Noob question about installing mcrypt PHP module [solved]

There are several different instructions on that page, and we don't know what instructions you followed or what distro you're using. Providing more information would be helpful! :)

On Ubuntu, I did something like "sudo apt-get install php5-mcrypt", and it worked great! :)

OK, my configuration seems to be "Latest 64 bit (3.11.6-x86_64-linode35)", according to my Linode Manager. It is a server running nginx + varnish. Let me know if you want more info.

I just logged into SSH as 'root' user. Entered:

sudo apt-get install php5-mcrypt

And got an error saying:

-bash: sudo: command not found

Still no idea what distro you're using. You could retry the command, but omit the sudo. ;)

I just tried this command, which I believe identifies my disto. (Please confirm/deny)

cat /etc/issue 
Debian GNU/Linux 7 \n \l

I tried the command without the sudo. Here's the output:

Get:1 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main libltdl7 amd64 2.4.2-1.1 [352 kB]
Get:2 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main libmcrypt4 amd64 2.5.8-3.1 [83.2 kB]
Err http://packages.dotdeb.org/ wheezy-php55/all php5-mcrypt amd64 5.5.1-1~dotdeb.1
  404  Not Found
Fetched 435 kB in 0s (797 kB/s)                        
Failed to fetch http://packages.dotdeb.org/dists/wheezy-php55/php5/binary-amd64/php5-mcrypt_5.5.1-1~dotdeb.1_amd64.deb  404  Not Found
E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing?

php5-mcrypt5.5.1-1 doesn't exist, but php5-mcrypt5.5.5-1 sure seems to.

Did you try "apt-get update" to see if that fixed it? Then try the install command again.

Hey, that seems to have moved things along! However, I am getting the following message in terminal:

> Configuration file `/etc/php5/fpm/pool.d/www.conf'

==> Deleted (by you or by a script) since installation.

==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.

What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:

Y or I : install the package maintainer's version

N or O : keep your currently-installed version

D : show the differences between the versions

Z : start a shell to examine the situation

The default action is to keep your current version.

Any advice?

I always hit "N" (except for those rare times I hit "Y"), so I'd hit "N" in this case, too. Your mileage may vary…

Well, that worked successfully!

As a result, my WordPress plugin (with the mcrypt dependency) is now working fine.

Thank you internet stranger dcraig! You are a generous person!