Debian is one of the best Linux operating systems out there. Perhaps one of its disadvantages is that it doesn’t have very up-to-date packages, although it does have very stable ones. However, there are modern applications that require more and more modern dependencies. For example, Laravel requires at least PHP 7.1 but Debian includes version 7.0 in its repositories. Already there we would have a problem. That’s why, in this post, I’ll show you how to install PHP 7.3 in Debian 9 and thus update and improve the development and implementation of applications that require it.
I recently explained how to install PHP 7.2 in Debian, however, we already have a new version of PHP. In particular, I am talking about the 7.3 that incorporates multiple advantages. The vast majority of these advantages are applicable to Ubuntu. And so we let you know in the article on how to install PHP 7.3 in Ubuntu 18.04.
So let us go for it.
1.- Upgrade the system
Before we start we need to make sure Debian is completely up to date
So, open the terminal o access to your server using SSH, and run:
:~$ su :~# apt update :~# apt upgrade
Now we can continue with the installation without problems.
2. Verify the PHP version available on your system
You must be sure the change is worth it. If you already have PHP installed, you can show its version using the following command:
:~# php -v
In this case, it is not installed on the server, but you can check the coming version in the official Debian repositories.
:~# apt-cache search php
As you can see, the version in the Debian repositories is the 7.0 that is already starting to fall short for some quite powerful frameworks like Laravel.
3. Install PHP 7.3 on Debian 9
PHP 7.3 can be installed through an external repository. To do this, it is first necessary to install some previous packages.
:~# apt install ca-certificates apt-transport-https lsb-release
Next, you need to add the GPG key from the repository and add it to the Debian sources.
:~# wget -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/php.gpg https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg :~# echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php7.3.list
After that, refresh the APT cache.
:~# apt update
When the APT cache is refreshed, you can do a search for PHP related packages again and you will notice the change.
:~# apt-cache search php
We will now have PHP version 7.3 available. You can install it along with some of its modules with the following command.
:~# apt install php7.3 php7.3-cli php7.3-xml php7.3-mbstring php7.3-mysql php7.3-xml
Next, we can show the PHP version installed and it should be 7.3.
:~# php -v
4. Test if PHP is working
Now it is time to test PHP. If you already have Apache or any HTTP server installed, just restart it. We will take Apache as a reference.
:~# systemctl restart apache2
However, if Apache is not installed, it is necessary to do so using the following command:
:~# apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-php
After that, it creates a PHP file in Apache’s root directory. For example, you can call it test.php.
:~# nano /var/www/html/test.php
And add the following:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
Finally, open the web browser and go to http://SERVER_IP/test.php.
This shows that PHP is running correctly on your server or Debian 9 computer
Conclusion
PHP development is progressing at a good pace, with frequent and improved versions. PHP 7.3 includes some new features that facilitate the development and implementation of applications created with this language.
Installing PHP 7.3 on Debian 9 is not something within the reach of a few, but is something quite simple to do.
