I am currently on PHP 7.2.34 on VPS hosting.
I would like to update to the new 4.7.0 software, which obviously won't support that PHP version anymore.
My hosts are willing to update the PHP, but here's my worry.
If I update the software first to 4.7.0, it will pick up I am on an old PHP version, and not do the update, right?
If I ask the hosts to update PHP first, to maybe 8.0 or 8.1, then isn't my forum going to go down because my current version doesn't support that version of PHP?
Would I then lose access to the ACP and not be able to do the auto software update? I am hesitant to start messing with code and uploading files again, prefer a nice easy way.
So what is the suggested progression to do the update, and should I maybe rather ask them to just go to PHP 7.4?

Advice? Thanks.

You could either

1. Upgrade to 7.4, update your site, then update to 8.0/8.1
2. Update to 8.0/8.1 and then manually upgrade by uploading a fresh set of files, and running the upgrader at /admin/upgrade

As an extra note, your current version does support PHP 8.0, you can upgrade to that and stay with that for a while if you want to (it's still a currently supported PHP version)

Thanks guys. I think I'll ask them to go to 8.0
That will keep me current for a while. Much appreciated.