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How to Update PHP in Linux to any version

Antonio Silva on January 13, 2024

Over time, PHP releases a new version, making the previous ones obsolete. This means that they no longer receive updates or security patches, makin...
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Dogers •

In Debian/Ubuntu, anyway :)

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José Francisco •

Super important info before any upgrade, check your code compatibility, test in your staging site or local environment the version you are going to upgrade, to avoid down time, also if you are using NGINX with PHP-FPM, there is an extra step to do and that is change your site config file to PHP-FPM version you upgrade and restart the service...

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Antonio Silva •

Thank you for the information

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Al Amin •

Helpful post. Liked it.

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Antonio Silva •

I'm glad you found it helpful.

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Simon K •

Thanks for the clear info

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webstuff •

GOOD but how you make the change so that apache or nginx see you changed php?
phpinfo() sometimes will show you the old version

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Antonio Silva •

When you change the PHP version, Apache or Nginx may not immediately recognize the update. This usually happens if the web server is still using an older version of PHP, even though the new one is installed. Here's how to ensure the change is correctly applied:

Steps for Apache

Check the installed PHP versions:

php -v
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Disable the old PHP module:

sudo a2dismod phpX.Y
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Replace X.Y with the version you want to disable (e.g., php7.4).

Enable the new PHP module:

sudo a2enmod phpZ.W
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Replace Z.W with the version you want to enable (e.g., php8.2).

Restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2
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Verify using phpinfo(): Create or update your phpinfo.php file in the web server's document root:

phpinfo();
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Steps for Nginx

Modify the PHP-FPM socket:

Edit the Nginx configuration file (commonly /etc/nginx/sites-available/default) and update the fastcgi_pass directive to point to the new PHP-FPM version socket. For example:

fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
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Restart PHP-FPM service:

sudo systemctl restart phpX.Y-fpm
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Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx
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Verify using phpinfo(): Create or update your phpinfo.php file in the web server's document root:

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Clear browser cache: Sometimes, the browser cache may cause you to see old information. Clear your cache or test in an incognito window.
  • Check CLI vs. server versions: The PHP version in the CLI may differ from the one used by the web server. Use the following to confirm the web server version: 
phpinfo();
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  • Reinstall PHP extensions: Ensure all necessary extensions are installed for the new PHP version.