I'm running PHP version 5.6.33, do I need to upgrade to 7.1?

[AngelsWin.com]

Hi, I noticed version 4.4 is out. How exciting. I want to upgrade but I thought I read that I need to be on PHP 7x or higher in the release notes, unless I'm mistaken. I'm currently running PHP version 5.6.33. 

If I do need to upgrade, my server is at GoDaddy, will they upgrade this version or do I have to? I'm really not sure how to go about upgrading on my linux server or what will need to be updated on the forum side after I do upgrade. 

I appreciate your feedback. 

My current system check:

 PHP version 5.6.33.

 cURL extension loaded.

 Multibyte String extension loaded

 DOM extension loaded

 GD extension loaded

 MySQLi extension loaded

 OpenSSL extension loaded

 Session extension loaded

 SimpleXML extension loaded

 XML extension loaded

 XMLReader extension loaded

 XMLWriter extension loaded

 Phar extension loaded

 Zip extension loaded

 Exif extension loaded

 2.93 GB memory limit.

MySQL Requirements

 MySQL version 5.6.41-log.

[Jim M]

To upgrade to 4.4, you’ll need PHP 7.1 or higher. Contact your host to find out how to upgrade your PHP version. 

[AngelsWin.com]

16 minutes ago, Jim M said:

To upgrade to 4.4, you’ll need PHP 7.1 or higher. Contact your host to find out how to upgrade your PHP version. 

Thanks, @Jim M. Do I need to do anything else to the forum files on the server or in the admin panel, or just simply upgrade my version to 7.1?

The last thing I want is to upgrade my PHP version and then my forum goes down. I'm always apprehensive to upgrading server side stuff because it has broke my forum in times past. 

[Jim M]

8 hours ago, Charles Richter said:

Thanks, @Jim M. Do I need to do anything else to the forum files on the server or in the admin panel, or just simply upgrade my version to 7.1?

The last thing I want is to upgrade my PHP version and then my forum goes down. I'm always apprehensive to upgrading server side stuff because it has broke my forum in times past. 

It would depend on what version of our software you’re on and what version of PHP you upgrade to as there may be some incompatibility. There would be nothing to perform though other than upgrading our software to 4.4.0 so that you’re compatible with PHP 7.1+.