Learn how to – How To Install PHP 8.1 on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8

Learn how to – How To Install PHP 8.1 on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8.

Welcome to this guide on how to install PHP 8.1 on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8. PHP is an open-source scripting language created by Rasmus Lerdorf, a Danish-Canadian programmer in 1994, with an aim of creating dynamic and interactive web pages. PHP servers as an alternative to Microsoft’s ASP. It is used to power the most powerful content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.

The latest release, PHP 8.1 is an update of its previous release PHP 8.0. This new release version has a lot of amazing features that include:

• Readonly properties – Class properties can be marked as readonly hence can only be written once
• Enums are available in PHP 8.1
• Never Return Type – A new return type hint called never is added in PHP 8.1
• Fibers – this is a low level mechanism to manage parallelism
• Performance improvements – the inheritance cache feature that allows links between classes to be cached.
• First-class callable syntax
• AVIF Image Format support – The PHP 8.1’s image processing and GD extension adds support for AVIF images.
• Support for DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)
• File Uploads with CURLStringFile – In PHP 8.1, PHP Curl extension now supports HTTP(S) requests with file uploads
• Pure intersection types
• Explicit octal integer literal notation
• Define final Class Constants

Let’s dive into the nub of this matter.

Step 1 – Add PHP 8.1 Remi Repository on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8

PHP is found in the default AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8 repositories but the available versions here are far away from the latest release versions. The available releases of PHP can be viewed using the DNF command below.

$ sudo dnf module list php
determining the fastest mirror (10 hosts).. done.--  B/s |   0  B     --:-- ETA
AlmaLinux 8 - BaseOS                            6.6 MB/s | 3.8 MB     00:00    
determining the fastest mirror (2 hosts).. done.---  B/s |   0  B     --:-- ETA
AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream                         7.2 MB/s | 8.2 MB     00:01    
AlmaLinux 8 - Extras                             25 kB/s |  12 kB     00:00    
AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream
Name      Stream       Profiles                       Summary                   
php       7.2 [d]      common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language    
php       7.3          common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language    
php       7.4          common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language    

Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalled

So, for us to be able to install this latest version, PHP 8.1, we need to add the Remi repository.

First, install the EPEL repo on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8.

sudo dnf install epel-release

With the EPEL repository installed, we will proceed and enable the Remi repository as below.

sudo dnf install dnf-utils http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm

Dependency tree:

Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
 Package                     Arch      Version            Repository       Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 remi-release                noarch    8.4-1.el8.remi     @commandline     26 k
 yum-utils                   noarch    4.0.21-3.el8       baseos           71 k
Upgrading:
 dnf-plugins-core            noarch    4.0.21-3.el8       baseos           69 k
 python3-dnf-plugins-core    noarch    4.0.21-3.el8       baseos          233 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install  2 Packages
Upgrade  2 Packages

Total size: 399 k
Total download size: 374 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y

Update your DNF package repository.

sudo dnf update

Accept the GPG key importation for the Remi repo.

Importing GPG key 0x5F11735A:
 Userid     : "Remi's RPM repository <remi@remirepo.net>"
 Fingerprint: 6B38 FEA7 231F 87F5 2B9C A9D8 5550 9759 5F11 735A
 From       : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-remi.el8
Is this ok [y/N]: y
......
Safe Remi's RPM repository for Enterprise Linux 3.0 MB/s | 3.1 kB     00:00    
Importing GPG key 0x5F11735A:
 Userid     : "Remi's RPM repository <remi@remirepo.net>"
 Fingerprint: 6B38 FEA7 231F 87F5 2B9C A9D8 5550 9759 5F11 735A
 From       : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-remi.el8
Is this ok [y/N]: y

Step 2 – Enable PHP 8.1 Repository on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8

From the previous output, we have seen that PHP 7.2 is the default version for PHP on Rhel based systems.

So after adding the Remi repository, we will list the available PHP options as below.

$ sudo dnf module list php
ast metadata expiration check: 0:16:07 ago on Tue 23 Nov 2021 02:21:16 AM EST.
AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream
Name     Stream       Profiles                       Summary                  
php      7.2 [d]      common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   
php      7.3          common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   
php      7.4          common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   

Remi's Modular repository for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64
Name     Stream       Profiles                       Summary                  
php      remi-7.2     common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   
php      remi-7.3     common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   
php      remi-7.4     common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   
php      remi-8.0     common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   
php      remi-8.1     common [d], devel, minimal     PHP scripting language   

Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalled

The [d] tag next to PHP 7.2 indicates the default PHP version enabled on our system. We will first need to reset this before we enable the latest version PHP 8.1 provided by the Remi repository.

sudo dnf module list reset php

Now enable PHP 8.1 as below.

sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.1

Sample Output:

Dependencies resolved.
==============================================================================
 Package           Architecture     Version           Repository         Size
==============================================================================
Enabling module streams:
 php                                remi-8.1                                 

Transaction Summary
==============================================================================

Is this ok [y/N]: y 

Step 3 – Install PHP 8.1 on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8

Now after all the above configurations, we are now set to do the installation. Install the default enabled version PHP 8.1 using the command.

sudo dnf install php

Dependency tree:

Dependencies resolved.
==============================================================================
 Package               Arch   Version                      Repository    Size
==============================================================================
Installing:
 php                   x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 1.8 M
Installing dependencies:
 almalinux-logos-httpd noarch 84.5-1.el8                   appstream     29 k
 apr                   x86_64 1.6.3-12.el8                 appstream    128 k
 apr-util              x86_64 1.6.1-6.el8                  appstream    105 k
 httpd                 x86_64 2.4.37-43.module_el8.5.0+2597+c4b14997.alma
                                                           appstream    1.4 M
 httpd-filesystem      noarch 2.4.37-43.module_el8.5.0+2597+c4b14997.alma
                                                           appstream     39 k
 httpd-tools           x86_64 2.4.37-43.module_el8.5.0+2597+c4b14997.alma
                                                           appstream    106 k
 libsodium             x86_64 1.0.18-2.el8                 epel         162 k
 mod_http2             x86_64 1.15.7-3.module_el8.5.0+2576+c8e0c271
                                                           appstream    153 k
 oniguruma5php         x86_64 6.9.7.1-1.el8.remi           remi-safe    210 k
 php-common            x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 1.2 M
Installing weak dependencies:
 apr-util-bdb          x86_64 1.6.1-6.el8                  appstream     24 k
 apr-util-openssl      x86_64 1.6.1-6.el8                  appstream     27 k
 nginx-filesystem      noarch 1:1.14.1-9.module_el8.3.0+2165+af250afe.alma
                                                           appstream     23 k
 php-cli               x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 5.3 M
 php-fpm               x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 1.8 M
 php-mbstring          x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 519 k
 php-opcache           x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 609 k
 php-pdo               x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 160 k
 php-sodium            x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 100 k
 php-xml               x86_64 8.1.0~RC6-1.el8.remi         remi-modular 249 k
Enabling module streams:
 httpd                        2.4                                            
 nginx                        1.14                                           

Transaction Summary
==============================================================================
Install  21 Packages

Total download size: 14 M
Installed size: 57 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y

Verify the installed PHP version on our system.

$ php --version
PHP 8.1.0 (cli) (built: Nov 23 2021 18:56:11) (NTS gcc x86_64)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

Step 4 – Install PHP 8.1 Extensions on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8

PHP extensions are useful in that they minimize the tedious task of having to do the same code over and over for PHP applications from scratch.

These PHP 8.1 extensions can be installed using the command:

sudo dnf install php-cli php-fpm php-curl php-mysqlnd php-gd php-opcache php-zip php-intl php-common php-bcmath php-imap php-imagick php-xmlrpc php-json php-readline php-memcached php-redis php-mbstring php-apcu php-xml

On a successful installation, you can check all the available PHP extensions.

$ php --modules
[PHP Modules]
apcu
bcmath
bz2
calendar
Core
ctype
curl
date
dom
exif
fileinfo
filter
ftp
gd
gettext
hash
iconv
igbinary
imagick
imap
intl
json
libxml
mbstring
memcached
msgpack
mysqli
mysqlnd
openssl
pcntl
pcre
PDO
pdo_mysql
pdo_sqlite
Phar
readline
redis
Reflection
session
SimpleXML
sockets
sodium
SPL
sqlite3
standard
tokenizer
xml
xmlreader
xmlrpc
xmlwriter
xsl
Zend OPcache
zip
zlib

[Zend Modules]
Zend OPcache

Step 5 – Run Multiple versions of PHP on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8

It is possible to have multiple versions of PHP running on your system. Assuming you already have the default PHP version 7.2 installed, you can still install PHP 8.1 without necessarily having to set it as a default version before installation. This can be achieved through software collection a feature available in the Remi-safe repository.

In case you already have another PHP version installed, you can install PHP 8.1 using the command:

sudo dnf install php81

Dependency tree:

Dependencies resolved.
============================================================================
 Package               Arch     Version                   Repository   Size
============================================================================
Installing:
 php81                 x86_64   8.1-2.el8.remi            remi-safe   7.4 k
Installing dependencies:
 environment-modules   x86_64   4.5.2-1.el8               baseos      421 k
 php81-php-cli         x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   3.6 M
 php81-php-common      x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   723 k
 php81-runtime         x86_64   8.1-2.el8.remi            remi-safe   1.1 M
 scl-utils             x86_64   1:2.0.2-14.el8            appstream    46 k
 tcl                   x86_64   1:8.6.8-2.el8             baseos      1.1 M
Installing weak dependencies:
 php81-php-fpm         x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   1.9 M
 php81-php-mbstring    x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   490 k
 php81-php-opcache     x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   418 k
 php81-php-pdo         x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   140 k
 php81-php-sodium      x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe    93 k
 php81-php-xml         x86_64   8.1.0~rc6-1.el8.remi      remi-safe   192 k

Transaction Summary
============================================================================
Install  13 Packages

Total download size: 10 M
Installed size: 35 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y

The extensions will be installed as below.

sudo dnf install php81-php-{curl,json,zip,fpm,gd,mysqlnd,devel,mcrypt,mbstring,xml,pear,bcmath,memcache,redis}

Check the installed version.

$ php81 --version
PHP 8.1.0 (cli) (built: Nov 23 2021 18:56:11) (NTS gcc x86_64)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.1.0, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Conclusion

That is it! We have triumphantly installed PHP 8.1 on AlmaLinux 8|Oracle Linux 8. I hope you learned a lot from this guide.

See more:

• How To Install PHP 8.1 on Ubuntu
• How To Install PHP 8.1 on Debian
• How To Install PHPMyAdmin on Kali Linux