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Upgrade to PHP 8.1 with Nginx

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Marius David Wieschollek edited this page Feb 25, 2024 · 14 revisions

❗ ❗ ❗ PHP 8.1 is no longer the recommended version for Nextcloud. ❗ ❗ ❗

Follow the PHP 8.3 upgrade guide if you have Nextcloud 28 or later For Nextcloud 26 or 27, follow the PHP 8.2 guide first.

Before you start

  • This tutorial was developed for and tested with DietPi 8.12.1 on a RaspberryPI.
  • This tutorial only works if you use "Nginx" as webserver.
  • DietPi may behave differently on other systems.
  • Nextcloud 24 is required before upgrading to PHP 8.1.
  • Upgrading PHP may affect other software on your DietPi that uses PHP. Make sure it is compatible before you upgrade
  • Make sure to make a backup of your entire DietPi Instance (config, data, etc.) before you do this.

Upgrade PHP on DietPI with Nginx

After you have read the information above and ensured you're ready to start, follow the steps below to upgrade your DietPi to PHP 8.1 with the Nginx webserver.

Log in as Root

If you're using SSH, log in with ssh root@<your dietpi ip>. If you're directly on the device, use sudo su

Add PHP Package Archive

With the following commands you will add the PHP 8.1 repository from deb.sury.org to your DietPi:

  1. Install dependencies 
    apt-get -y install apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates curl
  2. Download the public key and add the repository 
    curl -sSL -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/php.gpg https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg
sh -c 'echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php.list'
  3. Update the list of available software 
    apt-get update

Install PHP 8.1

Now install PHP 8.1 on your DietPi with the following commands:

  1. Remove conflicting packages 
    apt-get -y remove php-apcu php-igbinary php-redis
  2. Install PHP 8.1 
    apt-get -y install php8.1-common php8.1-fpm php8.1-cli php8.1-opcache php8.1-apcu php8.1-mysql php8.1-xml php8.1-zip php8.1-mbstring php8.1-gd php8.1-curl php8.1-redis php8.1-intl php8.1-bcmath php8.1-gmp php8.1-bz2 php8.1-imagick php8.1-igbinary php8.1-readline php8.1-phpdbg libmagickwand-dev imagemagick
  3. If you have installed optional php modules for specific Nextcloud apps, you need to upgrade them too. Here is a list for the apps mentioned in the Nextcloud docs:
    • LDAP integration: apt-get install -y php8.1-ldap
    • External Storage with SMB/CIFS integration: apt-get install -y php8.1-smbclient

Update the PHP 8.1 configuration

Update the PHP FPM pool configuration

You need to copy and edit the php-fpm configuration for PHP 8.1.

  1. Copy the existing configuration file from PHP 7.4 to 8.1 
    cp /etc/php/7.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf /etc/php/8.1/fpm/pool.d/www.conf
  2. Open the configuration file with nano to edit it

    You can use CTRL + w to search in the file, with CRTL + o you can save the changed file and with CRTL + x you can close the editor.

    nano /etc/php/8.1/fpm/pool.d/www.conf
  3. Find the following line: 
    listen = /run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock
    and replace it with this line: 
    listen = /run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock
  4. Now save the file with CRTL + o and exit the editor with CRTL + x

Enable the DietPi configuration for PHP 8.1

  1. Enable the image magick module (Errors related to PHP 7.4 can be ignored) 
    phpenmod imagick
  2. Symlink DietPi PHP 7.4 configuration to PHP 8.1 
    ln -s /etc/php/7.4/mods-available/dietpi-nextcloud.ini /etc/php/8.1/mods-available/dietpi-nextcloud.ini
ln -s /etc/php/7.4/mods-available/dietpi.ini /etc/php/8.1/mods-available/dietpi.ini
  3. Enable the DietPi configuration for PHP 8.1 
    phpenmod dietpi
phpenmod dietpi-nextcloud

Restart the php-fpm service

service php8.1-fpm restart

Set up Nginx for PHP 8.1

Now you need to edit the configuration for nginx to instruct it to use PHP 8.1.

  1. Open the configuration file with nano to edit it

    You can use CTRL + w to search in the file, with CRTL + o you can save the changed file and with CRTL + x you can close the editor.

    nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
  2. Find the following section: 
        upstream php {
        server unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
    }
    Change the "server" from "unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;" to "unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;". (If you already followed the PHP 8.0 upgrade guide, the line will read "unix:/run/php/php8.0-fpm.sock;" instead of 7.4.) The section should now read like this: 
        upstream php {
        server unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
    }
  3. Now save the file with CRTL + o and exit the editor with CRTL + x
  4. Restart nginx 
    service nginx restart

Upgrading Nextcloud

Since you're likely on an unsupported version of Nextcloud, it's a good idea to upgrade to the latest version now. To do so, follow these steps until you're on the latest version which supports PHP 8.1

  1. Go into the Nextcloud updater folder 
    cd /var/www/nextcloud/updater
  2. Run the updater 
    sudo -u www-data  php updater.phar
  3. Enter y when asked Start update? [y/N]
  4. Enter y when asked Should the "occ upgrade" command be executed? [Y/n]
  5. Enter n when asked Keep maintenance mode active? [y/N]
  6. Check if your Nextcloud is fully functional after the upgrade
  7. Repeat from Step 2 until the updater tells you that no update is available.

Set the PHP command line version

By default, your DietPi should now be using PHP 8.1. You can check this by running php -v. The output should look like this:

root@DietPi:~# php -v
PHP 8.1.13 (cli) (built: Nov 26 2022 14:27:02) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.13, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.1.13, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

It's important that it shows PHP 8.1.*. If it doesn't, use the command update-alternatives --config php to set PHP 8.1 as default. Select the option with the path "/usr/bin/php8.1" and confirm.

root@DietPi:~# update-alternatives --config php
There are 2 choices for the alternative php (providing /usr/bin/php).

  Selection    Path             Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0            /usr/bin/php8.1   81        auto mode
  1            /usr/bin/php7.4   74        manual mode
  2            /usr/bin/php8.1   81        manual mode

Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:0

Check for Nextcloud and App updates

Check for server and app updates for your Nextcloud.

  1. Check for updates 
    ncc update:check
  2. Install updates of the passwords app if available 
    ncc app:update passwords

Done

Congratulations! You're done with the upgrade to PHP 8.1 now. To verify that everything has worked, log into your Nextcloud, click on your account icon and click on "Administration settings". There, open the "System" section and scroll down to PHP. You should also go to the "Overview" section and take care of any warnings that show up there.

Then continue to the PHP 8.2 Upgrade

Notes

  • It can take a day before app updates show up in the apps store

How to Switch back to PHP 7.4

You can switch back to PHP 7.4 at any time if something does not work.

  1. First, edit the configuration for nginx and instruct it to use PHP 7.4 again.

    You can use CTRL + w to search in the file, with CRTL + o you can save the changed file and with CRTL + x you can close the editor.

    nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
  2. Find the section that you changed: 
        upstream php {
        server unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
    }
    Change the "server" from "unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;" back to "unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;". The section should now read like this: 
        upstream php {
        server unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
    }
  3. Now save the file with CRTL + o and exit the editor with CRTL + x
  4. Restart nginx 
    service nginx restart
  5. Now run the command update-alternatives --config php to select which PHP version should be used for the command line. Select the option with the path "/usr/bin/php7.4" and confirm. 
    root@DietPi:~# update-alternatives --config php
There are 2 choices for the alternative php (providing /usr/bin/php).

  Selection    Path             Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0            /usr/bin/php8.1   81        auto mode
  1            /usr/bin/php7.4   74        manual mode
  2            /usr/bin/php8.1   81        manual mode

Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:1

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