Any way to run on php 5.1.x?

MatteMatte

Hi Guys,

I have Plesk 9.5.3 control panel on my dedicated server and it comes with PHP v5.1.6 by default. Unfortunately, there's no way to upgrade the php version since several critical apps are running on it.

Vanilla is a fantastic forum software and I really want this app on my websites. However, I am unable to use it due to some functions which doesn't exist in php 5.1.x by default like filter_var() and json_encode().

Any suggestions? Any work arounds?

Thanks. Looking forward to hear from you.

Cheers,
Mat.

Linc

None that I recommend or regard as sane.

Do the critical apps break on 5.2?

MatteMatte

Unfortunately yes. The problem is upgrading the php version to v5.2 or higher on plesk. It's impossible to do it through plesk repositories.

I wonder how plesk users use Vanilla on their servers

Linc

Does this help? http://serverfault.com/questions/89277/how-do-i-upgrade-php-on-a-plesk-system

It's an unfortunate problem, but it's one I'd place at Plesk's feet for being so far behind. PHP 5.2 was released in 2006.

Tim

The only other way is to slowly search for replacement functions for json_encode() and filter_var() (and any others we use) and put them in a bootstrap.before.php

This is a horrible and slow and error-prone solution, but might work.

MatteMatte

Thanks for your help guys. I am in contact with our hosting company right now, I will force them to upgrade the php version. If they can't I will try bootstrap.before.php.

Cheers.

Linc

@Tim Look at MatteMatte's post count. I don't even have a guess what's causing his to be stuck while mine increments for the same discussion.

MatteMatte

Guys, thanks for your answers. However, I couldn't find any solution. I don't want to spend hours and customize bootstrap.before.php and even I'm not sure if I can place replacements for all those missing PHP functions.

Well, I really liked vanilla and quite excited to use it on my all 5 websites BUT really unhappy when I noticed it's not compatible with v5.1.x and old PHP versions.

Another thing is, I can not believe how Plesk comes with v5.1.x and not upgradable.

Also, how come there's no one else having this problem ((

Please if you find a work-around, update this post. I will be monitoring it regularly.

Thanks again.

Tim

Well, I really liked vanilla and quite excited to use it on my all 5 websites BUT really unhappy when I noticed it's not compatible with v5.1.x and old PHP versions.

Also, how come there's no one else having this problem ((

Hi @MatteMatte

I'm sorry to hear that you'll have to consider other options. Our choice to use PHP 5.2 was a tough one, but as Lincoln mentioned, it has been out for quite a long time.

There are many occasions when we actually kick ourselves for not requiring PHP 5.3 as it has many fantastic features that would make our lives a lot easier. 5.3, however, is much less available than 5.2.

As for your question about why others are not having the same issue... most hosts have options for upgrading their PHP module. I am quite surprised to hear that your hosting provider is using such an old version.

I wish you luck... maybe consider another host?

Best Regards,
Tim