PECL should ship with PHP on OSX 10.6. If not, it may be a part if the development libraries packaged with OSX's install disc. You can identify if it's installed by typing the following in your Terminal.app (should return a path).
which pecl If your unable to find PECL
Sometimes it's easier to re-install PHP. Look into macports, or homebrew. Both package managers ship the latest PHP5 (including PECL).
Verify PECL is working
Updated your local database with the latest packages, and install a simple package (like bbcode.)
sudo pecl channel-update pecl.php.net sudo pecl install bbcode Install a PECL package without PECL
This is hit-n-miss depending on the package. To install a PECL package manully, you would follow the traditional ./configure, make, and make install process.
# Download the package curl -O http://pecl.php.net/get/bbcode-1.0.3b1.tgz # Extract archive tar zvxf bbcode-1.0.3b1.tgz # Change directory cd bbcode-1.0.3b1 # Apply local php settings phpize # Run configuration script ./configure # Compile make # Verify build make test # Install on system sudo make install