Update PHP to Version 7.3
Linode
Linode Staff
We need to update our PHP to version 7.3 or above. Can you provide some insight into how this can be done and what we should expect once the change is done?
1 Reply
You write:
We need to update our PHP to version 7.3 or above. Can you provide some insight into how this can be done and what we should expect once the change is done?
First of all, your web server cannot (!!!!!) be running when you do this. Sorry if that was obvious… Also, obvious should be the need to back up your system before you attempt this (this is why Linode invented "snapshots").
Provided you are on a Debian/Ubuntu system, you need to find all your PHP 7.3 packages and remove them. Here's how you find them:
apt list --installed | grep php73
The removal part is left to you (man apt or man apt-get). Don't remove any dependencies. As to what you can expect, that depends a lot on what your system does so it's impossible to answer that question.
As a practical matter, just upgrade to 7.4 (the newest version) of PHP. Here's the release content:
https://www.php.net/releases/7_4_0.php
You'll have to look at the similar announcement for the release you are upgrading from to see if anything your app relies on has gone away or changed. Also as a practical matter, if your app is (shudder!) WordPress, it works fine with PHP 7.4. Some of your plugins might not, however.
Snapshots are your friend.
-- sw