How to install multiple PHP versions on Ubuntu

Hey folks! Once again with another super quick and practical tutorial on how to set up multiple PHP versions on Ubuntu. Hope you enjoy.

Sometimes, when we’re developing our applications or working on other projects, we may run into different PHP versions than what’s installed on our machine. Then we spend hours and hours on the internet looking for a solution that actually works.

This tutorial was tested on my personal machine with the following configurations:

• Ubuntu 22.04;
• 16GB of RAM;

So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Check your PHP version by running the command below:

php -v
PHP 7.3.24-3+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 (cli) (built: Oct 31 2020 17:00:17) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) 1997-2018 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.3.24, Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v7.3.24-3+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1, Copyright (c) 1999-2018, by Zend Technologies
    with Xdebug v3.0.1, Copyright (c) 2002-2020, by Derick Rethans

The first step is to add the PPA to Ubuntu, which is maintained by Ondrej Surý. Run the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Let’s update the system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

Now, with the PPA installed and the system updated, let’s install the PHP versions we want:

PHP 7.2

sudo apt install php7.2

PHP 7.3

sudo apt install php7.3

PHP 7.4

sudo apt install php7.4

PHP 8.0

sudo apt install php8.0

PHP 8.1

sudo apt install php8.1

Then, you can select the version using the update-alternatives command:

PHP 7.2

sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php7.2

PHP 7.4

sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php7.4

PHP 8.0

sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php8.0

PHP 8.1

sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php8.1

To select the PHP version that will work with Apache, first disable the current version with the a2dismod command and then enable the version you need with the a2enmod command:

Example of disabling PHP 7.4. If you want to disable another version, just replace 7.4 with the version you intend to disable:

sudo a2dismod php7.4

Enable the desired version:

sudo a2enmod php8.0

Let’s restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Done — now we see the version we want. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.