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How will the upgrade to PHP 5.3.x affect me?

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Over the past few months the need to upgrade to PHP 5.3.x across our fleet has been ever increasing. As PHP 5.2.x is now end of life and has not been updated in just over a year we are now undertaking a process of upgrading all of our servers to the latest PHP 5.3.9 version. Given the nature of this upgrade it is essential everyone is aware it is taking place.

If you are concerned whether your software will operate correctly under PHP 5.3.9 please check the requirements with your script creator - the latest versions of common scripts such as Joomla, Wordpress, Drupal, Moodle, phpBB3, Magento, are all compatible with this upgrade. For those interested in the technical changes which php 5.3 implements please see this notice on the cPanel forums (this is beneficial for those running custom coded or old scripts),

Over the past month our upgrade process has undergone rigorous testing to ensure it works right, this includes issuing changes to custom php.ini files should they exist within a user account - this should require no changes on your part. If you have a custom PHP.INI within your cPanel account, if the following lines exist they will be removed as part of the upgrade process:

extension_dir = "/usr/local/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20060613"
zend_extension = "/usr/local/IonCube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.2.so"

zend_extension_ts = "/usr/local/IonCube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.2_ts.so"

zend_extension = /usr/local/Zend/lib/Optimizer-3.3.9/php-5.2.x/ZendOptimizer.so

zend_extension = "/usr/local/IonCube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.2.so"

zend_extension_ts = "/usr/local/IonCube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.2_ts.so"
zend_extension = /usr/local/Zend/lib/Optimizer-3.3.9/php-5.2.x/ZendOptimizer.so
extension=fileinfo.so

Following their removal, the following additions will be made:

date.timezone="Australia/Melbourne"

extension_dir = "/usr/local/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20090626"

zend_extension="/usr/local/IonCube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.3.so"

zend_extension="/usr/local/Zend/lib/Guard-5.5.0/php-5.3.x/ZendGuardLoader.so"

These changes are neccessary as the upgrade see's a newer versions of ioncube installed, a new zend extension introduced, fileinfo integrated into PHP and the requirement for the timezone to be declared where a custom php.ini exists.

This is simply an advisory to make you aware these changes are being made, these automatic php.ini changes are in place to ensure the process is completed smoothly in the hope of removing the need for end users to make any adjustments.

Should you experience any issues following the upgrade please do not hesitate to lodge an eTicket to our customer care team if the solution is not below or easily found via a google search.

Deprecated warnings

If you're using an old script which makes use of aging PHP functions, post-upgrade you may find that it's displaying deprecated warnings (for the likes of register_globals, magic_quotes, etc). Should this occur, one simply needs to silence these warnings through your php.ini file in your public_html folder (if you don't already have a php.ini please generate one via VIPControl > Manage Hosting Services > Dropdown Options: PHP.INI Builder). Please add the following lines to the start of your php.ini to silence deprecated warnings:

error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED

display_errors = Off

Adding those lines to your php.ini will silence any deprecated warnings. As an aside note, if you are receiving deprecated warnings, it means your website script is using php functions which are set to be removed in the next major release of PHP. Whilst this is a long time off (>1 year away), it is important to keep this in mind to ensure you upgrade your script sometime in the future.

Gallery 2/3 isn't loading

Due to compatability issues, Gallery2/3 don't currently support Zend Loader which is by default enabled on php 5.3 - as a result your gallery may not be working post upgrade.If this is the case, to resolve the issue please rebuild your php.ini via VIPControl > Manage Hosting Services > Dropdown Options: PHP.INI Builder and use the Gallery pre-set option.

My website/script isn't working

If the above suggestions don't produce any positive results or apply to your situation, you may find your script simply isn't supported by PHP 5.3. Please ensure you're running the latest version of your script, check that it supports PHP 5.3.9 (check it's server requirements at the developers website) and search google for common components of errors you may be receiving. If all else fails, simply let our Customer Care team know via eTicket and we may be able to shed further right on the situation.