PHP Version Solution (phpvs)

Overview

PHP Version Solution is a set of bash scripts for compiling, installing, and switching between multiple versions of PHP on *nix machines.

The package builds PHP from branch and trunk checkouts of svn.php.net.

The installation routine also sets symlinks for php and php-cgi in /usr/bin and /usr/local/bin to point to the most recently installed version of PHP. It also restarts lighttpd and Apache's httpd web servers as appropriate.

To ensure each version of PHP is using the same environment, this system uses a centralized set of php.ini files for most settings and a centralized PEAR installation.

EXPERIMENTAL: This package is experimental. It is intended for use by developers who know what they're doing. It may do things you are not expecting. Read the source code to make sure it does what you want. In addition, this package is subject to change. You take full responsibility for using any part of this package. In short, no belly aching. Enjoy!

Scripts

• phpvs: the environment variables, aliases, and functions for the system
• phpcm: configures and makes PHP for installation by phpi
• phpi: installs the binary compiled by phpcm
• phprm: removes a PHP installation under the current directory
• phpt: runs .phpt tests via PHP's run-tests.php
• peart: runs .phpt tests via PEAR's run-tests (with strict & deprecated off)

Installation

• Clone this package from GitHub then create a branch to store your settings.

    git clone git://github.com/convissor/php_version_solution.git
    cd php_version_solution
    git checkout -b custom
  

• Check out php-src from PHP's repository. Below is an example.

    cd /some/place/else
    svn co https://svn.php.net/repository/php/php-src --depth immediates
    cd php-src
    svn up trunk --set-depth infinity
    svn up tags branches --set-depth immediates
    svn up branches/PHP_5_3 branches/PHP_5_4 --set-depth infinity
    pwd
    cd /back/to/php_version_solution
  

• Edit lib/phpvs/phpvs. Put the output of pwd, above, into the value of PHPVS_SRC_PATH. Adjust other values in the "USER CONFIGURATION" section if needed.

• Edit the configure lines in the "USER CONFIGURATION" section of bin/phpcm.

• Edit the PECL packages in the "USER CONFIGURATION" section of bin/phpi.

• Edit the settings in lib/phpvs/main.php.ini (in particular the include_path, date.timezone, and error_log values). Do not add extension enabling lines to that file. Extension lines for PECL packages are automatically placed in a version specific extensions.php.ini file by phpi.

• If using xdebug, edit the settings in lib/phpvs/xdebug.php.ini. xdebug.trace_output_dir, xdebug.profiler_output_dir, and xdebug.idekey are the most important.

• Store your settings.

    git commit -am 'My initial customizations.'
  

• Adjust the prefix in install.sh if /usr/local is not acceptable.

• Install the files and adjust permissions. Sets phpcm to be executable by regular users, not root, to avoid permission conflicts in the checkout.

    ./install.sh
  

• Put the following in your ~/.bashrc. The example, below, makes PHP 5.4 the default version. Adjust the paths and version as needed.

    source /usr/local/lib/phpvs/phpvs
    phpvs 54
  

• Load the variables and functions by running this in each open terminal. Don't worry about the error saying "php does not exist or is not executable," that will be fixed upon installing the desired version of PHP.

    source ~/.bashrc
  

• Compile and install PHP 5.4. Finish by making it the active version of PHP for the current terminal session. Note, cd54, cd52, cd53, and cdtr are aliases added by phpvs to simplify getting to PHP's source code.

  Please be aware that phpi updates the version of PHP used by lighttpd and/or Apache httpd depending on your configuration. The most recently installed version of PHP is the one used by the web server.

    cd54
    phpcm
    sudo phpi
    phpvs 54
  

• Install the centralized PEAR repository if one doesn't exist.

    wget http://pear.php.net/go-pear.phar
    sudo php go-pear.phar
  

  When asked to adjust the configuration:

  • 1 Installation base ($prefix) set it to /usr/local
  • 8 User-modifiable configuration files directory set it to /root
  • 11 Name of configuration file set it to /usr/local/etc/pear.conf

  Once the install is done, adjust some other settings.

    sudo pear config-set ext_dir ""
    sudo pear config-set php_bin "/usr/local/bin/php"
    sudo pear config-set sig_keydir ""
  

  Disable the centralized pecl install to avoid conflicts with the pecl installed for each version of PHP.

    sudo chmod 644 /usr/local/bin/pecl