Change the PHP version the shell uses

Overview

You can change the PHP version your shell uses for all PHP commands by updating your shell's profile file to point to a specific PHP-CLI version, instead of relying on the system default.

Background

When you run a php command on the server, it uses the system version. However, since this can change over time, you can specify a version of PHP for your shell to use so that all PHP commands use that specific version instead.

Which shell user's file can I update?

The examples in this article use the bash shell. There are also other shells you can use at DreamHost. The profile file you update is different depending on the shell type you're using. For example, the currently supported default shells are Bash, Korn, Tcsh, and Zsh. Below are the profile files for each shell type:

• .bash_profile
• .kshrc
• .tcshrc
• .zshrc

alias php /usr/local/php84/bin/php
set path=(/usr/local/php84/bin $path)

You can also modify this accordingly using the path to any of the PHP-CLI binaries.

How do I change the PHP version?

The following sections explain how to use the .bash_profile to change the PHP version.

How do I change the PHP version under my shell user?

To change the default version of PHP:

1. Log into your user via SSH.

2. Make sure you’re in your user's directory by running the following:

   [server]$ cd ~

3. View the creating and editing a file via SSH article for instructions on how to edit your existing .bash_profile. Add the following line to force PHP 8.4:

   export PATH=/usr/local/php84/bin:$PATH 
   

4. Save and close the file and return to your shell.

5. Run the following command to update the file:

   [server]$ . ~/.bash_profile

6. You can then run php -v to see the version currently in use:

   [server]$ php -v

How do I use an alias to change the PHP version?

You can also use an alias instead. Add the following to your .bash_profile file:

alias php='/usr/local/php84/bin/php'

This works the same as export PATH when added to your .bash_profile.

See also

• PHP overview
• Creating and editing a file via SSH
• Change the PHP version of a site
• What versions of PHP are available at DreamHost?
• Default PHP settings at DreamHost