When I try to install php 5.3 stable from source on Ubuntu (downloading compressed installation file from http://www.php.net/downloads.php) and I run ./configure
I
Ubuntu, Debian:
sudo apt install libxml2-dev
Centos:
sudo yum install libxml2-devel
All you need to do instal install package libxml2-dev for example:
sudo apt-get install libxml2-dev
On CentOS/RHEL:
sudo yum install libxml2-devel
I had the same issue when I used a DockerFile. My Docker is based on the php:5.5-apache image.
I got that error when executing the command "RUN docker-php-ext-install soap"
I have solved it by adding the following command to my DockerFile
"RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libxml2-dev"
For the latest versions it is needed to install libxml++2.6-dev like that:
apt-get install libxml++2.6-dev
this solution it gonna be ok on Redhat 8.0
sudo yum install libxml2-devel
OpenSuse
"sudo zypper install libxml2-devel"
It will install any other dependencies or required packages/libraries