How to Switch between Multiple PHP Version on Debian 9

    RahulBy 2 Mins ReadUpdated:

    On your system, if you have installed multiple versions of PHP (eg PHP 7.2, 7.1 and 5.6). PHP 7.2 is running as default PHP for Apache and CLI. For any requirement, you need to use PHP 5.6. Then you don’t need to remove PHP 7.2. You can simply switch your PHP version to default used for Apache and command line.

    We assume you have installed multiple PHP version on your Debian system. Now you need to switch the active PHP version for CLI and Apache2. This tutorial will help you to switch between multiple PHP versions for Apache server and CLI on Debian.

    Here are two examples for PHP 7.2 and PHP 5.6. You can use the same for other PHP versions by changes commands accordingly.

    Enable PHP 7.2 as Default

    You need to set PHP 7.2 as your active PHP version for CLI and Apache2 both. You can do this by disabling Apache2 modules for all other installed PHP versions and configure CLI using the update-alternatives command. Run the following commands to make changes.

    Apache:-

    sudo a2dismod php5.6 php7.1 php7.0   ## Shows error for modules not installed 
sudo a2enmod php7.2
sudo service apache2 restart

    Command Line:-

    sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php7.2
sudo update-alternatives --set phar /usr/bin/phar7.2
sudo update-alternatives --set phar.phar /usr/bin/phar.phar7.2
sudo update-alternatives --set phpize /usr/bin/phpize7.2
sudo update-alternatives --set php-config /usr/bin/php-config7.2

    Note – The phpize7.2 and php-config7.2 command is available in php7.2-dev package. This is more useful for compiling PHP modules using pecl.

    Enable PHP 5.6 as Default

    You need to set PHP 5.6 as your default version for CLI and Apache2 both. Run the following commands to disable other PHP versions like (php7.2, php7.1, or php7.0 etc) for Apache and command line.

    Apache:-

    sudo a2dismod php7.2 php7.1 php7.0    ## Shows error for modules not installed 
sudo a2enmod php5.6
sudo service apache2 restart

    Command Line:-

    sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php5.6
sudo update-alternatives --set phar /usr/bin/phar5.6
sudo update-alternatives --set phar.phar /usr/bin/phar.phar5.6 
sudo update-alternatives --set phpize /usr/bin/phpize5.6
sudo update-alternatives --set php-config /usr/bin/php-config5.6

    Note – The phpize5.6 and php-config5.6 command is available in php5.6-dev package. This is more useful for compiling PHP modules using pecl.

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    10 Comments

    3. Karla on

      This is a great post, Rahul.
      Thank you for sharing. Just the process I have been looking for after upgrading from 7.2 to 7.4, my php -v shows 7.4, but my phpinfo() is still using 7.2!

      Reply
        • Rahul on

          Apache instruction will change PHP for web server only. And command line instruction will change for command line only.

          So change php version as per your server requirements.

          Reply
          • florian on

            hi there and thanks a lot, just after applying update-alternatives my custom php app is not working on phpinfo() ; ?> I don’t see anymore a PHP output.

            Any solution to that?

            Reply
          • florian on

            hi there and thanks a lot, just after applying update-alternatives my custom php app is not working on phpinfo() ; ?> I don’t see anymore a PHP output. Debian 9, on alternatives do we change the path?

            Any solution to that?

            Reply
    5. Jimmy on

      Thanks, great tutorial. I needed to change the CLI PHP version without forcing the change to affect Apache / Nginx

      Reply
    6. Rüdiger on

      Thank you very much, Rahul, this article is most helpful. In fact, it cured at least one of my headaches.
      Best regards,
      Rüdiger

      Reply

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