Is it possible to run PHP 5.6 and PHP 7.4/8.0 on the same server?

[Jamie Lee]

hi, After a lengthy break, I'm happy to return to WHT. For some reason, I was also unable to access my old account.
I've used dedicated server for nearly a decade and need to migrate to PHP7.4 or 8 as soon as possible.
The website is built using a custom CMS (which, unfortunately, is still running on PHP 5.6) and WordPress. Moving the CMS to PHP 7+ is taking longer than expected, but at the very least, I'd like to upgrade the WordPress portion to the most recent PHP version.
Is it possible to run two versions of PHP on a bare metal server at the same time? EasyApache4 supports two PHP versions.

[Clara Smith]

Your php.ini file can control the PHP version; just place what you need in there.

[Robyn Jones]

On cPanel/WHM, PHP 5.6 that's no longer supported and should not be used. If you're using CloudLinux, you're lucky since it includes a feature called HardenedPHP/PHP Selector that protects older PHP versions.

[Hallie Russell]

If you don't use Cloudlinux, be sure to fully protect your webserver and be aware of any vulnerabilities introduced by 5.6.
But why use an older version of PHP when the current PHP has so many advantages?
You should consider updating your CMS to support the newest PHP version as a top priority.

[Emma Peterson]

While changing PHP versions at the directory level is possible, I do not advise it. Use a production domain to develop the website using PHP 7+ or 8+ and use a robots.txt file to restrict indexing.

[Aaron Martin]

Hello,
I had a similar issue and resolved it by creating a .htaccess file in which we specified the PHP handler to use on each directory without changing the domain URL.
Ex:
<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-lsphp56
</FilesMatch>
I hope this information is useful.
However, to keep your webserver safe, we recommend that you update your CMS to the most recent version.

[Clara Smith]

Setting the PHP version at the subdomain level used to be more common for shared hosting plans, however, it has become outdated since CGI support has gone.