When will Blue Host have PHP 5.3?

[handcraftedweb]

If there's any projected date I'd like to know.

I have a large project coming up and I'd like to use PHP 5.3 namespaces. If it's going to be a while before bluehost gets PHP 5.3 I'll make do without namespaces.

Thanks,
...Mike

[TonyS]

No projected date. It'll likely happen suddenly with no warning, whenever the admins decide it's time to upgrade.

[handcraftedweb]

I just received a response from bluehost support. Official answer: "several months". Fair enough.

...Mike

[dkinzer]

It'll likely happen suddenly with no warning, [...].And after the upgrade to v5.3, there will probably be quite a few websites that no longer work correctly or emit warning messages visible to users. This is why I wish BH would give at least some advance notice before upgrading major system components. I believe that my site's scripts are now compatible with PHP v5.3 but if I knew that an upgrade was scheduled for next week, I would be better prepared to handle any issues that might arise.

[felgall]

The problem is that with so many servers it actually takes quite a long while for BlueHost to upgrade them all and presumably they don't know when they will get to a given server as it depends on what issues they may have with the prior ones.

I agree it would be useful if they were to make an announcement somewhere that an upgrade were underway and that we can expect the change to take place some time over the next x weeks. If they were to email everyone in advance then sending out the millions of emails would add several days to the time it would take for each update.

[TonyS]

usually the admins will upgrade 50-100 boxes first to see if anything blows up, then push the update out to the rest of the servers.

dkinzer is correct though, the last few PHP updates have blown something up in php.ini requiring that file to be replaced on many accounts with a newer version.

Hopefully the next update will go more smoothly :)

[felgall]

I guess it depends on just how much you have in the php.ini - I only put the actual entries I am overriding in the php.ini and let it pick up the defaults for everything else so if the defaults change between versions my file isn't affected.

[TonyS]

That's a really good approach felgall. The problem is that a lot of BH clients use the default php.ini file that gets installed via the PHP Config screen in the cPanel, which has a lot of repeats of the server default settings. So, when the version changes, if there's an issue between the old defaults and the new defaults... KABOOM goes the site.

[felgall]

That's a really good approach felgall. The problem is that a lot of BH clients use the default php.ini file that gets installed via the PHP Config screen in the cPanel, which has a lot of repeats of the server default settings. So, when the version changes, if there's an issue between the old defaults and the new defaults... KABOOM goes the site.

I realise that. I mentioned the alternative way so that people who see this thread realise that there is a way they can change their php.ini to reduce the possibilities of an upgrade causing them problems.

[dodbits]

And after the upgrade to v5.3, there will probably be quite a few websites that no longer work correctly or emit warning messages visible to users.

PHP version 5.2.13 ... it has not happened yet? I was wondering because without any changes to my site for months... lots of errors and "you need a higher version of php" in my Joomla! admin back end... no new stuff installed and been rock solid for a year.

Has Bluehost changed the version recently?

[farcaster]

If you go to the cPanel for your account, the versions of the major packages are at the bottom of the left column. Since we are only BH users here, we can only speak for our account(s). But it's my understanding that 5.2.13 is the standard right now for Bluehost.

[arnb]

I guess it depends on just how much you have in the php.ini - I only put the actual entries I am overriding in the php.ini and let it pick up the defaults for everything else so if the defaults change between versions my file isn't affected.

Having a very ancient version of php.ini on my site I decided to follow fellgalls approach and ran a phpinfo script to see what if anything I was currently overriding from the default version. Surprise, everything was identical, so I decided to try my site with the default version of php.ini

I renamed my php.ini to phi.inix, killed all running processes, then tested out my web site. So far it all seems to work and there are no errors in the PHP error logs. Should I need any future overrides I will follow felgall's advice.

For those needing a phpinfo script:
<?php
phpinfo();
return;
?>

FTP to your site as info.php, then run it. yoursitename/info.php
I suggest deleting it when you are done using it.

[arnb]

I guess it depends on just how much you have in the php.ini - I only put the actual entries I am overriding in the php.ini and let it pick up the defaults for everything else so if the defaults change between versions my file isn't affected.

Having a very ancient version of php.ini on my site I decided to follow fellgalls approach and ran a phpinfo script to see what if anything I was currently overriding from the default version. Surprise, everything was identical, so I decided to try my site with the default version of php.ini

I renamed my php.ini to phi.inix, killed all running processes, then tested out my web site. So far it all seems to work and there are no errors in the PHP error logs. Should I need any future overrides I will follow felgall's advice.

For those needing a phpinfo script:
<?php
phpinfo();
return;
?>

FTP to your site as info.php, then run it. yoursitename/info.php
I suggest deleting it when you are done using it.

[arnb]

After making my prior post about php.ini I ran a machine compare of the info.php output from the various configurations as a verification of my eyeball compare and found the following variances

allow_call_time_pass_reference: Default: ON, mine OFF
magic_quotes_gpc: default: ON, mine: OFF

I created a php.ini override file and loaded it to my site. After another run of phpinfo I had a raft of discrepencies and for now decided to go back to my original php.ini file until I can figure out what is going on.

My override file follows

[PHP]
; My php overrides to default php.ini at Bluehost
;
; Whether to enable the ability to force arguments to be passed by reference
; at function call time. This method is deprecated and is likely to be
; unsupported in future versions of PHP/Zend. The encouraged method of
; specifying which arguments should be passed by reference is in the function
; declaration. You're encouraged to try and turn this option Off and make
; sure your scripts work properly with it in order to ensure they will work
; with future versions of the language (you will receive a warning each time
; you use this feature, and the argument will be passed by value instead of by
; reference).
allow_call_time_pass_reference = Off

; Magic quotes for runtime-generated data, e.g. data from SQL, from exec(), etc.
magic_quotes_gpc = Off

[aarontx]

Do we need to formally request that our server is updated to PHP 5.3? I would like a couple servers updated so I can put Drupal 7 sites on them.

Thanks.

[farcaster]

I can't answer directly for Bluehost, but with the major changes from 5.2 to 5.3, there may be package incompatibilities. At the very least they probably need an extensive testing period before they start releasing it. Keep in mind that these resources are shared with all the other users on the server you are using.

However, Drupal 7 does not require PHP 5.3 - they only recommend it and state that the minimum requirement is 5.2.5. So go ahead and use Drupal 7 on your sites. The servers exceed the minimum requirements.

[TonyS]

Do we need to formally request that our server is updated to PHP 5.3? I would like a couple servers updated so I can put Drupal 7 sites on them.

Thanks.

Such a request wouldn't help unfortunately. The admins will upgrade to 5.3 when they feel it's appropriate and not before. Everything is running 5.2.16 for now.

[Dave]

It would be good to offer dual version php, one is 5.2.x and the other one is 5.3.x. By this way you could make sure it won't impact the existing customer and also could meet the need from potential customers who want the latest version of php.

[rishk789]

Based on the numerous convos I've had with BH's support staff regarding having even the option of using PHP 5.3.x, they're still giving the typical "we're sorry for the inconvenience... our technicians are working on it... we're not sure when it'll be available" answer. Who knows, PHP6 might be out before we ever see support for anything beyond PHP 5.2. ;)

[cls]

The new upgrade to Wordpress 3.2 requires PHP 5.2.4 or better. I upgraded without realizing this and now have to restore all my sites back to the old Wordpress version. Learned my lesson tho - only upgrade one site first. This way I could have tested it before giving upgrading everything.

[farcaster]

The new upgrade to Wordpress 3.2 requires PHP 5.2.4 or better. I upgraded without realizing this and now have to restore all my sites back to the old Wordpress version. Learned my lesson tho - only upgrade one site first. This way I could have tested it before giving upgrading everything.

I am not sure what this post has to do with a discussion of PHP 5.3.

And yes, Wordpress does require a minimum of PHP 5.2.4 - but if you check your cPanel you will find that 5.2.17 is the current version for Bluehost servers. That version is above the requirements for Wordpress.

In all fairness to Bluehost and the forum readers, you should get the facts straight prior to posting incorrect or misleading information. As a side note, most failures to upgrade to WP 3.2 are caused by plugins and in some cases themes that have not been upgraded. Information on this and the proper procedures to follow can be found on the Wordpress forums.

[yawlcome]

OK -- glad to see this. Is there an easy way to upgrade my wordpress to 3.2? I have it on Bluehost, but in the past have been prompted to upgrade and it just did it. What's the procedure these days?

thanks -- any (good) help appreciated :-)

Michael

[farcaster]

The same way as before - read the post above yours.

[farcaster]

Any more posts about Wordpress here will be promptly deleted. The thread concerns PHP 5.3

Let's stop hijacking it. Start a new thread if you have to.

[chendrickson]

The new upgrade to Wordpress 3.2 requires PHP 5.2.4 or better. I upgraded without realizing this and now have to restore all my sites back to the old Wordpress version. Learned my lesson tho - only upgrade one site first. This way I could have tested it before giving upgrading everything.

I am confused by this. We are currently running PHP 5.2.17 on our servers which is indeed greater than PHP 5.2.4. As for the various questions surrounding PHP 5.3 it of course is a huge priority that our admins are not taking lightly. We are doing extensive testing with 5.3 and the most favorable option so far is to run it side by side with PHP 5.2.17 the same way we ran PHP 4 next to PHP 5.x.xx etc. This is not a for sure done deal yet but it's one of the possibilities. As for an eta unfortunately that is the hardest part to say. Our testing is resulting in unfavorable results and we prefer to make sure it will be rock solid before we go live.