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Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:25 am
by ankh
OK, so seems to me Sonic support must be in a jam.

The old PHP is the target for people's unedited ht.access files
Sonic can't swap in the new PHP at the old target location, because there are users who have already edited their ht.access files to point to wherever the new PHP is stored now. Or Sonic would have to leave 2 copies of the new PHP live.

Maybe there's other business stuff at Sonic with the same problem of an outdated pointer to an old version of PHP, and someone would have to chase down and fix all the pointers one at a time, and nobody wants to assign that tiresome chore to some clever staff member who would burn out on it.

Or some manager's reaction to any mention of PHP is SHHHHH! Be Quiet!

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 12:15 pm
by tpeterson
The new PHP is not in a new location, it has a new name "PHP 7". That's what the configuration file edit changes.

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 12:55 pm
by ankh
OK and each of us users, for each of our web pages, will have to make this file edit each time a new PHP comes along, is that right?

If only there were some way to automate this kind of change. Sigh.

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 5:52 pm
by joemuller
ankh wrote:OK and each of us users, for each of our web pages, will have to make this file edit each time a new PHP comes along, is that right?
Only every time a *major* version comes along. We made the name 'php7' point at the latest 7.x release for exactly this reason - set it once and hopefully don't have to touch it again. If you're setting up a new Wordpress website via the One-Click Install in Member Tools, it will automatically get set up with the latest PHP we have available.

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 10:55 am
by tpeterson
joemuller wrote:....We made the name 'php7' point at the latest 7.x release for exactly this reason - set it once and hopefully don't have to touch it again. If you're setting up a new Wordpress website via the One-Click Install in Member Tools, it will automatically get set up with the latest PHP we have available.
Since WP can correctly set that configuration on a new installation, is there some reason that it cannot correct that setting whenever it updates??

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:28 pm
by joemuller
tpeterson wrote:Since WP can correctly set that configuration on a new installation, is there some reason that it cannot correct that setting whenever it updates??
There's no way for Wordpress *itself* to change the PHP version. That's determined by how the web hosting 'environment' is set up. For almost all * folks on Sonic's hosting platform, PHP is running via the CGI method, which means you need the either a universal or per-site way of telling the web server (Apache) were PHP lives. Sonic chose the latter (per-site) approach, allowing new PHP versions to be dropped into the special cgi-bin location for testing and rollout without breaking/disturbing existing websites.

In short, unless someone writes a special plugin for Wordpress or a special tool on the Sonic side is made, the only way to change PHP versions is by editing/replacing the main .htaccess file for the website -- this can be done by a download/edit/upload with FTP, manually on shell.sonic.net, or with a Wordpress plugin that allows edits to the file.


* If you're on the Custom Hosting platform, PHP may be set up as an Apache module (mod_php) instead. Consult phpinfo() for details. (see 'Server API' in the resulting page)

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:28 pm
by tpeterson
joemuller wrote:In short, unless someone writes a special plugin for Wordpress or a special tool on the Sonic side is made....
Terrific ideas, Joe. I nominate you to put such a tool into the Members Tools. It would save Sonic's customers (and yourself) a lot of grief---not to mention time spent addressing rants such as this one. :)

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:09 pm
by ankh
Long ago I mailed Support asking about a PHP update.
I got an answer today. TL:dr -- it's not happening.
I apologize for the delayed response. Currently we are using a fully patched version of PHP 4. We are unable to upgrade PHP to a higher version at this time. To use applications and scripts requiring PHP 5.x functionality we have a guide here: https://help.sonic.com/hc/en-us/article ... 69193-PHP5

We are unfortunately unable to provide further support regarding the PHP guide above,

Sincerely,

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:32 pm
by joemuller
ankh wrote:Long ago I mailed Support asking about a PHP update.
I got an answer today. TL:dr -- it's not happening.
I'm not sure when you received that information, but PHP 7 is available right now. (See this post for details.) If that information was sent in error, I will make sure our training team knows that being stuck on PHP 4 or 5 is now longer an issue.

-- Joe

Re: PHP update needed

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:46 am
by hankering
> I'm not sure when you received that information

Yesterday.

Joe, I left the support person's name off the quote; email me if you need to know who's giving that info out.

It would be great if someone can sum up the situation as this keeps coming up.

Thanks for responding here.