How to select PHP version 5 and 7 per virtualhost in Apache 2.4 on Debian?
Solution 1
Let's start from beginning. I assume that you would prefer to use php-fpm instead of Apache module.
First install apache:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2
Next install multiple PHP:
Debian 9:
Install PHP 7:
sudo apt-get install php7.0-cli php7.0-fpm php-pear libapache2-mod-fastcgi
Configure repositories:
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
sudo curl https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg | apt-key add -
sudo echo 'deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ stretch main' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb.sury.org.list
sudo apt-get update
Install PHP 5:
sudo apt-get install php5.6-cli php5.6-fpm
Debian 8:
Install PHP 5:
sudo apt-get install php5 php5-fpm php-pear libapache2-mod-fastcgi
Configure repositories:
Edit /etc/apt/sources.list
and add the following lines to the end of file:
deb http://packages.dotdeb.org jessie all
deb-src http://packages.dotdeb.org jessie all
Install GPG key:
wget https://www.dotdeb.org/dotdeb.gpg
sudo apt-key add dotdeb.gpg
sudo apt-get update
Install PHP 7:
sudo apt-get install php7.0 php7.0-fpm
Next switch from prefork and enable necessary modules:
For Debian 8:
a2dismod php5 mpm_prefork
For Debian 9:
a2dismod php7 mpm_prefork
Next for both:
a2enmod actions fastcgi alias proxy_fcgi mpm_worker
systemctl restart apache2
Change content of /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/fastcgi.conf
to the following one:
<IfModule !mod_fastcgi.c>
AddHandler fcgid-script fcg fcgi fpl
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_fastcgi.c>
<Directory /usr/lib/cgi-bin>
Require all granted
</Directory>
</IfModule>
Now create document root folders for websites:
mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/public_html
mkdir -p /var/www/test.com/public_html
Add sys users for these websites:
sudo useradd example --home-dir /var/www/example.com
sudo useradd test --home-dir /var/www/test.com
Configure ownership:
sudo chown -R example.example /var/www/example.com
sudo chown -R test.test /var/www/test.com
For example website example.com
will use PHP 5 and website test.com
will use PHP 7.
Create configuration files for websites:
Website on PHP 5:
touch /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf
ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/example.com.conf
cat /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com/public_html
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
<IfModule mod_fastcgi.c>
AddType application/x-httpd-fastphp5 .php
Action application/x-httpd-fastphp5 /php5-fcgi
Alias /php5-fcgi /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php5-fcgi-example.com
FastCgiExternalServer /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php5-fcgi-example.com -socket /var/run/php5-fpm-example.com.sock -pass-header Authorization
</IfModule>
</VirtualHost>
Website on PHP 7:
touch /etc/apache2/sites-available/test.com.conf
ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/test.com.conf /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/test.com.conf
cat /etc/apache2/sites-available/test.com.conf
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
ServerName test.com
ServerAlias www.test.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/test.com/public_html
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
<IfModule mod_fastcgi.c>
AddHandler php7-fcgi .php
Action php7-fcgi /php7-fcgi virtual
Alias /php7-fcgi /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php7-fcgi-test.com
FastCgiExternalServer /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php7-fcgi-test.com -socket /var/run/php/php7.0-fpm-test.com.sock -pass-header Authorization
</IfModule>
</VirtualHost>
Create pool configs (I used the following):
Website on PHP 5:
cat /etc/php5/fpm/pool.d/example.com.conf
[example.com]
user = example
group = example
listen = /var/run/php5-fpm-example.com.sock
listen.owner = www-data
listen.group = www-data
php_admin_value[disable_functions] = exec,passthru,shell_exec,system
php_admin_flag[allow_url_fopen] = off
pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 5
pm.start_servers = 2
pm.min_spare_servers = 1
pm.max_spare_servers = 3
chdir = /
Website on PHP 7:
cat /etc/php/7.0/fpm/pool.d/test.com.conf
[test.com]
user = test
group = test
listen = /var/run/php/php7.0-fpm-test.com.sock
listen.owner = www-data
listen.group = www-data
php_admin_value[disable_functions] = exec,passthru,shell_exec,system
php_admin_flag[allow_url_fopen] = off
pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 5
pm.start_servers = 2
pm.min_spare_servers = 1
pm.max_spare_servers = 3
chdir = /
Restart apache and php-fpm services:
sudo systemctl restart apache2 php5-fpm php7.0-fpm
Enjoy!
Solution 2
The answer by @elvis-plesky is really detailled. But Apache suggests the usage of mod_proxy_fcgi
:
With the release of apache httpd 2.4 upon an unsuspecting populace, we have gained some very neat functionality regarding apache and php: the ability to run PHP as a fastCGI process server, and address that fastCGI server directly from within apache, via a dedicated proxy module (mod_proxy_fcgi.)
Here are the steps to setup two vhosts with different PHP versions for Debian 10 using Apache's mod_proxy_fcgi and php-fpm.
Configure repositories:
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
sudo curl https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg | apt-key add -
sudo echo 'deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ stretch main' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb.sury.org.list
sudo apt-get update
Install needed PHP versions:
sudo apt-get install php5.6-cli php5.6-fpm php7.3-cli php7.3-fpm
Configure php5.6-fpm in /etc/apache2/conf-available/php5.6-fpm.conf
:
<IfModule !mod_php5.c>
<IfModule proxy_fcgi_module>
# Enable http authorization headers
<IfModule setenvif_module>
SetEnvIfNoCase ^Authorization$ "(.+)" HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=$1
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p|tml)$">
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php5.6-fpm.sock|fcgi://php56.localhost"
</FilesMatch>
# Deny access to files without filename (e.g. '.php')
<FilesMatch "^\.ph(ar|p|ps|tml)$">
Require all denied
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
Configure php7.3-fpm in /etc/apache2/conf-available/php7.3-fpm.conf
:
<IfModule !mod_php7.c>
<IfModule proxy_fcgi_module>
# Enable http authorization headers
<IfModule setenvif_module>
SetEnvIfNoCase ^Authorization$ "(.+)" HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=$1
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p|tml)$">
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock|fcgi://php73.localhost"
</FilesMatch>
# Deny access to files without filename (e.g. '.php')
<FilesMatch "^\.ph(ar|p|ps|tml)$">
Require all denied
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
Now add a virtual host that uses PHP 5.6:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName test-php56.localhost
DocumentRoot "/var/www/test-php56/"
# use php 5.6
<FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p|tml)$">
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php5.6-fpm.sock|fcgi://php56.localhost"
</FilesMatch>
</VirtualHost>
And a virtual host that uses PHP 7.3:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName test-php73.localhost
DocumentRoot "/var/www/test-php73/"
# use php 7.3
<FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p|tml)$">
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock|fcgi://php73.localhost"
</FilesMatch>
</VirtualHost>
Activate the correct Apache module and the configs:
sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi
sudo a2enconf php5.6-fpm
sudo a2enconf php7.3-fpm
sudo systemctl restart apache2 php5.6-fpm php7.3-fpm
The default configuration of the FPM pools should be correct already.
Important:
This change will break old virtual hosts. You need to reconfigure all your virtual hosts and add the FilesMatch
block which your project needs.
For example if your project needs php 7.4 then you first need to install the fpm package:
sudo apt-get install php7.4-fpm
sudo a2enconf php7.4-fpm
sudo systemctl restart apache2 php7.4-fpm
Then add this section to your vhost config:
...
# use php 7.4
<FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p|tml)$">
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock|fcgi://php74.localhost"
</FilesMatch>
Then restart apache service apache2 restart
.
Z0q
Updated on November 05, 2021Comments
-
Z0q over 2 years
Would it be possible to run PHP 7 and PHP 5 simultaneously in Apache 2.4 on Debian 9? I would like to be able to select the PHP version I wish to use per virtualhost. I believe this would be useful considering that some of my websites still use deprecated PHP features. This allows me to perform upgrades per site. How do I achieve something like this?
For example
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost ServerName mywebsite.com DocumentRoot /var/www/mywebsite.com # UsePHP 7 </virtualHost>
And
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost ServerName mywebsite2.com DocumentRoot /var/www/mywebsite2.com # UsePHP 5 </virtualHost>
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Z0q almost 7 yearsThank you very much for the detailed explanation! I will try it out. I have one question. What is the difference between PHP-FPM and regular PHP?
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Elvis Plesky almost 7 yearsCheck the explanation at serverfault.com/questions/645755/…
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Elvis Plesky almost 7 yearsBy the way. You can achieve the same with the help of hosting control panel like Plesk. It will create all configuration for you =)
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Jannes Botis almost 7 years@Elvis Plesky, is it necessary to create users "example" and "test"? Can "www-data" be used for both?
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Elvis Plesky almost 7 yearsSure, but using separate users is more secure.
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Rola about 6 yearsThank you for the detailed explanation I'm trying to use multiple php versions in debian stretch and apache. The problem is that I can't install libapache2-mod-fastcgi with my repos... Which one should I use?
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Elvis Plesky about 6 years@Rola, strange, it is available in Stretch main repository. packages.debian.org/stretch/libapache2-mod-fcgid
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Rola about 6 years@ElvisPlesky the guide uses 'libapache2-mod-fastcgi' and the link points to 'libapache2-mod-fcgid'... Are you telling me it is the same? If it is... After installing and enabling that module do I've to change some step more from this guide? Thank you
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Riccardo over 5 yearsSomehow I can't get this to work, I had to edit all the php5 related strings for php5.6 and also my path for pool is a little bit different: /etc/php/5.6/fpm/pool.d/ anyway I'm stuck with all the website running php7.3 probably because I can't manage to setup the repository correctly.
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Pranav Jituri over 4 yearsThanks a lot! This is the best comment. This actually worked for me where I had a botched website which was not running with PHP 7.3. Worked flawlessly!
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Earlee almost 4 yearsI find this one easier to follow
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Auspex over 3 yearsatm, I am trying to run a number of sites on PHP 7.2 (working) and one on PHP5.6. The 5.6 site's
info.php
is showing that it's using PHP7.2! Any hints for tracking down why? -
naitsirch over 3 years@Auspex Sorry, but this is not enough context. You should provide all relevant configs, which is not possible in a comment ;-)
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Auspex over 3 yearsIf it comes to that I'll need to post my own question, but I was just hoping for some debugging tips. I find it very difficult to determine what config any particular vhost is using. In any case, I think your solution is not complete. I'm finding that
a2enconf
for both PHP versions only enables ONE (the last one executed at apache startup, I think), and that I need to physicallyInclude "conf-available/php5.6-fpm.conf"
for the other site -
Black over 2 yearsThis change destroyed other virtual hosts. I added a section to your answer .