(OT) Anyone got PHP5 installed?

[Daniel Pittman]

Donn <donn.ingle at gmail.com> writes:

> I see PHP5 is available (I'm assuming it's on the backports repo).
> Wondering if I can just "aptitude install php5" or if I must worry
> about php4 ? I don't want to break php4 but at the same time I need to
> move on to php5.
>
> If they both live together, how does one tell apache to use one and
> not the other?

You can install both concurrently, but you cannot successfully load
both into a single Apache process concurrently.

The way you select which is used by Apache is by enabling either the
php4 or php5 module and disabling the other -- just like any other
Apache module; see the Ubuntu Apache package documentation for details
on how.

The typical solution to needing to use both in the same installation of
Apache is one of:

 * run two versions of Apache side by side (by creating a second
   configuration file and manually getting the other to start)

 * run one as an in-process interpreter and the second as a CGI or
   FastCGI interpreter.

 * run both as CGI or FastCGI out-of-process interpreters. 

My personal recommendation is that you use the last model: it completely
insulates the Apache and PHP processes, ensuring that they will never
conflict over shared libraries, etc.

It also makes it much easier for the system to reclaim resources used by
one or the other without needing to spend more time and effort than is
strictly needed.

The PHP FastCGI support ensures that you have all the advantages of an
in-process interpreter without any of the corresponding disadvantages.

Regards,
        Daniel
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