PHP 8.2 Thread

[CheersnGears]

On 4/23/2024 at 2:02 PM, Jim M said:

As of today, there are not any plans to make PHP 8.2 or higher compatible with Invision Community version 4. However, like many things in the software world, this is written in pencil so could change as we progress through the end of version 4's lifetime.

This is quite disappointing, as many of us will not be able to upgrade to 5.0.0 right out of the gate and will probably need to wait until 5.1 before many of our plug-ins are updated. I'm really excited for 5.0, but I'm also realistic about how soon after launch I'll be able to upgrade. 8.2 active support ends in 7 months, and I don't see being on 5.x before this time next year. 

[CheersnGears]

With a new PHP version coming about once a year since 2012, are there any plans to maintain a more rapid schedule for keeping IPS in compliance with the in-support versions of PHP in the 5.0 release? 

[Andreas Grace]

I was also one of the complainers but PHP had a surprise for us. It doesn't seem to have received press yet but there was a policy change:

https://github.com/php/web-php/commit/94f19598acef411b9286587c8e1a721b587ff152

PHP supported version page already displays the change of extended support. As of now, PHP 8.1 will receive security support until 31 Dec 2025 so it pretty much gives Invision and us some pressure relief.

https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php

[krbob]

I don't quite understand this. Version 4 "will continue to be supported for a number of years" and at the same time "there are not any plans to make PHP 8.2 or higher compatible with Invision Community version 4". I don't buy the explanation that you're supporting version 8.0 in the same way, because there's a difference between allowing users to use a deprecated version and lacking compatibility with any of supported versions, which will soon be the case. I would like to understand how you envision the announced security updates when that happens.

[Stuart Silvester]

7 minutes ago, krbob said:

I don't quite understand this. Version 4 "will continue to be supported for a number of years" and at the same time "there are not any plans to make PHP 8.2 or higher compatible with Invision Community version 4". I don't buy the explanation that you're supporting version 8.0 in the same way, because there's a difference between allowing users to use a deprecated version and lacking compatibility with any of supported versions, which will soon be the case. I would like to understand how you envision the announced security updates when that happens.

We recommend PHP 8.1 for Invision Community 4 (and the AdminCP will tell you that if you're using PHP 8.0). As Andreas notes above, PHP 8.1 has security support until the end of 2025. PHP 8.0 is the minimum version because that's what the code is compatible with, anything older and it won't run at all. As I say though, we recommend using 8.1

[Maximilian Atlantis]

I've tried different versions and it's always shows this.

Edited August 1 by Maximilian Atlantis

[Jim M]

1 minute ago, Maximilian Atlantis said:

I've tried different versions and it's always shows this.

You're running PHP 8.2 so that is expected. You would need to run PHP 8.0 or PHP 8.1 to not receive the Downgrade recommended.

[Maximilian Atlantis]

I've tried different versions as I wrote. Now it switched to 8.1, but it shows this

[Jim M]

Just now, Maximilian Atlantis said:

I've tried different versions as I wrote. Now it switched to 8.1, but it shows this

Unfortunately, you mentioned "this" but we do not have a message or what you're seeing.

[Maximilian Atlantis]

You are running PHP version 8.2.21. While this version may work, you may experience errors or other issues. We recommend version 8.1.x.

But it 8.1 now and I tried 8.0 - no changes

[Jim M]

Just now, Maximilian Atlantis said:

You are running PHP version 8.2.21. While this version may work, you may experience errors or other issues. We recommend version 8.1.x.

That would indicate you're running PHP 8.2 still. If you have multiple versions of PHP installed on your server, it could be your directory which is running your community is setup to run specifically PHP 8.2. You will want to contact your hosting provider for assistance.

[Maximilian Atlantis]

Oh, right

thank you I have and the site and the forum on one php

sorted out

[Jim M]

Glad to hear you resolved the issue.

[LittleFang]

Piggybacking on this thread.

I want to downgrade my PHP back to 8.1, but if I do it breaks my forum and I'm unsure how to get it back up.  How can I fix this?

[Gary]

Hi @LittleFang,

It might be worth noting what the errors are to see if it's something on the software side, or if it's something your host is best suited to assist you with.

[teraßyte]

You may be missing some required extensions on version 8.1 and have them enabled with 8.2.

 

Use the requirements checker with both PHP versions to compare if anything is missing/different:

[LittleFang]

12 minutes ago, teraßyte said:

You may be missing some required extensions on version 8.1 and have them enabled with 8.2.

 

Use the requirements checker with both PHP versions to compare if anything is missing/different:

I received this: 
"You do not have the Multibyte String PHP extension loaded which is required. You should contact your hosting provider or system administrator to ask for it to be installed."
Interesting. Can I do this myself if I have access to all of the backend? I'm going to take a look around my cpanel.

Aha, I fixed it. Thank you for that tool!

[teraßyte]

13 minutes ago, LittleFang said:

I received this: 
"You do not have the Multibyte String PHP extension loaded which is required. You should contact your hosting provider or system administrator to ask for it to be installed."
Interesting. Can I do this myself if I have access to all of the backend? I'm going to take a look around my cpanel.

Aha, I fixed it. Thank you for that tool!

If the mbstring extension is installed but disabled, and you can enable/disable PHP extensions in cPanel, you can fix it.

However, if the extension is not installed, or you can't enable/disable PHP extensions in cPanel, you'll have to ask your hosting about it because it needs to be installed/enabled through the WHM panel instead. And unless you're on a VPS/Dedicated server, you won't have WHM access.

 

Nevermind. I missed your last line that you fixed it. Great! 🙃

Edited August 7 by teraßyte

[MillsWebDev]

I have been running 2 forums (or is it 'fora') on PHPv8.2 for over a year and have not encountered any issues yet, and no errors reported in logs. I am running a pared back version with minimal customisations and a few hundred members in each, so that no doubt helps the situation. However +1 for thinking official 8.2 support should be a priority. I am running all my sites on 8.2 so cannot downgrade because Invision has not caught up yet. How far away is v5 and what's the issue with version 4 supporting a higher PHP version?

[Marc]

17 minutes ago, MillsWebDev said:

How far away is v5 and what's the issue with version 4 supporting a higher PHP version?

Version 5 is currently in alpha testing, and we would hope soon be in beta testing. Of course how long, will depend on that testing. 

In terms of there being an "issue" with supporting a higher version, its simply that we havent tested nor developed the product for that version, and we have seen things break. At present the focus is on development of the new version 5 release. As PHP 8.1 is supported for security releases, there is no immediate focus to support this on version 4.

20 minutes ago, MillsWebDev said:

am running all my sites on 8.2 so cannot downgrade because Invision has not caught up yet.

I would just like to comment on this part. We are currently in a major release cycle. As such, the latest version of PHP is supported in the next version available for us to feasibly do it in, as it always is. However as this time its a major release, it of course takes longer to develop, test and release.