Mismatch of CLI vs Web version of PHP because CLI version is server-wide

[marclaporte]

"Yes, this is possible" but "Note that this command will set default PHP version for the system and not for a specific user or a virtual server." Source: https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/changing-default-version-of-php-cli-for-virtual-host/117171

See also:

• https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/changing-default-php-cli-version-on-the-server/60103
• https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/setting-cli-php-version-5-6/54449
• https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/change-the-default-php-version-for-command-line-interface/107682
• https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/multiple-php-versions-but-not-adhering-selected-version-in-cli/109177
• https://dev.tiki.org/item7820-Installing-package-is-hardly-possible-on-shared-hosting-without-an-option-to-select-the-PHP-CLI-to-use#threadId9986

Since this causes support requests, we added to Tiki Check

To address this in ClearOS, here is a wrapper we had made a while back:
https://github.com/WikiSuite/app-php-engines/blob/master/packaging/php_wrapper

Thanks!

[iliaross]

Hello, Marc.

Thanks for the heads-up!

To address this in ClearOS, here is a wrapper we had made a while back

The easier solution would be to create an alias in user's home .bashrc file (in case user's shell is set to bash).

Jamie, perhaps this is something we could do on Virtualmin side automatically?

[jcameron]

I don't think a .bashrc alias will fix the PHP version that a script sees.

Also, on a system with multiple PHP versions installed, /usr/bin/php absolutely can be a different version to the one run via FPM or fCGId.

[iliaross]

I don't think a .bashrc alias will fix the PHP version that a script sees.

Yes, a script would have to call the needed PHP version explicitly.

[jcameron]

Virtualmin can generally figure out what the correct CLI PHP command is - I wonder if there's a way we can pass it to Tiki?

[iliaross]

Create a symlink to ~/bin/php?

[marclaporte]

I wonder if there's a way we can pass it to Tiki?

Well, it's not just Tiki :-) For example, someone using Composer, or any of the CLI tools of a web app.

Any thoughts on an approach like this? https://github.com/WikiSuite/app-php-engines/blob/master/packaging/php_wrapper

[iliaross]

Well, something should tell the app to use specific PHP version.

[kroky]

phpenv config wrapper is a nice idea but if virtualmin already knows what php version to use on a specific virtual domain (user home dir and all dirs below) we might try the solution with bin/php linking to the correct binary and put that in the PATH? Note that some cli commands are executed via cron or other non-interactive login shells which might get tricky setting up the PATH correctly. All that we have when we execute CLI commands is the virtual domain/directory where the script is executed and we need to make sure it uses the same version as the virtual domain php configuration suggests.

[jcameron]

Even putting a link from php in the bin directory won't help, because it's possible to have multiple PHP versions in use in different directories on the same virtual server.

[kroky]

Then, how can we check from a command line script which php version is set to use on a specific directory? A kind of a hidden .env file seems like a good solution here.

[jcameron]

I suppose we could create a link from php in each directory that has a custom version to the command for that version.

However, be aware that in some cases, there might not be a command-line version .... it's quite possible to install PHP FPM package and not the CLI.

[kroky]

That would be awesome, thanks! We will use a fallback solution if cli is not found.

[jcameron]

Another thing we could do is link from each domain's ~/bin directory from php7.2 (for example) to the actual path to the php 7.2 CLI. Then scripts could look at the running PHP version and use this to select which CLI to run..

[jcameron]

Ok in the next release, there will be a link from each domain's ~/bin/php to the PHP cli for the version enabled on the domain's top-level directory.