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I can't seem to find a way to switch versions of PHP quickly. Is there something equivalent to ruby version manager for php? I need to switch between 5.3 and 5.2 on OS X.

Wil Moore III
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johmas
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7 Answers7

49

For PHP alternatives to RVM and rbenv, you have phpbrew, phpenv and php-version. Please be aware that I am the author of php-version so of course I prefer it as I wrote it to scratch my own itch (I wanted something minimal with command completion); however, phpenv is quite good as well. You would do well to use either.

On OS X, you can install a PHP version manager using Homebrew.

First, add the PHP formulae for homebrew:

% brew tap homebrew/homebrew-php

Then, using the formulae installed from homebrew-php you can install either with:

% brew install php-version

or

% brew install phpenv

The php-version README.md lists a few more alternatives so you might want to have a look.

BTW, I would consider php-version to be more aligned with chruby in that it tries to do one thing well.

Andrew Theken
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Wil Moore III
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  • Regarding php-fpm; yes, you should end up with a php-fpm binary for each PHP version you compile. When you use `php-version` or `phpenv` to switch versions, you will get the correct `php-fpm`. All they do is switch environment variables, including `$PATH` and `$MANPATH`. – Wil Moore III Mar 15 '14 at 05:03
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    This is very helpful for automated testing. Thanks! – sstur Dec 28 '14 at 16:39
  • php-version does not work form me. phpenv seem to be helpful. Thanks! – Fernando Kosh Mar 14 '19 at 01:22
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    I found phpbrew doesn't offer a simple "brew install phpbrew" and so am going with php-version. I also ran `brew info phpbrew` and there was nothing. The readme+install docs for phpenv just don't mention any sort of "brew install". So I'm not sure that really works with phpenv anymore. – Devin Rhode Dec 29 '19 at 21:31
  • So if you are looking for a simple `brew install`.. it looks like php-version is indeed the way to go, despite phpbrew having much more github watchers+stars+forks – Devin Rhode Dec 29 '19 at 21:36
  • Not anymore, things have changed. `php-version` and `phpenv` are not even available in the `homebrew-php`, instead `phpbrew` is available, yet bugged as of now. I ended up installing my PHP versions from the tab directly and then I toggle them by updating the links. I.e. `brew link --overwrite --force shivammathur/php/php@8.0` to switch to 8.0. Clunky, but working. – Martin Braun Apr 30 '22 at 05:22
10

I think phpfarm is most close php alternative of rvm, it also installing pyrus which is like ruby gems for php world.

wik
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2

If you are not use php-cgi and Install different versions of PHP to different locations

  1. Find different version libphp5.so,and copy into the different location

  2. If use php5.3.11 or php5.4.11

     ln -s php5.3.11 php  || ln -s php5.4.11

  3. Depoly your apache httpd.conf

     LoadModule php5_module        YOUR_PHP_PATH/php/libphp5.so

  4. restart apache

     sudo apachectl restart
cloudsben
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Have a look at phpenv (with php-build). There's even a homebrew recipe if you brew tap josegonzalez/php. It's actually a PHP version of rbenv not rvm but I think it's going to be the simpler to set up than phpfarm.

George
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0

There is a great program for doing this, phpbrew. I actively use it and I can highly recommend it.

https://github.com/phpbrew/phpbrew/wiki/Cookbook

Lloyd Moore
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0

Here is my solution (pvers). A one-file script written completely in bash. If you are looking for a lite and easy to install php version manager with minimum dependencies - give it a try;)

zinovyev
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0

if you're running apache I can suggest the way I solved this. Install different versions of PHP to different locations and prepare few apache php-x.y.z.conf files like

ScriptAlias /php/ "path/to/php-5.2.10/"
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php .phtml
Action application/x-httpd-php "/php/php-cgi"
<Directory "/php/">
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

,

ScriptAlias /php/ "path/to/php-5.3.0/"
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php .phtml
Action application/x-httpd-php "/php/php-cgi"
<Directory "/php/">
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

and so on, so you can quickly change the name of included .conf file and restart server. Or, like I did, make several virtual hosts having the same document root, but with different versions of PHP included:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "C:/www/localhost"
    ServerName local.php-5.2.10

    Include conf/php-5.2.10.conf

    <Directory "C:/www/localhost">
        Allow from All
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Slava
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