Hi,

After a recent AkeebaBackup update, I noticed a warning about my version of PHP. To paraphrase the message, Akeeba recommended I upgrade from 7.2 to 7.3.

I run a number of Joomla and WordPress websites on a shared hosting server, I use AkeebaBackup for all my websites, and the warning was the same in the Joomla and WordPress admin backends.

So, I upgraded to PHP 7.3 via CPanel and this resulted in all my websites becoming unavailable. Thankfully, when I set PHP back to 7.2, the websites displayed again.

I had a chat session with my server hosting provider, but they said it was a "web application issue", so they couldn't help, other than to suggest I look at the error logs. So, I viewed the logs but they're beyond my technical ken:

Joomla website error log:
[04-Feb-2020 15:05:08 Australia/Sydney] PHP Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /opt/alt/php73/var/lib/php/session) in /home/robertfa/tallandtrue.com.au/libraries/joomla/session/handler/native.php on line 260
[04-Feb-2020 15:05:09 Australia/Sydney] PHP Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /opt/alt/php73/var/lib/php/session) in /home/robertfa/tallandtrue.com.au/libraries/joomla/session/handler/native.php on line 260

WordPress website error log:
[04-Feb-2020 04:11:27 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function mysql_connect() in /home/robertfa/public_html/wp-includes/wp-db.php:1668
Stack trace:
#0 /home/robertfa/public_html/wp-includes/wp-db.php(632): wpdb->db_connect()

I've Google Joomla forums and there are some VERY technical suggestions which again are beyond my ken.

I am going to raise my problem at the Sydney JUG on Tuesday week, but in the meantime, I wondered if anyone had a simple answer as to what might be happening with my websites and PHP 7.3? (BTW, I am using the latest versions of Joomla et al.)

Regards,
Robertf

Robert,

I've just been dealing with this with John Wood in Melbourne on his server last week. It took a bit of Joomla and StackExchange forum reading to get to an actual solution, but I think one of the causes was that there was a PHP module for 7.3 not included when the EasyApache update was run to add 7.3 on the server.

Going through in EasyApache and checking all the modules for 7.3 were selected that had been selected for 7.2 previously was worth the excercise.

Now - if you weren't the one who installed 7.3 using EasyApache, and perhaps aren't comfortable doing it yourself, then I'd use some caution if it's a new experience.

Other posts all point to the PHP modules being missing being the culprit.

Ping me online for more discussion on it.

Patrick

Thanks, Robert, for your question.

Indeed, it's not really a case of any one specific J! extension "recommending" updating from PHP 7.2, it's more a case of what PHP versions are currently supported. Also, J! (and I assume other CMS website constructions) recommends ensuring that all software—the CMS and extensions—are properly and regularly maintained.

Your situation is not the first and it won't be the last time this happens. In fact, as antiquated websites—dependent on outdated software—grow older and as webhosting providers adopt more current and up-to-date server environments, I expect to see a rise in the incidence of legacy software-related problems. That's not to say that your website is antiquated or dependent on outdated software (because I don't know what you know) but it's difficult for us to assist you without knowing what you know.

FYI, the following table summarises the current situation regarding what is the current supported version of PHP and its distribution among the various currently-used implementations of J!:



From the general description of the error, there is a problem with establishing the session. Question: are you using the "database" or "PHP" as the setting for Session Handler in the global configuration? Also, what specific version of J! are you using?

I can't help you with WP problems; this is a forum for J! questions. You may want to ask your question about WP on a WP forum.

Patrick's suggestion about missing PHP modules/extensions may also be bang on, too.

I hope this helps.

Hi,

this is a picture of the php modules selected for 7.3 with a Joomla 3.9.15 site the that has a working Akeeba so you might like to compare with what you have. This is default Ventra IP for 7.3



If the two message in Joomla and WP are related and the Session manager in Joomla is set to Database then it is likely that your issue is going to be around the MySql related items like mysqli, mysqlnd and pdo_mysql.

You might get more useful information from Joomla if you temporarily turn on Error reporting to Maximum in the Global Configuration and then switch to 7.3 again to see what other messages are generated as the message in your error log for Joomla are warnings and should not have broken your site in the way you described.

Is the Joomla site 3.9.15 or something a lot earlier?

Terry

Thank you, everyone, for your prompt feedback — it all disappeared into my spam folder, but hopefully, I've taught Gmail messages Joomla! Australia are not spam!

I will go through your responses in detail (and take up your offer to ping you, Patrick). Fair call about not being able to help with WordPress problems (though my hope is fixing the PHP issue for Joomla will flow on to fixing my WordPress websites). And Terry, I'm hosting on Ventra IP, so your picture is perfect!

You might be interested that Googling "joomla php 7.3 support" yesterday brought up this among the results:



However, when I clicked on the Moore Software Services URL (www.mooresoftwareservices.com/Web-Commer...ng-joomla-to-php-7-3), I got the same "Error" screen as was displayed when I upgraded my PHP to 7.3!

Thanks again, I will post a status update when I've worked through your responses.

Regards,
Robertf

Although I do not have a view on enabling the PHP extensions tidy and timezonedl (I don't think they're necessary), I do have a view on xmlrpc and related matters.

XML-RPC has not been part of J! since it was removed after J! 1.5; XML-RPC is a common target used by hackers to infiltrate unprotected websites. I would refer readers to review the article published on the Sucuri website: sucuri.net/guides/joomla-security/

Comparing my PHP configuration cPanel options with those provided by Terry earlier, I have enabled the following PHP extensions:

• ldap
• odbc
• pdo_odbc
• pg_sql
• snmp

The first of these would be important when a J! website is operating behind a firewall (e.g. in an intranet application) if LDAP services are used, particularly in the case of access control over local resources. Similarly, if the J! website utilises any ODBC integration then these extensions might also be needed. The last of the ones I listed, namely SNMP, is just something I was playing around with. Aside from enabling XML-RPC (where I would urge caution), the list suggested by Terry sounds reasonable.

Lastly, our advice is general and pertains to PHP 7.3 utility for websites that are updated with the latest stable version of J! and extensions installed on those sites. PHP 7.2 is OK (and we make no other comment about that) however, versions of PHP less than PHP 7.2 are not recommended for long-term sustainability of websites that are reliant on J!.

Hi
I had the exact error described and after much to & fro the fix was rather simple in the end.


Do you mind if its running the EasyApache (ea-php) or the Cloudlinux (alt-php) version?

If not, set it to alt-7.3 (cloudlinux php selector) and check that the site is loading fine


In the cloudlinux Php Selector we set it to 7.3 and enabled the nd_mysqli option and the site was back working.

This configuration may be similar to yours

Apparently not all phps are created equal, go figure

Hi, a big THANKS to all who've offered suggestions for my PHP 7.3 upgrade problems AND apologies it's taken me so long to post an update.

The main reason for the delay is that I've chickened out of facing up to the problem for as long as I could. Akeeba's warned me every time I've done a backup that 7.2 is approaching its end of life, but November seemed such a long way off. However, when the Joomla backend admin screen started warning me, too, I realised it was time to try again.

I am not deeply technical, which another reason why I have not wanted to try out some of the solutions. Yes, I can install Joomla and tweak config settings and hack templates (with guidance from forum topics), but I don't understand PHP and Apache server stacks (or whatever the term is) etc.

In the end, I compared @Terry's screenshot of his successful PHP 7.3 settings with Joomla 3.9.15 at Ventra IP (who are also my shared hosting service). There were differences, a few settings selected and one not-selected. I made my version look like @Terry's and it worked.

Note: I've got before and after screenshots with the differences circled, but for some reason, I can't add attachments to this reply?

Thanks once again to everyone for your help. The Joomla 3.9.20 website that's now running PHP 7.3 is another site which I've looked after and am handing over. Next step is trying to upgrade to PHP 7.3 on my shared server where I'm running Joomla and WordPress websites. Wish me luck!

Regards,
Robertf

Hi all, just a quick update to say I've successfully upgraded my shared server on Ventra IP to PHP 7.3 and all my Joomla and WordPress websites are now working fine (and faster!).

For some reason, I still can't attach the screenshot of my successful PHP 7.3 settings, but they are based on @Terry's earlier screenshot.

Once again, a big THANKS to all who offered tips and pointed me in the right direction with this upgrade.

Three cheers for the Joomla community, I say!

Regards, Robertf