This FAQ entry has information aimed at both non-technical and technical users and developers.
Note! This entry is about PHP versions no longer offered.
PHP 7.4 was the default for web hosting Medium or greater from 20 August 2020 to desember 2021.
PHP 7.3 was default for web hosting Medium or greater between 5 February 2019 and 20 August 2020.
PHP 7.2 was default for web hosting Medium or greater between late May 2018 and 5 February 2019.
We offer the following PHP 7 versions:
- 7.3 (supported until fall 2021)
- 7.4 (supported until fall 2022)
If you experience problems you think are caused by our configuration or deficiencies with our servers, please first check that your software works with your PHP version and that the tips below don't work out for you before you contact our support.
Overview
When will PHP 7.x enter regular service?
PHP 7 is being phased out as of November 2022. Upgrade to PHP 8.1 or newer as soon as possible.
What does this FAQ entry answer?
This page tries to cover some of the questions we think you may ask, or which we have received questions about. We will update it as necessary.
What is the difference between the old and new webservers?
The operating system on all new webservers are running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, the old ran Debian 9 Stretch.
What is the difference between the PHP 7 versions?
There are no big changes between different PHP 7 versions on our servers. Check the PHP documentation for your version for detailed information about the changes:
The PHP-configuration for 7.x is nearly the same as 5.6. Notable differences:
- If your CMS (e.g. Drupal, Joomla!, WordPress) has not been updated in years, you may get an error message about "mysql connection", "mysql driver", or "mysqli driver", because the CMS is incompatible with PHP 7. Upgrade to the current version.
- IonCube Loader can be activated from the control panel for your web hosting. It will not be possible to use your own
php.ini if you activate these services. This is a preferred option compared to using user-created php.ini files and other additions.
- Zend Guard Loader is officially discontinuted as of PHP 7.0.
Which applications/services will have trouble running on our PHP 7.x webservers?
Most programs and additions that ran on PHP 5.6, will run on PHP 7 as well. Check with your program provider to make sure your software is supporting PHP 7.
You may see an error message about MySQL, "mysqli" etc. if you have an old php.ini, this file must then be removed.
Regarding self-developed code, check PHP-documentation for what changed that is not backward-compatible with PHP 7.
If you are running self-written modules or additions in PHP 5.6 you will most likely have to upgrade them to be compatible with more recent PHP versions (7.x). This includes (in most cases) IonCube Loader. Support for IonCube Loader is recommended to be activated via the control panel for the web hosting.
Can I switch between the different PHP versions?
Yes, you can freely switch between different versions.
Please note that the version changes may take up to 20 minutes.
When we announce that we're no longer supporting a specific version, you can no longer select that specific version.
Can I test/use PHP 7 on shell.domeneshop.no/via SSH?
Yes. You can use shell.domeneshop.no. This shell server automatically provides the same PHP version that you have chosen for your web hosting.
How long will you support PHP 7?
We will support the various versions approximately as long as PHP offers security updates, but will start phasing out before security support ends.
We ceased offering PHP 5.6 and PHP 7.0 on 12 December 2018, ceased offering PHP 7.1 on 1 December 2019, ceased offering PHP 7.2 on 2 November 2020, ceased offering PHP 7.3 on 6 December 2021, and ceased offering PHP 7.4 30 November 2022.
For other versions, please follow the link, and plan upgrades in good time. Our plans may change if PHP changes their plans regarding security updates.
My PHP-program is not working. Why?
Check How can I see PHP errors/debug PHP code? for additional help.
If you are using WordPress, activate error logging as described above. In most cases, the error messages will contain information about a WordPress plugin causing issues. This plugin can then be deactivated by deleting or renaming the plugin folder via FTP. See here for an explanation.
If you are using WordPress or Joomla, you can read more about errors/debugging about these systems here.
Known upgrade issues
If you are experiencing problems after upgrading, check this list of common problems and solutions.
- "Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress."
- Your WordPress is too old, upgrade to the most recent version. The lowest version supporting PHP 7.3 and more recent, is WordPress 5.0.
- "Error establishing a database connection"
Delete your old php.ini.
- "The mysqli extension is missing"
Delete your old php.ini.
- The page is blank/HTTP error 500
Joomla!/WordPress: see our short guide for trouble-shooting Joomla! and WordPress problems
Other PHP software: see our general PHP trouble-shooting guide
- Silverstripe does not work
Delete the folder silverstripe-cache.
- SMF does not work
Upgrade SMF to 2.0.18 or newer, or retire SMF and use other software supporting PHP 7.4.
- National characters are displayed as question marks, or not at all
In PHP 7.x,
default_charset is set to UTF-8. If you have content in Latin-1 (ISO 8859-1) or other deprecated character sets, these may be displayed incorrectly. You can either convert your content to UTF-8, or set default_charset="" in .user.ini
- mcrypt does not work
mcrypt does not exist for PHP 7.2 and newer, upgrade your software to a version supporting PHP 7.4 and newer, and which uses OpenSSL or Sodium instead of Mcrypt.
- recode does not work
recode does not exist for PHP 7.4 and newer, upgrade your software to a version supporting PHP 7.4 and newer, and which other modules.
- Custom
ErrorDocument does not work for PHP files, but works for other files
All filenames ending with .php are handled by uWSGI, Apache's ErrorDocument will never apply for such files.
- Perl got a security update (debian.org) prohibiting direct
require of files from the current working directory, without specifying path.
Use local::lib and other current Perl practices to make your own Perl libraries, or manipulate @INC if you know how.
How do I change the PHP version?
- Login at www.domainnameshop.com
- Click on "My domains"
- Click on the domainname in question
- Click on the tab "Web hosting", in the top menu
- Click on "View/change" on the PHP line
- Select your desired PHP version
- Click on the "Update" button to execute your change
Please note that the change may take 20 minutes to take effect.
support
+47 2294 3333 (open)
