Upgrading the PHP version

[Thijs Kinkhorst]

Hi all,

As probably known the only "supported" PHP version for the OpenConext
platform is currently PHP 5.6. This obviously is starting to show its age,
not only re upstream support but also increasingly libraries are starting
to drop support for it meaning we cannot upgrade to newer versions of
those libraries.

(The PHP apps are Engineblock, Profile and the whole of Stepup.)

Next to solving the support issues with 5.6, upgrading to a 7+ version of
PHP also brings new language features that we can use and it has improved
performance.

I've investigated our options. I think it's reasonable to upgrade to PHP
7.3. This is the most recent PHP stable version and has seen a number of
point updates so is also not completely brand new. It makes sense to me
that if we upgrade, we do it to a version that is as modern as possible.

For OpenConext-deploy I've created a PR that will install 7.3 alongside
5.6 so it's easy to switch applications one by one, so no big bang
migrations are needed. Basically just tweak a line in the virtual host
configration to use a different socket.

There's then an open question whether if we support 7.3 that would at the
same time also be the minimum required version.

If we go with 7.3 then this will be the version that OpenConext-deploy
uses and that at least we will be using and testing against. I think we
can then reasonably say that this is the best version to use. So it makes
sense to me to say that you need to have PHP 7.3. Just like now we say you
need PHP 5.6.

Let me know your ideas about this.


Kind regards,
Thijs

[Niels van Dijk]

Hi Thijs

Would/Should this also include updating PHP version for the stepup
components of OpenConext?

Niels

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[Thijs Kinkhorst]

Op 22-05-19 om 10:41 schreef Niels van Dijk:

> Would/Should this also include updating PHP version for the stepup
> components of OpenConext?

The reasons that PHP 5.6 should be phased out for Engineblock apply
equally to Stepup.


Cheers,
Thijs

[Niels van Dijk]

Indeed,

So may I assume the php version for all of the platform (engine and
related and stepup) will all be upgraded to the same version in 1
'major' upgrade?

Niels

[Thijs Kinkhorst]

Op 22-05-19 om 10:49 schreef Niels van Dijk:

> So may I assume the php version for all of the platform (engine and
> related and stepup) will all be upgraded to the same version in 1
> 'major' upgrade?

No, as I wrote it is perfectly possible to switch applications one by one
from 5.6 to 7.3.


Cheers,
Thijs

[Niels van Dijk]

Ah sorry, missed that.

Thanks, Niels

[Tim van Dijen]

Just to let you know, I've recently migrated my demo-environment to PHP 7.3 (remi repository) and have experienced random crashes of php-fpm that I haven't been able to resolve yet.

7.2 works like a charm though..

Op woensdag 22 mei 2019 10:25:23 UTC+2 schreef Thijs Kinkhorst:

[Thijs Kinkhorst]

Op 22-05-19 om 12:58 schreef Tim van Dijen:

> Just to let you know, I've recently migrated my demo-environment to PHP
> 7.3 (remi repository) and have experienced random crashes of php-fpm that
> I haven't been able to resolve yet.
> 7.2 works like a charm though..

Thanks Tim.

We've done some assessments and we're currently going for an upgrade to
PHP 7.2.

This is mainly because we can likely do this in a way in which the
software (for a limited time) remains also compatible with 5.6. So that we
can do the upgrade in a small step and not a big-bang where we instantly
lose backwards compatibility.

We will be dropping support for 5.6 not long after though.


Cheers,
Thijs