# Install Multiple Versions of PHP it the same time on Rocky Linux 8.7

By

Charl Cronje

To install PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6 on the same server and run different virtual hosts on different versions on Rocky Linux 8.7, you will need to follow the steps below:

Install PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6: Rocky Linux offers the ability to install multiple PHP versions on your system using the Remi PHP repository

sudo dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm

sudo dnf module reset php
sudo dnf module enable php:remi-7.4
sudo dnf install php php-cli php-fpm php-mysqlnd php-zip php-devel php-gd php-mcrypt php-mbstring php-curl php-xml php-pear php-bcmath php-json

sudo dnf module reset php
sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.2
sudo dnf install php php-cli php-fpm php-mysqlnd php-zip php-devel php-gd php-mcrypt php-mbstring php-curl php-xml php-pear php-bcmath php-json

You will also need to specify the default PHP version for the system using update-alternatives tecmint.com.

sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php8.2

You don't need to remove your current PHP version (8.1.17) before installing PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6 on Rocky Linux 8.7. The Remi repository, which we're using to install the PHP versions, allows for multiple PHP versions to be installed and used concurrently on the same system

However, you need to be aware that the dnf package manager, which is used to install PHP in Rocky Linux, uses the concept of module streams to provide different versions of packages. When you enable a specific PHP module stream (like php:remi-7.4 or php:remi-8. 2), the system sets that version as the default version for PHP-related commands (like php or php-fpm)

If you want to keep PHP 8.1.17 as the default version for the system while also being able to use PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6, you can do so by not running the dnf module enable command for PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6. Instead, you can install these versions directly using the dnf install command with the specific package names for these versions:

sudo dnf install php74 php74-php-cli php74-php-fpm php74-php-mysqlnd php74-php-zip php74-php-devel php74-php-gd php74-php-mcrypt php74-php-mbstring php74-php-curl php74-php-xml php74-php-pear php74-php-bcmath php74-php-json

sudo dnf install php82 php82-php-cli php82-php-fpm php82-php-mysqlnd php82-php-zip php82-php-devel php82-php-gd php82-php-mcrypt php82-php-mbstring php82-php-curl php82-php-xml php82-php-pear php82-php-bcmath php82-php-json

The above commands will install PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6 with their command-line interface (CLI) and FastCGI Process Manager (FPM) without changing the default PHP version on the system. You can then use the specific commands (php74, php74-php-fpm, php82, php82-php-fpm) to run these versions when needed.

Remember to adjust your PHP-FPM and Apache configurations to use the correct PHP versions and commands as per your requirements

Configure PHP-FPM for each PHP version: Each PHP version needs its own PHP-FPM instance running on a different port

sudo nano /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf

sudo vim /etc/opt/remi/php74/php-fpm.d/www.conf

sudo systemctl start php-fpm
sudo systemctl start php74-php-fpm

Configure Apache virtual hosts to use different PHP versions: Each virtual host needs to be configured to use a different PHP-FPM instance stackoverflow.com.

sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf.d/website1.conf 

<FilesMatch \.php$>
    # PHP 8.2.6
    SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9001"
</FilesMatch>

sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf.d/website2.conf

<FilesMatch \.php$>
    # PHP 7.4
    SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9002"
</FilesMatch>

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Enable necessary Apache modules: Enable several modules so that your Apache service can work with multiple PHP versions

sudo a2enmod actions fcgid alias proxy_fcgi
sudo systemctl restart apache2

After these steps, you should have both PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.2.6 installed on your server. Each version should be running in its own PHP-FPM instance, and each virtual host should be configured to use a different PHP version.

To declare a virtual host for a specific PHP version in the vhost.conf file, you will need to configure the VirtualHost block in the Apache configuration file. This configuration block will define the settings for a specific domain.

In this block, you will specify the version of PHP that this virtual host should use by adding a FilesMatch block that sets the handler to the appropriate PHP-FPM instance.

Here's an example of how you might configure a virtual host to use PHP 7.4:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName website2.com
    DocumentRoot "/var/www/website2"

    <Directory "/var/www/website2">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    <FilesMatch \.php$>
        # PHP 7.4
        SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9002"
    </FilesMatch>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/website2.com.error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/website2.com.access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

• ServerName: is the domain name that this virtual host will respond to.
• DocumentRoot: is the directory where the website's files are stored.
• The Directory block contains settings that apply to the files in the specified directory. In this case, it allows Apache to follow symbolic links and overrides other configuration settings.
• The FilesMatch block with the SetHandler directive is used to forward PHP requests to the PHP 7.4 FPM instance running on port 9002.
• ErrorLog and CustomLog are set to specify where the server will log errors and access requests for this virtual host.

After making these changes, you should restart the Apache service to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

This configuration will tell Apache to use PHP 7.4 for requests to website2.com

Repeat this process for each virtual host, adjusting the ServerName, DocumentRoot, and PHP-FPM port as needed.

Remember to check your configuration files for any syntax errors using apachectl configtest before restarting the service