This is my share on Installing IonCube to your LAMP. Here are some helpful steps to follow:

(STEP 1)
# tar -zxvf ioncube_loaders_lin_x86.tar.gz
# cd ioncube

(STEP 2)
- copy the php ioncube to your server root
# cp ioncube-loader-helper.php
Go to: http://localhost/PATH_/ioncube-loader-helper.php

You should see something like this:

PHP Version ___
Operating System Linux
Threaded PHP No
php.ini file /usr/PATH_/php.ini
Required Loader ioncube_loader_lin_#.#.so

(STEP 3)
- make directory under /usr/local and paste the required .so
# cd /usr/local
# mkdir /ioncube
# cp ioncube_loader_lin_#.#.so /usr/local/ioncube

(STEP 4)
Edit php.ini file:
# gedit /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
OR
# gedit /usr/local/lib/php.ini

- At the end of the code add this
zend_extension = /usr/local/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_#.#.so

Save and Exit

Restart the server by typing:
# /etc/init.d/httpd restart

(STEP 5)
To confirm that ioncube is fully working
Go to: http://localhost/PATH_/ioncube-encoded-file.php

You should see something like this:
This file has been successfully decoded. ionCube Loaders are correctly installed.