Cloudways is pleased to announce the availability of PHP 8 for all users.
PHP 8 comes with a range of improvements and new features that will help our users improve application stability, performance, and in general, write a better codebase for their projects as all popular CMS and frameworks are in the process of releasing PHP8-compatible versions (in fact, WordPress 5.6 and Laravel 8 have announced their compatibility with PHP 8).
While the official release was in November 2020, our engineering teams took their time testing the versions as they have been released to make sure we deploy the version that provides stability and optimal performance for the deployed PHP applications. Once the integration cycle finished, we moved into an extensive testing phase to ensure proper functionality.
So now you can head over to our PHP hosting platform, launch a managed server and a custom PHP application within minutes, and have the confidence that you have a solid foundation for your PHP-powered business websites and applications.
Important: Before deploying or migrating your PHP applications, test the codebase to make sure it is compatible with PHP 8.
If You Already Have Cloudways Managed Servers
At the moment, you have the option of PHP 5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 8.0, with PHP 7.3 being the default version.
All existing servers will continue to work with the deployed PHP version, with no change in functionality and experience. However, if you wish to change your PHP version, simply go to Server > Access Detail > Settings & Packages tab and select your preferred PHP version.
It is very important that you check application codebase compatibility with PHP 8 to avoid surprises and potential downtime.
Upgrading to PHP 8
You can easily upgrade your existing or new server to PHP 8 by following these steps:
Go to Server Management > Access Detail > Settings & Packages tab
Select PHP 8 from the drop-down menu
Click Save
Read the warning and click OK
The upgrade process takes a few minutes and your server will be upgraded without any downtime.
Next, to verify that PHP 8 is indeed available at your server, Launch the SSH terminal from the Master Credentials tab and log in using your credentials. Use the php -v
command to check the installed PHP version.
As you can see, the server has been upgraded to PHP 8.
Test Before Taking It Live
PHP 8 has its own share of compatibility issues that you need to evaluate before making the decision to upgrade. In general, Magento 1.5 and above and Laravel 5.2 ~ 5.8 are reported to be incompatible with the current release of PHP 8. To learn more about the issue, check out our Knowledgebase article.
To make sure that your application remains operational and there is no downtime for your customers, we highly recommend that you test your codebase in a staging environment so that your live websites remain unaffected. Learn more about how you can use our staging environment here.
Wrapping It Up
PHP 8 offers a significant improvement over the previous versions and the community is buzzing with the potential of the features introduced in the version. We hope that you will test the version and consider porting your existing applications and using the new version for your upcoming projects.
We invite you to test out PHP 8 and read about PHP benchmarks at staging areas before deploying their apple to live servers. In case you run into any issues while upgrading your servers or deploying your applications, do contact our 24/7/365 Support for assistance.
Owais Khan
Owais works as a Marketing Manager at Cloudways (managed hosting platform) where he focuses on growth, demand generation, and strategic partnerships. With more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and B2B, Owais prefers to build systems that help teams achieve their full potential.