Install PHP 5.4 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS without Compiling

Question

ppa:ondrej/php5-oldstable does not support PHP 5.4 for Ubuntu 13.10 and higher. There seems to be no official or a stable way to install PHP 5.4 instead of 5.5 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS currently. I've seen most answers on StackOverflow/Exchange but in the end, they are mostly all outdated.

How can I install PHP 5.4 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS directly from a repository?

possible duplicate of Downgrade PHP Version from 5.5 to 5.4 on Ubuntu 14.04 — Panther, Nov 16 '14 at 06:11
@bodhi.zazen It is not. The answer refers to http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-set-up-apache2-with-mod_fcgid-and-php5-on-ubuntu-12.04 which is based on Ubuntu 12.04 plus, it is instructions to DOWNGRADE to Apache+fcgid+php5.4 - I do not have anything installed yet and do not need fcgid. — Francis Kim, Nov 16 '14 at 06:17
@bodhi.zazen I also ran into issues following that answer you pointed out. — Francis Kim, Nov 16 '14 at 06:20
What "issues"? and the question is " Downgrade PHP Version from 5.5 to 5.4 on Ubuntu 14.04" so it applies to 14.04 — Panther, Nov 16 '14 at 07:07
@bodhi.zazen it ended up installing PHP 5.3 - and I do not need to 'Downgrade' as there is no PHP installed to start off with. — Francis Kim, Nov 16 '14 at 07:08
there is also the option to use phpbrew ... you need to provide more information. — Panther, Nov 16 '14 at 07:09
@bodhi.zazen I was successful in using phpbrew just now to install PHP 5.4.34 - I'll provide the steps. — Francis Kim, Nov 16 '14 at 07:11

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 17 '16 at 08:23

12

Install requirements for phpbrew

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get build-dep php5
apt-get install -y php5 php5-dev php-pear autoconf automake curl build-essential libxslt1-dev re2c libxml2 libxml2-dev php5-cli bison libbz2-dev libreadline-dev
apt-get install -y libfreetype6 libfreetype6-dev libpng12-0 libpng12-dev libjpeg-dev libjpeg8-dev libjpeg8  libgd-dev libgd3 libxpm4 libltdl7 libltdl-dev
apt-get install -y libssl-dev openssl
apt-get install -y gettext libgettextpo-dev libgettextpo0
apt-get install -y php5-cli
apt-get install -y libmcrypt-dev
apt-get install libicu-dev

Install phpbrew

curl -L -O https://github.com/phpbrew/phpbrew/raw/master/phpbrew
chmod +x phpbrew
sudo mv phpbrew /usr/bin/phpbrew

Initialise phpbrew, update and install PHP 5.4

phpbrew init
phpbrew known --update
phpbrew update

Here we choose PHP 5.4.34, but you can change this to any version that is available as listed by the above commands - like 5.5.22.

phpbrew install 5.4.34 +default

Update your shell config file by adding the following to the end of your `~/.bashrc` or `~/.zshrc` (basically the shell you're using, default to .bashrc)

source ~/.phpbrew/bashrc

Close your terminal to take effect, and restart it.

Switch the default PHP version to 5.4

phpbrew switch php-5.4.34

If it shows Invalid Argument, try phpbrew switch 5.4.34 instead.

Check your PHP version

php -v

edited Sep 17 '16 at 08:23

Vadorequest

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answered Nov 16 '14 at 07:17

Francis Kim

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You should run the install command as phpbrew install -j N 5.4.34 +default where N is the max number of CPU cores for compiling. That way your hugely wide multi-core system is put to more use and finishes faster. – jbo5112 Mar 07 '15 at 21:29
I completed everything as root (even restarting apache2 and php5-fpm services), but my web server still reports that it's running php 5.5. What am I missing? – jbo5112 Mar 07 '15 at 21:36
@jbo5112 phpbrew switch php-5.4.34 should do the trick if the previous steps were ok. – Francis Kim Mar 09 '15 at 23:38
1

I've run phpbrew switch php-5.4.38 (current version I compiled), restarted apache2 and php5-fpm, and checked the output of phpinfo() in my web server. Just running php -v works fine, but the web server still says "PHP Version 5.5.9-1ubuntu4.6". I assume I still have to update some system config file for php5-fpm. – jbo5112 Mar 10 '15 at 04:09
For using php fpm, I needed to shut down the system php5-fpm service php5-fpm stop and then run phpbrew fpm start. – jbo5112 Mar 25 '15 at 04:53
for me one thing was missing here:
```
apt-get install libicu-dev
```
I got an error when trying to install a php version and the log said:

configure: error: Unable to detect ICU prefix or no failed. Please verify ICU install prefix and make sure icu-config works.
– IARI Jul 14 '15 at 12:08
Had to also install libreadline-dev and libmcrypt-dev – Fluffy Dec 25 '15 at 08:12
2

Also had to add source ~/.phpbrew/bashrc to the end of ~/.bashrc, otherwise it would not switch – Fluffy Dec 25 '15 at 08:22
You rock but getting error if I try to install php-5.5.0 (404 Not Found) because php-5.5.0.tar.gz not found in www.php.net/get/....; Any solution ? – Nullpointer Apr 13 '16 at 13:32

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 14 '15 at 16:03

0

If it shows Invalid Argument, try over and over again nothing, the only thing that help is these two line and in this order:

source ~/.phpbrew/bashrc && phpbrew list
phpbrew switch 5.4.45

edited Dec 14 '15 at 16:03

Mark Kirby

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answered Dec 14 '15 at 15:39

zvika

1

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! Your answer may be a bit late as the OP already accepted the other answer. Your help is of course appreciated, however you might be better served by focusing your efforts on the unanswered questions – Wayne_Yux Dec 14 '15 at 15:52

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 11 '16 at 13:40

0

Make sure phpbrew is located in:

/usr/local/bin

not

/usr/bin

edited Apr 11 '16 at 13:40

techraf

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answered Apr 11 '16 at 12:12

Clay Risser

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Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! ;-) you can edit existing answers to improve them. 2 reviewers will review your edits and approve if deemed useful! (I would!) ;-) – Fabby Apr 14 '16 at 09:39