PHP Switch 🐘

A simple and elegant PHP version manager for Linux, inspired by nvm (Node Version Manager).

Easily switch between multiple PHP versions with a single command!

✨ Features

• 🔄 Quick Version Switching - Switch PHP versions with a single command
• 📋 List Installed Versions - See all available PHP versions at a glance
• 🌐 List Remote Versions - See all PHP versions available to install
• 📊 Detailed PHP Info - View memory limits, config paths, timezone, and more
• 🧩 Extension Management - List, compare, and install PHP extensions
• 🎨 Colored Output - Beautiful, easy-to-read terminal output
• ⌨️ Tab Completion - Auto-complete version numbers and commands
• 🔧 Tool Switching - Automatically switches related tools (phpize, phar, php-config)
• 📅 Support Status - Shows Active Support, Security Only, and EOL status

📋 Prerequisites

• Linux (Ubuntu/Debian-based distributions)
• Bash shell
• Multiple PHP versions installed via apt (e.g., from Ondřej Surý's PPA)
• sudo privileges (for switching PHP versions)

Installing Multiple PHP Versions (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Add the PHP repository
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt update

# Install desired PHP versions
sudo apt install php7.4 php8.0 php8.1 php8.2 php8.3 php8.4

# Install common extensions (optional)
sudo apt install php8.3-{cli,fpm,mysql,xml,curl,mbstring,zip,gd,bcmath}

🚀 Installation

Quick Install (One-liner)

curl -o ~/.php-switch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alanshijo/php-version-manager/main/php-switch.sh && echo 'source ~/.php-switch' >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc

Manual Installation

1. Download the script:

   curl -o ~/.php-switch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alanshijo/php-version-manager/main/php-switch.sh

   Or clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/alanshijo/php-version-manager.git
   cp php-switch/php-switch.sh ~/.php-switch

2. Add to your shell configuration:

   For Bash (~/.bashrc):

   echo 'source ~/.php-switch' >> ~/.bashrc

   For Zsh (~/.zshrc):

   echo 'source ~/.php-switch' >> ~/.zshrc

3. Reload your shell:

   source ~/.bashrc
   # or
   source ~/.zshrc

4. Verify installation:

   php-switch --help

📖 Usage

Switch PHP Version

# Switch to PHP 8.3
php-switch 8.3

# Alternative syntax
php-use 8.3

# Also accepts 'php' prefix
php-switch php7.4

List Installed Versions

php-list

# Output:
# Installed PHP versions:
#
#     7.4
#     8.2
#   ► 8.3 (current)
#     8.4

Show Current Version

php-switch --current
# or
php-switch -c

View Detailed PHP Information

php-info

# Output:
# ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
# ║           PHP Information                 ║
# ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
#
# Version:        8.3
# Binary:         /usr/bin/php
# Config File:    /etc/php/8.3/cli/php.ini
# Memory Limit:   -1
# Max Execution:  0s
# Upload Max:     2M
# Post Max:       8M
# Timezone:       UTC
# Composer:       2.8.6

List Remote Versions (like nvm ls-remote)

# Show all supported PHP versions
php-ls-remote

# Output:
# ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
# ║              Available PHP Versions (Remote)                  ║
# ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
#
#   VERSION    RELEASE         STATUS             SUPPORT
#   ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#     8.5      2025-11-20      Active Support     until 2027-12-31 (Latest)
#   ✓ 8.4      2024-11-21      Active Support     until 2026-12-31 (current)
#   ✓ 8.3      2023-11-23      Security Only      until 2027-12-31
#   ✓ 8.2      2022-12-08      Security Only      until 2026-12-31
#     8.1      2021-11-25      Security Only      until 2025-12-31

# Show only LTS/supported versions
php-ls-remote --lts

# Show all versions including EOL
php-ls-remote --all

# Filter by major version
php-ls-remote 8

Get Latest Release Info

php-latest

# Fetches latest stable releases from php.net API

List Extensions

# List extensions for current PHP version
php-extensions

# List extensions for a specific version
php-extensions 8.1

Compare Extensions Between Versions

php-compare 7.4 8.3

# Shows extensions unique to each version

Search Available Modules

# List available packages for current PHP version
php-modules

# Search for specific packages
php-modules mysql
php-modules curl

Install Extension

# Install an extension for current PHP version
php-install curl
php-install mysql
php-install gd

📚 Command Reference

Command	Alias	Description
php-switch <version>	php-use <version>	Switch to specified PHP version
php-switch --list	php-switch -l	List all installed versions
php-switch --current	php-switch -c	Show current PHP version
php-switch --info	php-switch -i	Show detailed PHP information
php-switch --help	php-switch -h	Show help message
php-list	-	List installed versions with current highlighted
php-ls-remote	-	List all available PHP versions (like nvm ls-remote)
php-ls-remote --lts	-	List only supported versions
php-ls-remote --all	-	List all versions including EOL
php-ls-remote <ver>	-	Filter by version (e.g., 8, 8.3)
php-latest	-	Fetch latest releases from php.net
php-info	-	Display detailed PHP configuration
php-extensions [ver]	-	List extensions (optionally for specific version)
php-modules [keyword]	-	Search available apt packages
php-install <ext>	-	Install extension for current version
php-compare <v1> <v2>	-	Compare extensions between two versions

⚙️ How It Works

PHP Switch uses Ubuntu/Debian's update-alternatives system to manage PHP versions. When you switch versions, it updates the symbolic links for:

• php - Main PHP binary
• phar - PHP Archive tool
• phar.phar - PHP Archive tool (alternative)
• phpize - PHP extension build tool
• php-config - PHP build configuration
• phpdbg - PHP debugger

🔧 Configuration

Custom PHP Binary Location

If your PHP binaries are installed in a different location, you can modify the script:

# Edit ~/.php-switch and change this line:
ls -1 /usr/bin/php[0-9]* 2>/dev/null

# To your custom path:
ls -1 /custom/path/php[0-9]* 2>/dev/null

Disable Colors

To disable colored output, add this before sourcing the script:

export PHP_SWITCH_NO_COLOR=1
source ~/.php-switch

🐛 Troubleshooting

"PHP version is not installed"

Make sure the PHP version is installed:

ls /usr/bin/php*

If not installed, add Ondřej's PPA and install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.3

"Permission denied" when switching

The script requires sudo to modify system alternatives. Make sure your user has sudo privileges.

Tab completion not working

Reload your shell configuration:

source ~/.bashrc

Or restart your terminal.

Changes not reflected in Apache/Nginx

This script only changes the CLI PHP version. For web servers, you need to:

# For Apache
sudo a2dismod php7.4
sudo a2enmod php8.3
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# For Nginx with PHP-FPM
sudo systemctl stop php7.4-fpm
sudo systemctl start php8.3-fpm
# Update your nginx config to use the new FPM socket

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by nvm (Node Version Manager)
• Thanks to Ondřej Surý for maintaining the PHP PPA

📬 Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions, please open an issue on GitHub.

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Happy PHP switching! 🚀