How to Remove Old PHP Versions

By default, every OpenPanel user gets all PHP versions from 5.6 to the latest release. If you don't want users to select end-of-life versions, you can remove them per user and for all new users.

How OpenPanel lists PHP versions​

There is no hardcoded list of PHP versions. OpenPanel reads them from the php-fpm-X.Y services in each user's /home/<USERNAME>/docker-compose.yml file. When a new user is created, that file is copied from the template at /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml.

The same list is used for every PHP selector in OpenPanel: PHP > Domains, PHP > Default Version, PHP > Options and the application installers. Versions that aren't in the list are also rejected when a domain's PHP version is changed through the API. Once you remove a php-fpm-X.Y service, users can't select that version anymore.

For new users​

Edit the template file /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml and delete the service blocks of the versions you want to remove. Each block starts at a php-fpm-X.Y: line and ends right before the next service:

  php-fpm-5.6:
    image: shinsenter/php:5.6-fpm
    container_name: php-fpm-5.6
    ...
    command: php-fpm --allow-to-run-as-root

Or remove them with a script. Set VERSIONS to the versions you want to remove:

VERSIONS="5.6 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8.0 8.1"
f=/etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/docker-compose.yml
cp -p "$f" "$f.bak"
for v in $VERSIONS; do
  awk -v svc="php-fpm-$v" '
    $0 ~ "^  " svc ":[ \t]*$" { skip=1; next }
    skip && (/^  [^ #]/ || /^[^ \t#]/) { skip=0 }
    !skip
  ' "$f" > "$f.tmp" && cat "$f.tmp" > "$f" && rm -f "$f.tmp"
done
grep -E '^  php-fpm-' "$f"

Then make sure DEFAULT_PHP_VERSION in /etc/openpanel/docker/compose/1.0/.env is set to a version you are keeping. You can also change it from the Edit User Defaults page. The PHP_FPM_X_Y_RAM and PHP_FPM_X_Y_CPU lines of the removed versions in that .env file can stay. They aren't used without the service.

For existing users​

1. Find domains that use old versions​

A domain's PHP version is set in its vhost file. To list all domains on the versions you want to remove:

VERSIONS="5.6 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8.0 8.1"
for v in $VERSIONS; do
  grep -l "php-fpm-$v:" /home/*/docker-data/volumes/*_webserver_data/_data/*.conf 2>/dev/null |
    sed "s|.*/||; s|\.conf$| (PHP $v)|"
done

2. Move them to a supported version​

For each domain from the list, run opencli php-domain:

opencli php-domain example.com --update 8.3

Users can also do this themselves from OpenPanel > PHP > Domains.

3. Change the default version​

If a user's default PHP version is one you are removing, change it with opencli php-default:

opencli php-default <USERNAME>
opencli php-default <USERNAME> --update 8.3

4. Stop and remove the old services​

Stop the old PHP containers through the user's own podman socket, then remove the service blocks from the user's docker-compose.yml. This loops through all users. To do one user only, replace /home/*/docker-compose.yml with /home/<USERNAME>/docker-compose.yml:

VERSIONS="5.6 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8.0 8.1"
source /usr/local/opencli/lib/podman.sh
for f in /home/*/docker-compose.yml; do
  u=$(basename "$(dirname "$f")")
  cp -p "$f" "$f.bak"
  for v in $VERSIONS; do
    grep -q "^  php-fpm-$v:" "$f" || continue
    (cd "/home/$u" && CONTAINER_HOST=$(podman_user_socket "$u") podman-compose down "php-fpm-$v") >/dev/null 2>&1
    awk -v svc="php-fpm-$v" '
      $0 ~ "^  " svc ":[ \t]*$" { skip=1; next }
      skip && (/^  [^ #]/ || /^[^ \t#]/) { skip=0 }
      !skip
    ' "$f" > "$f.tmp" && cat "$f.tmp" > "$f" && rm -f "$f.tmp"
  done
  (cd "/home/$u" && podman-compose config >/dev/null 2>&1) && echo "$u: OK" || { cp -p "$f.bak" "$f"; echo "$u: invalid config, restored backup"; }
done

5. Restart OpenPanel​

OpenPanel caches the PHP version list for up to one hour. To show the change right away, restart the OpenPanel container:

podman restart openpanel

Don't run opencli update --php​

opencli update --php adds every PHP version from the upstream template that is missing on your server. It adds them to the template and to all users, so it would bring the removed versions back. It only runs when you start it manually. It doesn't run with automatic updates.

The PHP Settings page in OpenAdmin may show a recommendation to install supported PHP versions that are missing. You can ignore it for the versions you removed on purpose.

To add a removed version back later, copy its service block from the upstream template into the user's docker-compose.yml.