PHP get file outside of document root

here is my project structure:

Web root/document root:

/var/www/ all the website files in the the 'www' folder

I want to use require or include a file inside my folder OUTSIDE the web root/document root:

/var/extra-files

how can i get a file inside the extra-files folder using require or include?

require "OUTSIDE DOCUMENT ROOT/extra-files

thanks

Solution

First make sure apache as permission to read the files on /var/extra-files, then you can use:

require "/var/extra-files/file.php";