PHP Session - Where Are the Session Values Stored

When a value is saved into the current session by one PHP page, the PHP engine must stored this value somewhere on Web server, so that the PHP engine can retrieve it back when same visitor comes back to request another PHP page.

Where are the session values stored on the Web server? The answer depends on the setting named, session.save_path, in the PHP engine configuration file. If session.save_path = "/temp", session values will be stored in special files, one file per session, in the /temp directory on the Web server.

If you re-run the first_page.php and next_page.php scripts presented in the previous tutorials, you can find a special file named like: \temp\sess_r66hq1bcg8o79e5i5gd52p26g3. If you open this file, you will see:

MyLogin|s:9:"FYICenter";MyColor|s:4:"Blue";

Now you know that session values are stored on the Web server as text files, and values are formatted with value names and lengths.