Change PHP Standard CLI Version

This article explains how to change the default PHP CLI binary for an SSH user (system user). Please make sure that you use the shell /bin/bash for the system user.

Change PHP CLI version

First log in via SSH with the relevant SSH user (system user). You can then use the following command to change the default PHP version:

echo "export PATH=/opt/plesk/php/8.2/bin:$PATH;" >> ~/.bash_profile

source ~/.bash_profile

You can use the command php -v to check whether the changes have been applied correctly.

ssh_demo@s13311:~$ php -v

PHP 8.2.6 (cli) (built: May 12 2023 07:48:41) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.2.6, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.2.6, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Alternative CLI versions

In addition to PHP 8.2, other PHP versions are also available for the command line. Via the command

plesk bin php_handler --list all versions can be displayed:

plesk bin php_handler --list

                        id: display name: full version: version: type: cgi-bin: php-cli: php.ini: custom: status:
            plesk-php74-cgi 7.4.30 7.4.30 7.4 cgi /opt/plesk/php/7.4/bin/php-cgi /opt/plesk/php/7.4/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/7.4/etc/php.ini true disabled
        plesk-php74-fastcgi 7.4.30 7.4.30 7.4 fastcgi /opt/plesk/php/7.4/bin/php-cgi /opt/plesk/php/7.4/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/7.4/etc/php.ini true disabled
            plesk-php74-fpm 7.4.30 7.4.30 7.4 fpm /opt/plesk/php/7.4/sbin/php-fpm /opt/plesk/php/7.4/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/7.4/etc/php.ini true enabled
  plesk-php74-fpm-dedicated 7.4.30 7.4.30 7.4 fpm /opt/plesk/php/7.4/sbin/php-fpm /opt/plesk/php/7.4/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/7.4/etc/php.ini true disabled
            plesk-php80-cgi 8.0.21 8.0.21 8.0 cgi /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/php-cgi /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.0/etc/php.ini true disabled
        plesk-php80-fastcgi 8.0.21 8.0.21 8.0 fastcgi /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/php-cgi /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.0/etc/php.ini true disabled
            plesk-php80-fpm 8.0.21 8.0.21 8.0 fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.0/sbin/php-fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.0/etc/php.ini true enabled
  plesk-php80-fpm-dedicated 8.0.21 8.0.21 8.0 fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.0/sbin/php-fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.0/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.0/etc/php.ini true disabled
            plesk-php81-cgi 8.1.8 8.1.8 8.1 cgi /opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php-cgi /opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.1/etc/php.ini true disabled
        plesk-php81-fastcgi 8.1.8 8.1.8 8.1 fastcgi /opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php-cgi /opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.1/etc/php.ini true disabled
            plesk-php81-fpm 8.1.8 8.1.8 8.1 fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.1/sbin/php-fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.1/etc/php.ini true enabled
  plesk-php81-fpm-dedicated 8.1.8 8.1.8 8.1 fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.1/sbin/php-fpm /opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php /opt/plesk/php/8.1/etc/php.ini true disabled

For example, to use PHP 8.1 as the default binary, you can use the command from step 2 as follows:

``bash echo "export PATH=/opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin:$PATH;" >> ~/.bash_profile

php -v

PHP 8.1.8 (cli) (built: Jul 8 2022 13:47:28) ( NTS )


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## Common errors

Error message:

```bash
/usr/bin/env: "php": File or directory not found

This error occurs if no standard PHP CLI version has been selected. In this case, you can either store the default CLI version or call the PHP binary directly. Example:

/opt/plesk/php/8.1/bin/php [your command]