Using XAMPP, how do I swap out PHP 5.3 for PHP 5.2?

Question

I'm using XAMPP 1.7.2, but need to swap out PHP 5.3 for PHP 5.2 - how do I do this?

I've edited the question to remove references to Joomla, since neither the questions nor answers related to it. — nickf, Jun 17 '10 at 00:15
@nickf - The question is related to Joomla, since Joomla versions less than 1.5.5 will trigger a ton of errors if used with PHP 5.3 - but not with PHP 5.2 - Though, I don't know if the OP had this in mind. — Peter Ajtai, Aug 24 '11 at 17:08
It's years later - but swapping between different versions of XAMPP is simple to do; just install different versions of XAMPP and rename directories to switch between versions. Please see my answer dated 2/15/2013. — Dan Nissenbaum, Feb 15 '13 at 14:27

score 24 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 13 '10 at 01:48

Thanks for the answer. I just got this working on Windows XP, with a few modifications. Here are my steps.

Download and install latest xampp to G:\xampp. As of 2010/03/12, this is 1.7.3.
Download the zip of xampp-win32-1.7.0.zip, which is the latest xampp distro without php 5.3. Extract somewhere, e.g. G:\xampp-win32-1.7.0\
Remove directory G:\xampp\php
Remove G:\xampp\apache\modules\php5apache2_2.dll and php5apache2_2_filter.dll
Copy G:\xampp-win32-1.7.0\xampp\php to G:\xampp\php.
Copy G:\xampp-win32-1.7.0\xampp\apache\bin\php* to G:\xampp\apache\bin
Edit G:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-xampp.conf.
- Immediately after the line, <IfModule alias_module> add the lines

(snip)

<IfModule mime_module>
  LoadModule php5_module "/xampp/apache/bin/php5apache2_2.dll"
  AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
  AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .php5 .php4 .php3 .phtml .phpt
    <Directory "/xampp/htdocs/xampp">
      <IfModule php5_module>
        <Files "status.php">
            php_admin_flag safe_mode off
        </Files>
      </IfModule>
    </Directory>
</IfModule>

(Note that this is taken from the same file in the 1.7.0 xampp distribution. If you run into trouble, check that conf file and make the new one match it.)

You should then be able to start the apache server with PHP 5.2.8. You can tail the G:\xampp\apache\logs\error.log file to see whether there are any errors on startup. If not, you should be able to see the XAMPP splash screen when you navigate to localhost.

Hope this helps the next guy.

cheers,

Jake

Worked perfectly for me, thanks. The latest version of XAMPP without PHP 5.3 is XAMPP 1.7.1 which you can download here: http://www.oldapps.com/xampp.php?old_xampp=44 — nickf, Jun 17 '10 at 00:27
Worked nicely, for completeness, I had to comment the line # LoadModule php5_module modules/php5apache2_2.dll (I used XAMPP 1.7.1 too) — Vincent Mimoun-Prat, Dec 02 '10 at 10:16
Jake's solution worked, BUT!!! Needed to change the path of the php5_module to load in http-xampp.conf: from: LoadModule php5_module modules/php5apache2_2.dll To: LoadModule php5_module "/xampp/apache/bin/php5apache2_2.dll" After that it worked. Cheers! — , Oct 22 '10 at 22:12
It's years later - but swapping between different versions of XAMPP is simple to do; just install different versions of XAMPP and rename directories to switch between versions. Please see my answer dated 2/15/2013. — Dan Nissenbaum, Feb 15 '13 at 14:29
I don't know about oldapps.com, but XAMPP links to SourceForge for the old versions. I got my XAMPP here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/files/XAMPP%20Windows/1.7.1/xampp-win32-1.7.1.zip/download. — Randell, Nov 05 '13 at 05:30

score 21 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 29 '09 at 00:53

21

I know this doesn't help you, but I have to say that this is one of the reasons I jumped from XAMPP to WampServer. WampServer lets you install multiple versions of PHP, Apache and/or MySQL, and switch between them all via a menu option.

answered Aug 29 '09 at 00:53

Narcissus

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I wish xampp would figure out this feature. Wamp is just wonderful for that. – WalterJ89 Aug 06 '10 at 08:48
Agree, the same goes for multiple mysql versions. Very helpfull/nice feature! – NickGreen Aug 12 '11 at 08:53
1

For Mac Users, you want to use [MAMP](http://www.mamp.info/en/downloads/) which does allow to install multiple version of PHP (I believe) – TheTechGuy May 07 '14 at 05:34
Good to know that WAMP supports this. This is important that WordPress still supports PHP 5.2. – Anh Tran Feb 18 '16 at 03:03

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 20 '09 at 00:43

8

You can download older versions of XAMPP here. PHP 5.3 was added in version 1.7.2, so anything older would be good.

answered Aug 20 '09 at 00:43

jimyi

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score 6 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 24 '11 at 19:29

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Stop your Apache server from running.
Download the most recent version of XAMPP that contains a release of PHP 5.2.* from the SourceForge site linked at the apachefriends website.
Rename the PHP file in your current installation (MAC OSX: /xamppfiles/modules/libphp.so) to something else (just in case).
Copy the PHP file located in the same directory tree from the older XAMPP installation that you just downloaded, and place it in the directory of the file you just renamed.
Start the Apache server, and generate a fresh version of phpinfo().
Once you confirm that the PHP version has been lowered, delete the remaining files from the older XAMPP install.
Fun ensues.

I just confirmed that this works when using a version of PHP 5.2.9 from XAMPP for OS X 1.0.1 (April 2009), and surgically moving it to XAMPP for OS X 1.7.2 (August 2009).

edited Aug 24 '11 at 19:29

Peter Ajtai

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answered Sep 14 '09 at 16:32

Daniel

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On Windows, I had to swap out the entire php directory, as well as the php relevant .dll files in the apache bin and modules folders. If you get run time errors (apache starts, but crashes when running a php script), check the lib***.dll files as well. – gapple Dec 12 '09 at 02:02
On Linux, I followed Daniel's instructions with some extra steps added: 1) copied the whole lib/php directory (or there were some errors starting apache) as GApple commented earlier 2) copied over bin/php*-5.2.9 files and ran "share/lampp/activatephp 5.2.9" – CaptSolo Mar 15 '10 at 20:42

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 15 '13 at 14:26

Years later, but for what it's worth - This is simple to do.

Just RENAME the C:\xampp directory
Install the desired new version of XAMPP
Simply run the control panel script "xampp-control.exe" directly from within the xampp folder. (Ignore warnings about "must run from C:\xampp - those have nothing to do with multiple installations.)

To switch between these versions of XAMPP, just rename the xampp directories as necessary, and re-run.

boxoft · Answer 6 · 2009-08-31T10:02:37.313

You'll have to uninstall XAMPP 1.7.2 and install XAMPP 1.7.0, which contains PHP 5.2.8.

D:\Documents and Settings\box>php -v

PHP 5.2.8 (cli) (built: Dec  8 2008 19:31:23)
Copyright (c) 1997-2008 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2008 Zend Technologies
    with Zend Extension Manager v1.2.0, Copyright (c) 2003-2007, by Zend Technol
ogies
    with Zend Optimizer v3.3.3, Copyright (c) 1998-2007, by Zend Technologies

XAMPP 1.6.8 contains PHP 5.2.6.

D:\Documents and Settings\box>php -v
PHP 5.2.6 (cli) (built: May  2 2008 18:02:07)
Copyright (c) 1997-2008 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2008 Zend Technologies
    with Zend Extension Manager v1.2.0, Copyright (c) 2003-2007, by Zend Technol
ogies
    with Zend Optimizer v3.3.3, Copyright (c) 1998-2007, by Zend Technologies

score 2 · Answer 7 · edited Nov 29 '12 at 16:02

I couldn't get this working. Started with PHP 5.3, then tried to switch to PHP 5.28 from xampp-win32-1.7.0.zip. Couldn't get it to work. Then, I got smart and figured out i was working with XAMPP and you can install it wherever you want, so I did a fresh install from scratch with xampp-win32-1.7.0.zip. The whole point of working with XAMPP is so you don't have to fuss with the sysadmin stuff. Using it in that context got me up and running in no time.

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Nov 19 '16 at 21:00

For OSX it's even easier. Your machine should come with a version of Apache already installed. All you need to do is locate the php lib for that version (which is likely 5.2.x) and swap it out.

This is the command you'd run from terminal*

cp /usr/libexec/apache2/libphp5.so /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/modules/libphp5.so

I tested this on 10.5 (Leopard), so ymmv. * all the caveats about this might break your system, make a backup, blah blah blah.

Edit: On 10.4 (Tiger), Xampp 1.73, using the libphp5.so-files found at Mamp, this does not work at all.

Using XAMPP, how do I swap out PHP 5.3 for PHP 5.2?

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