Upgrade to PHP 8.0 with Lighttpd

❗ ❗ ❗ This guide is outdated. PHP 8.0 has been discontinued and should no longer be used. ❗ ❗ ❗

We recommend upgrading to PHP 8.3 instead if you're on NC 28 or newer. For Nextcloud 26 or 27, follow the PHP 8.2 guide first. If you're on Nextcloud 24 or 25, follow the PHP 8.1 guide first.

Before you start

• This tutorial was developed for and tested with DietPi 7.2 on a RaspberryPI.
• This tutorial only works if you use "Lighttpd" as webserver. Run dietpi-software and check the setting for "Webserver Preference".
• DietPi may behave differently on other systems.
• Nextcloud 21 is required before upgrading to PHP 8.0.
• This does not work for DietPi Docker. You can't upgrade PHP in a Docker image.
• Make sure to make a backup of your entire DietPi Instance (config, data, etc.) before you do this.

Log in as Root

If you're using SSH, log in with ssh root@<your dietpi ip>. If you're directly on the device, use sudo su

Add PHP Package Archive

Execute the following commands on your DietPi to add the repository PHP 8.0 from deb.sury.org:

# Add the PHP PPA from deb.sury.org
apt-get -y install apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates curl
curl -sSL -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/php.gpg https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg
sh -c 'echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php.list'
apt-get update

Install PHP 8.0

Execute the following command on your DietPi to install PHP 8.0:

# Install PHP 8.0
apt-get -y install php8.0-fpm php8.0-apcu php8.0-mysql php8.0-xml php8.0-zip php8.0-mbstring php8.0-gd php8.0-curl php8.0-redis php8.0-intl php8.0-bcmath php8.0-gmp php8.0-imagick imagemagick

Update the PHP 8.0 configuration

Execute the following command on your DietPi to link the DietPi configuration for PHP from PHP 7.3 to 8.0 and enable it:

# Enable the image magick module
phpenmod imagick

# Symlink NCP PHP configuration
ln -s /etc/php/7.3/mods-available/dietpi-nextcloud.ini /etc/php/8.0/mods-available/dietpi-nextcloud.ini
ln -s /etc/php/7.3/mods-available/dietpi.ini /etc/php/8.0/mods-available/dietpi.ini
phpenmod dietpi
phpenmod dietpi-nextcloud

# Restart PHP
service php8.0-fpm restart

Now you need to edit the configuration of PHP FPM. Run the command nano /etc/php/8.0/fpm/php.ini to open a text editor with the config file. Find the line ;cgi.fix_pathinfo=1 and remove the ; at the beginning so that the line reads cgi.fix_pathinfo=1.

You can use CTRL + w to search in the file, with CRTL + o you can save the changed file and with CRTL + x you can close the editor.

Set up Lighttpd for PHP 8.0

Just restart lighttpd:

service lighttpd force-reload

Check for Nextcloud and App updates

# Check for updates
ncc update:check

# Install updates of the passwords app if available
ncc app:update passwords

Check the PHP default version

By default, your DietPi should now be using PHP 8.0. You can check this by running php -v. The output should look like this:

root@DietPi:~# php -v
PHP 8.0.3 (cli) (built: Mar  5 2021 08:38:30) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.0.3, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.0.3, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

If it doesn't, you should use update-alternatives --config php and set PHP 8.0 as default:

root@DietPi:~# update-alternatives --config php
There are 2 choices for the alternative php (providing /usr/bin/php).

  Selection    Path             Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0            /usr/bin/php8.0   80        auto mode
  1            /usr/bin/php7.3   73        manual mode
  2            /usr/bin/php7.4   74        manual mode
  3            /usr/bin/php8.0   80        manual mode

Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:0

Notes

• It can take a day before app updates show up in the apps store