How do I change the default PHP base-version on shell? - php

Question

I have Centos 7 and Virtualmin installed, with the tipycal php-fpm 5.4, 7.0, 7.1 that you can choice between the versions you prefer on every virtualhost via Virtualmin control panel, and everything works well.
But when I access to the server via SSH and check php -v I get this:
PHP 5.4.16 (cli) (built: Oct 30 2018 19:30:51)
Copyright (c) 1997-2013 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.4.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2013 Zend Technologies
How can I select another php default/base version for the shell system?

Answer 1

When you issue the php command on the shell it uses the default php version on the server which in your case is php-5.4.16
To use another php version, you have to check where the binaries for those php versions are and invoke them with their full path rather than just typing php.
For example, on CentOS, for PHP 7.2 for example, the full path of the php binary is: /opt/rh/rh-php72/root/usr/bin/php
root#virtualmin /root
» /opt/rh/rh-php72/root/usr/bin/php -v
PHP 7.2.24 (cli) (built: Nov 4 2019 10:23:08) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) 1997-2018 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Zend Technologies
with Zend OPcache v7.2.24, Copyright (c) 1999-2018, by Zend Technologies

Answer 2

Install versions of PHP in centos 7
Setup Yum Repository
First of all, you need to enable Remi and EPEL yum repositories on your system. Use the following command to install EPEL repository on your CentOS and Red Hat 7/6 systems
Use this command to install EPEL yum repository on your system
sudo yum install epel-release
and now execute one of the following commands as per your operating system version to install the Remi repository.
sudo rpm -Uvh http://rpms.famillecollet.com/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm
Install PHP 7 on CentOS
Your system is prepared for the PHP installation from yum repositories. Use one of the following commands to install PHP 7.4 or PHP 7.3 or PHP 7.2 or PHP 7.1 on your system based on your requirements.
Install PHP 7.4
yum --enablerepo=remi-php74 install php
Install PHP 7.3
yum --enablerepo=remi-php73 install php
Install PHP 7.2
yum --enablerepo=remi-php72 install php
.
Check version PHP install
php -v
.
PHP 7.4.1 (cli) (built: Dec 17 2019 16:35:58) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
Install PHP Modules
You may also need to install additional PHP modules based on your application requirements. The below command will install some more useful PHP modules.
For PHP 7.4
yum --enablerepo=remi-php74 install php-xml php-soap php-xmlrpc php-mbstring php-json php-gd php-mcrypt
For PHP 7.3
yum --enablerepo=remi-php73 install php-xml php-soap php-xmlrpc php-mbstring php-json php-gd php-mcrypt
For PHP 7.2
yum --enablerepo=remi-php72 install php-xml php-soap php-xmlrpc php-mbstring php-json php-gd php-mcrypt