and then give it a whirl on that. If you are successful, you can do it for your main domain and then delete the subdomain when you are done.

-- si-blog --

So maybe I'm just not smart about this, but when I tried to connect to my host via SSH, it says it only accepts FTP connections... how do I put in UNIX commands then?

You need to login to the Control Panel and give SSH access to the user who is going to be playing in the Shell. These wiki articles will help you:

1. Enabling Shell Access
2. SSH
3. PuTTY
4. UNIX commands

-- si-blog --

So one problem to another... I got that part working fine down to the .htaccess... I use CuteFTP and when i enable remote filtering for '-a' all my files disappear...