Multiple PHP version with Apache on CentOS 7 - php

Question

Can anyone here instruct me way to install and configure Multi PhP with one apache instance on CentOS 7, and the proper way to test it..

Answer 1

install all the necessary repos and packages
big thanks to https://rpms.remirepo.net/wizard/
the following commands assume you already sudo su - or you will have to add sudo to each of the commands:
yum install httpd -y
yum install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
yum install http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm
yum install yum-utils -y
yum install php56 -y
yum install php72 -y
yum install php56-php-fpm -y
yum install php72-php-fpm -y
stop both fpm servers
systemctl stop php56-php-fpm
systemctl stop php72-php-fpm
by default it listens on 127.0.0.1 port 9000, make them listen on different ports
sed -i 's/:9000/:9056/' /etc/opt/remi/php56/php-fpm.d/www.conf
sed -i 's/:9000/:9072/' /etc/opt/remi/php72/php-fpm.d/www.conf
now two different version of fpm can be started on different ports
systemctl start php72-php-fpm
systemctl start php56-php-fpm
make script wrapper to call php56-cgi and php72-cgi
cat > /var/www/cgi-bin/php56.fcgi << EOF
#!/bin/bash
exec /bin/php56-cgi
EOF
cat > /var/www/cgi-bin/php72.fcgi << EOF
#!/bin/bash
exec /bin/php72-cgi
EOF
make them executable by apache
sudo chmod 755 /var/www/cgi-bin/php56.fcgi
sudo chmod 755 /var/www/cgi-bin/php72.fcgi
create php configuration for apache. by default it runs php56-fcgi handler
cat > /etc/httpd/conf.d/php.conf << EOF
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/var/www/cgi-bin/"
AddHandler php56-fcgi .php
Action php56-fcgi /cgi-bin/php56.fcgi
Action php72-fcgi /cgi-bin/php72.fcgi
<Directory /var/www/html/php56>
DirectoryIndex index.php
AllowOverride all
Require all granted
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/html/php72>
DirectoryIndex index.php
AllowOverride all
Require all granted
</Directory>
EOF
make test pages, create .htaccess to use php72-fcgi
mkdir -p /var/www/html/php56
mkdir -p /var/www/html/php72
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > /var/www/html/php56/index.php
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > /var/www/html/php72/index.php
echo "AddHandler php72-fcgi .php" > /var/www/html/php72/.htaccess
Now you should be able to test it
(http://127.0.0.1/php56)
(http://127.0.0.1/php72)
If you want to startup these instance automatically after server reboot
sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl enable php56-php-fpm
sudo systemctl enable php72-php-fpm

Answer 2

As explained by #runwuf, this is possible using the sofware collections available in centos-scl repository or in remi repository.
But using SetHandler to fastcgi proxy seems a better and more modern way, thanks to httpd 2.4:
SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000"
This is explained in some blog posts:
My PHP Workstation on Remi's blog
PHP Configuration Tips on RH developpers' blog

Answer 3

I had to add the following to my php.conf inside the directory statement to make the Apache Server API change to FPM/FastCGI instead of CGI/FastCGI - your solution was almost perfect though! Now if I could just figure out how to make it use a socket instead of TCP, I'd be one happy coder.
# mod_proxy_fcgi options
<IfModule mod_proxy_fcgi.c>
<FilesMatch \.php$>
SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9072"
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

Answer 4

It looks like what you are trying to do is similar to this:
running-two-php-versions-on-the-same-server
I personally would not want to attempt two php version on the same apache instance... I would install different version of php by tarball and run them on separate instance of apache that is also installed by tarball and point each httpd.conf to the different version of php.

Answer 5

replying to runwuf
Hello,
there is one problem with your approach regarding SELinux
either you disable SELinux (if you are not concerned with security) or you manage the SELinux Port Policy
In case you don't handle the SELinux, the php56-php-fpm won't start if SELinux is set to 'Enforcing' mode
Run the following commands for making SELinux allow the ports
semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 9072
semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 9056
and then finally try to start the fpm modules

Answer 6

I wandered here looking for a solution. CentOS now has a PHP Select which let's you run different version of PHP on the server.
More information can be found here: http://forum.centos-webpanel.com/php/php-selector/