PHP Version Management

Manage PHP versions for your sites with svp.

Overview

svp supports multiple PHP versions with:

✅ PHP 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1
✅ Per-domain PHP versions
✅ Easy version switching
✅ Isolated PHP-FPM pools
✅ Automatic configuration

Available PHP Versions

Version	Status	Recommended For
PHP 8.4	Latest	New projects, testing
PHP 8.3	Recommended	Production sites
PHP 8.2	Stable	Legacy compatibility
PHP 8.1	Stable	Older projects

Default: PHP 8.3 is used if no version specified.

Specify PHP Version

During Initial Setup

# Use default PHP 8.3
sudo svp setup example.com --cms drupal

# Specify PHP 8.4
sudo svp setup example.com --cms drupal --php-version 8.4

# Specify PHP 8.2
sudo svp setup example.com --cms drupal --php-version 8.2

Different Versions Per Site

Each site can use a different PHP version:

# Site 1 with PHP 8.3
sudo svp setup site1.com --cms drupal --php-version 8.3

# Site 2 with PHP 8.4
sudo svp setup site2.com --cms drupal --php-version 8.4

# Site 3 with PHP 8.2
sudo svp setup site3.com --cms wordpress --php-version 8.2

Update PHP Version

Using php-update Command

Update PHP version for existing site:

sudo svp php-update example.com --php-version 8.4

This automatically:

Installs PHP 8.4 if not present
Creates new PHP-FPM pool for the domain
Updates Nginx configuration
Removes old PHP-FPM pool
Restarts services

Manual Update Process

If you prefer manual control:

1. Install new PHP version:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.4-fpm php8.4-cli php8.4-common \
  php8.4-mysql php8.4-gd php8.4-curl php8.4-mbstring \
  php8.4-xml php8.4-zip php8.4-opcache

2. Create PHP-FPM pool:

sudo cp /etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf \
       /etc/php/8.4/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf

# Edit socket path
sudo sed -i 's/php8.3-fpm/php8.4-fpm/g' \
       /etc/php/8.4/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf

3. Update Nginx:

sudo sed -i 's/php8.3-fpm/php8.4-fpm/g' \
       /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com.conf

4. Restart services:

sudo systemctl restart php8.4-fpm
sudo systemctl reload nginx

5. Remove old pool:

sudo rm /etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

PHP Configuration

PHP-FPM Pool Settings

Each domain has its own PHP-FPM pool:

/etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf

Default settings:

[example.com]
user = admin
group = www-data
listen = /run/php/php8.3-fpm-example.com.sock
listen.owner = www-data
listen.group = www-data
pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 5
pm.start_servers = 2
pm.min_spare_servers = 1
pm.max_spare_servers = 3

Adjust PHP-FPM Workers

For high-traffic sites:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf

Increase workers:

pm.max_children = 20
pm.start_servers = 5
pm.min_spare_servers = 5
pm.max_spare_servers = 10

Restart PHP-FPM:

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

PHP Memory Limit

Increase memory per domain:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf

Add:

php_admin_value[memory_limit] = 256M
php_admin_value[upload_max_filesize] = 64M
php_admin_value[post_max_size] = 64M

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

PHP INI Settings

Global PHP settings:

/etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini

Per-domain PHP settings can be added to pool config:

php_admin_value[max_execution_time] = 300
php_admin_value[max_input_time] = 300
php_admin_flag[display_errors] = off

PHP Extensions

Installed Extensions

View installed extensions:

php8.3 -m

Common extensions installed by svp:

mysql
gd
curl
mbstring
xml
zip
opcache
intl
soap

Install Additional Extensions

# Example: Install Redis
sudo apt install php8.3-redis

# Example: Install Memcached
sudo apt install php8.3-memcached

# Example: Install ImageMagick
sudo apt install php8.3-imagick

Restart PHP-FPM after installing:

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Multiple PHP Versions

Running Multiple Versions

You can have multiple PHP versions installed simultaneously:

# Check installed versions
dpkg -l | grep php | grep fpm

# Should show multiple versions:
php8.2-fpm
php8.3-fpm
php8.4-fpm

Each site uses its specified version independently.

Check Site’s PHP Version

Via web: Create info.php in document root:

<?php
phpinfo();

Visit: https://example.com/info.php

Via CLI:

# Check pool config
grep listen /etc/php/*/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf

# Shows which PHP version is used
/etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf:listen = /run/php/php8.3-fpm-example.com.sock

PHP-FPM Management

Service Control

# Status
sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm

# Start
sudo systemctl start php8.3-fpm

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop php8.3-fpm

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

# Reload (graceful)
sudo systemctl reload php8.3-fpm

View Running Pools

# All PHP-FPM processes
ps aux | grep php-fpm

# Specific version
ps aux | grep php8.3-fpm

Pool Status

Check pool status page (if enabled):

sudo curl http://localhost/php-fpm-status

Performance Tuning

OPcache Configuration

OPcache is enabled by default. View settings:

php8.3 -i | grep opcache

Adjust OPcache:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/conf.d/10-opcache.ini

Recommended settings:

opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=128
opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.revalidate_freq=60
opcache.fast_shutdown=1

Process Manager Tuning

For better performance, adjust PM settings:

Low traffic (default):

pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 5

Medium traffic:

pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 20
pm.start_servers = 5
pm.min_spare_servers = 5
pm.max_spare_servers = 10

High traffic:

pm = static
pm.max_children = 50

Calculate max_children:

max_children = (Total RAM - System RAM) / PHP process size

Example:
(2048 MB - 512 MB) / 50 MB = ~30 max_children

Troubleshooting

502 Bad Gateway

Cause: PHP-FPM not running or socket issue

Check PHP-FPM:

sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm

Check socket:

ls -la /run/php/php8.3-fpm-example.com.sock

Restart PHP-FPM:

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

PHP Version Not Working

Check Nginx config:

grep fastcgi_pass /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com.conf

Should show correct socket:

fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm-example.com.sock;

Test Nginx config:

sudo nginx -t

Extension Not Loading

Check if installed:

dpkg -l | grep php8.3-[extension]

Install if missing:

sudo apt install php8.3-[extension]
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Verify loaded:

php8.3 -m | grep [extension]

Version-Specific Features

PHP 8.4

New features:

Property hooks
Asymmetric visibility
New array functions
Performance improvements

PHP 8.3

Features:

Typed class constants
Dynamic class constant fetch
Readonly amendments
Better performance

PHP 8.2

Features:

Readonly classes
Disjunctive Normal Form types
Null, false, and true standalone types

PHP 8.1

Features:

Enums
Fibers
Readonly properties
First-class callable syntax

Migration Guide

Upgrading from PHP 8.2 to 8.3

1. Test on staging:

sudo svp php-update staging.example.com --php-version 8.3

2. Test application:

Check error logs: sudo tail -f /var/log/php8.3-fpm-staging.example.com-error.log
Test all functionality
Check deprecated warnings

3. Update production:

sudo svp php-update example.com --php-version 8.3

4. Monitor:

sudo tail -f /var/log/php8.3-fpm-example.com-error.log

Rollback if Needed

sudo svp php-update example.com --php-version 8.2

Logs

PHP-FPM Logs

Per-domain error log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/php8.3-fpm-example.com-error.log

Main PHP-FPM log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/php8.3-fpm.log

Slow Log

Enable slow log in pool config:

slowlog = /var/log/php8.3-fpm-example.com-slow.log
request_slowlog_timeout = 5s

View slow requests:

sudo tail -f /var/log/php8.3-fpm-example.com-slow.log

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