Initially posted here : composer/composer#1505 (comment)

I am trying to install Symfony via Composer on a Mediatemple DV Box where i dont have access to php.ini so I followed this tutorial : http://jamieonsoftware.com/journal/2012/10/4/using-composer-on-gs.html

1. Installed composer via :
   curl -s https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -d allow_url_fopen=1 -d suhosin.executor.include.whitelist=phar

2. Aliased composer like so :
   alias composer="php -d memory_limit=512M -d allow_url_fopen=1 -d suhosin.executor.include.whitelist=phar composer.phar"

3. Composer Install throws this error :

Script Sensio\Bundle\DistributionBundle\Composer\ScriptHandler::buildBootstrap handling the post-install-cmd event terminated with an exception

[RuntimeException]
The php executable could not be found, add it to your PATH environment variable and try again

4. php -v seems to give me the proper output :

PHP 5.3.15 with Suhosin-Patch (cli) (built: Aug 9 2012 14:28:41)
Copyright (c) 1997-2012 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2012 Zend Technologies
with Suhosin v0.9.33, Copyright (c) 2007-2012, by SektionEins GmbH

5. As per @Seldaek 's recommendation, alias | grep php only outputs :

alias composer='php -d memory_limit=512M -d allow_url_fopen=1 -d suhosin.executor.include.whitelist=phar composer.phar'