How can I change php-cli version on Ubuntu 14.04?
This explanation is based on Ubuntu 16.04 but is expected to work for other versions too
Most answers here manipulate the php-version by using the command
sudo update-alternatives --set ...
While the command is quite useful it's never explained what it does exactly. Here comes the explanation, including backup and some options:
Get the Information
- The command
update-alternatives
is displaying or changing symlinks which reside in an alternative direction which is in Ubuntu usually defined as/etc/alternatives
but which could be changed too. - a full list of options related to
update-alternatives
can be shown with the commandupdate-alternatives --help
, a deeper explanation can be shown withman update-alternatives
. - As the command
update-alternatives
is primary changing symlinks in a special folder, the content of that folder can be shown with common commands too, following all items starting withphp
are shown:
$ ls -al /etc/alternatives/php* lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Jan 19 02:58 /etc/alternatives/php -> /usr/bin/php7.2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 31 Jan 19 02:58 /etc/alternatives/php.1.gz -> /usr/share/man/man1/php7.2.1.gz lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Jan 19 03:00 /etc/alternatives/php-cgi -> /usr/bin/php-cgi7.2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 35 Jan 19 03:00 /etc/alternatives/php-cgi.1.gz -> /usr/share/man/man1/php-cgi7.2.1.gz lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 Jan 19 03:00 /etc/alternatives/php-cgi-bin -> /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php7.2
- to display the items with the command
update-alternatives
use this command:
$ update-alternatives --list php /usr/bin/php7.0 /usr/bin/php7.2
- to show more details you can execute this:
$ update-alternatives --display phpphp - auto mode link best version is /usr/bin/php7.2 link currently points to /usr/bin/php7.2 link php is /usr/bin/php slave php.1.gz is /usr/share/man/man1/php.1.gz/usr/bin/php7.0 - priority 70 slave php.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/php7.0.1.gz/usr/bin/php7.2 - priority 72 slave php.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/php7.2.1.gz
Finally we still want to know which php-versions we can link. The following command shows a list of the currently available php-versions in /usr/bin/
:
$ ls -al /usr/bin/php*lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jan 1 19:47 /usr/bin/php -> /etc/alternatives/php-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4385840 Apr 5 18:13 /usr/bin/php7.0-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4875488 Apr 5 18:10 /usr/bin/php7.2lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 25 Jan 1 19:47 /usr/bin/php-cgi -> /etc/alternatives/php-cgi-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4279672 Apr 5 18:13 /usr/bin/php-cgi7.0-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4769272 Apr 5 18:10 /usr/bin/php-cgi7.2-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 663 Feb 29 2016 /usr/bin/phpunit
Backup the information
- To make an informational backup of these symlinks just save the list in a file and save it on your desktop with this command (adjust the filename
alternatives-php.txt
to your needs):
$ echo "command: update-alternatives --list php" > ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt$ update-alternatives --display php >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt $ echo "command: update-alternatives --display php" >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt$ update-alternatives --display php >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt
if you like you still can add the result of the command
ls
like shown above:
$ echo "command: ls -al /etc/alternatives/php*" >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt$ ls -al /etc/alternatives/php* >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt
... and the available PHP-versions:
$ echo "command: ls -al /usr/bin/php*" >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt$ ls -al /usr/bin/php* >> ~/Desktop/alternatives-php.txt
Change the PHP-version for commandline
- If we filter first the
man
-documents the list in/etc/alternatives/php*/
includes 3 lines:
$ ls -al /etc/alternatives/php* lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Jan 19 02:58 /etc/alternatives/php -> /usr/bin/php7.2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Jan 19 03:00 /etc/alternatives/php-cgi -> /usr/bin/php-cgi7.2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 Jan 19 03:00 /etc/alternatives/php-cgi-bin -> /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php7.2
- While on the one hand it might be useful to have consistent links for the whole system on the other hand the fact that several php-versions exist already on the system implies that it's used for development and php for
cli
,web
andcgi
could be configured differently.
Which symlink has to be changed?
PHP for web is usually not configured by usage of the symlinks in/etc/alternatives
andcli
(commandline) is usually not using the cgi-version or cgi-configuration. So it can be assumed that changing only the symlink forphp
will work for commandline, change ofphp-cgi
andphp-cgi-bin
is probably not required.Usually the most recent version is linked by default, so the command below is using an older version taken from the list in/usr/bin/
:
$ sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php7.0update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/php7.0 to provide /usr/bin/php (php) in manual mode
Control
Checking the change:
$: php -vPHP 7.0.29-1+ubuntu16.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 (cli) (built: Apr 5 2018 08:34:50) ( NTS )Copyright (c) 1997-2017 The PHP GroupZend Engine v3.0.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2017 Zend Technologies with Zend OPcache v7.0.29-1+ubuntu16.04.1+deb.sury.org+1, Copyright (c) 1999-2017, by Zend Technologies
The change was accepted and the used version is an older one now.
- Now we check the version the man-page is written for:
$: man php... [SCROLL DOWN]VERSION INFORMATION This manpage describes php, version 7.0.29-1+ubuntu16.04.1+deb.sury.org+1.COPYRIGHT...
This means the PHP-version is consistent with the man-page and the command man php
returns the right descriptions for the current php-version and no manual adjustments concerning the man-page have been required.