php-activate

Switch system installed PHP versions within a local shell session.

Made for those working with multiple projects using a variety of PHP versions, this script will automatically switch to the correct PHP version after cding into the project folder. It does not require sudo, so even works in IDEs.

• No sudo is required to switch versions (in contrast to update-alternatives), so it works in IDE terminals.
• No need to compile PHP (in contrast to phpenv), just use your package manager.
• No need for manual PHP installs (in contrast to php-versions), system installed php versions are detected.

Requirements

A bunch of PHP versions installed named /usr/bin/php*.

Install

$ mkdir -p $HOME/opt/php-activate # or your place of choice
$ cd !$
# Downloads a tarball from a GitHub repository, extracts its contents, and then strips the first directory level:
$ curl -# -L https://github.com/svandragt/php-activate/tarball/main | tar -xz --strip 1

Shell Setup

Add the following line to your shell rc script (replace 8.2 with your default php version):

# BASH shell:
source $HOME/opt/php-activate/php-activate.sh 8.2
export -f php

# ZSH Shell
source $HOME/opt/php-activate/php-activate.sh 8.2
typeset -f php >/dev/null

Run examples

# Activate a non-existing version
$ php-activate 9
Error: No matching PHP version found. Use one of the following:
/usr/bin/php8.0
/usr/bin/php8.1
/usr/bin/php8.2

# System version
$ php --version
PHP 8.1.15 (cli) (built: Feb  7 2023 11:31:36) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.15, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.1.15, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies
    
# Activate existing version
$ php-activate 8.2
Activated /usr/bin/php8.2
PHP 8.2.2 (cli) (built: Feb  7 2023 11:28:53) (NTS)
...

# Deactivate (or use a different shell)
$ php-activate
Deactivated /usr/bin/php8.2
PHP 8.1.15 (cli) (built: Feb  7 2023 11:31:36) (NTS)
...

Optionally provide a --quiet or -q argument to suppress successful output.

Integrations

Direnv

Add the following to ~/.direnvrc:

# Usage: use php <version>
#
# Loads the specified php version into the environent
#
use_php() {
  source $HOME/opt/php-activate/php-activate.sh $1
  layout php
}

then add the following to the project's .envrc:

use php 8.2

Now you can simply change into the project directory:

$ cd myproject
direnv: loading ~/dev/myproject/.envrc
direnv: using php 8.2
Activated /usr/bin/php8.2
PHP 8.2.2 (cli) (built: Feb  7 2023 11:28:53) (NTS)
direnv: export [...] ~PHP_PICKED

Alternatives

Please consider asdf with the PHP plugin.

Credits

Thanks to wilmoore for php-version which inspired this idea.