How to upgrade PHP 5.1 to PHP 5.2 CENTOS

This guide describes how to upgrade the standard PHP 5.1.x packages in CentOS 5.x 32-bit to the current development versions 5.2.x. These instructions were created using CentOS 5.3 32-bit and with the following PHP packages installed:

# rpm -qa |grep php

 php-common-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-cli-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-pdo-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-bcmath-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-ldap-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-devel-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-gd-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-xml-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-mbstring-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-mysql-5.1.6-15.el5.i386
 php-dba-5.1.6-15.el5.i386

As long as you're using the standard PHP packages on your CentOS server you won't need to do anything extra. If you're using extra PHP packages that aren't part of the standard CentOS repositories (like php-mcrypt) you'll have to remove them or find updated versions of them.

Add the development repositories

First thing we need to do is add the development repositories to yum. When we add the development repository we're going to configure it so it only pulls PHP packages. To start we'll need create a new yum repository configuration file (use your favorite editor):

 # /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Testing.repo

Copy/paste the following into this file:

  # CentOS-Testing:
  # !!!! CAUTION !!!!
  # This repository is a proving grounds for packages on their way to CentOSPlus and CentOS Extras.
  # They may or may not replace core CentOS packages, and are not guaranteed to function properly.
  # These packages build and install, but are waiting for feedback from testers as to
  # functionality and stability. Packages in this repository will come and go during the
  # development period, so it should not be left enabled or used on production systems without due
  # consideration.
  [c5-testing]
  name=CentOS-5 Testing
  baseurl=http://dev.centos.org/centos/$releasever/testing/$basearch/
  enabled=1
  gpgcheck=1
  gpgkey=http://dev.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-testing
  includepkgs=php*

Make sure to remove any spaces at the start of each line, then save and close the file and you're done.

Update PHP packages

Before updating your PHP packages you'll want to get a list of what you currently have installed. To get a list of current PHP packages run the following:

 # rpm -qa |grep php

Now you can use yum to update the PHP packages on your system:

 # yum update

You should be shown a list of packages that are going to be updated. Compare it to the list of PHP packages on your system. Note any packages that are not in the list. You'll need to remove these packages or find updates for them because they won't work after you update to PHP 5.2.x. If that is acceptable type "y" to continue and let yum update the packages.

Once yum has completed restart Apache:

 # service httpd restart

To verify the update is working create a simple testing.php in your www directory with the following source code:

<?php
  phpinfo();
?>

and open it in a web browser. The new PHP version should be reflected at the top of the page.

Conclusion

You should now have PHP 5.2.6 running on CentOS 5.3 32-bit.

 # rpm -qa |grep php

  php-cli-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-mbstring-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-devel-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-pdo-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-gd-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-dba-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-common-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-bcmath-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-xml-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-pear-1.5.1-2.el5s2
  php-ldap-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-5.2.6-2.el5s2
  php-mysql-5.2.6-2.el5s2


 # php -v

  PHP 5.2.6 (cli) (built: Sep 15 2008 20:42:05)
  Copyright (c) 1997-2008 The PHP Group
  Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2008 Zend Technologies