Create a shell script to switch 7.4 to 8.1 and vice versa

Here’s a shell script that you can use to easily switch between PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.1 on macOS when using Homebrew. The script will handle unlinking the current PHP version, linking the desired one, and restarting Apache to apply the change.

Script: `switch_php.sh`

#!/bin/bash

# Function to switch PHP versions
switch_php() {
    local version=$1
    if [ "$version" == "7.4" ]; then
        echo "Switching to PHP 7.4..."
        brew unlink php@8.1
        brew link php@7.4 --force --overwrite
        sudo sed -i '' 's|php@8.1|php@7.4|' /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/httpd.conf
    elif [ "$version" == "8.1" ]; then
        echo "Switching to PHP 8.1..."
        brew unlink php@7.4
        brew link php@8.1 --force --overwrite
        sudo sed -i '' 's|php@7.4|php@8.1|' /opt/homebrew/etc/httpd/httpd.conf
    else
        echo "Invalid PHP version specified. Please choose 7.4 or 8.1."
        exit 1
    fi

    # Restart Apache to reflect the change
    echo "Restarting Apache..."
    sudo brew services restart httpd

    # Verify the PHP version
    echo "Current PHP version:"
    php -v
}

# Check if a version argument was provided
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 [7.4|8.1]"
    exit 1
fi

# Call the switch_php function with the desired version
switch_php "$1"

Steps to Use the Script:

Create the Script File: Save the script as switch_php.sh in your desired location, such as your home directory:bashCopy codenano ~/switch_php.sh Paste the script content, then save and exit.
Make the Script Executable: Make the script executable by running:bashCopy codechmod +x ~/switch_php.sh
Switch PHP Versions:
- To switch to PHP 7.4: ~/switch_php.sh 7.4
- To switch to PHP 8.1: ~/switch_php.sh 8.1

This script will update Apache’s configuration to use the correct PHP version and restart Apache automatically.

Disable the Old PHP Module (PHP 7.4):

Find the line that loads PHP 7.4 and comment it out. It will look something like this:

#LoadModule php7_module /opt/homebrew/opt/php@7.4/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so

You can comment it out by adding a # at the beginning of the line.

Enable the PHP 8.1 Module:

Now, add or uncomment the line to load PHP 8.1. It should look something like this:

LoadModule php_module /opt/homebrew/opt/php@8.1/lib/httpd/modules/libphp.so

If the line doesn’t exist, you can add it manually to point to PHP 8.1.

Restart Apache:

After updating the configuration, restart Apache to apply the changes:

sudo brew services restart httpd

Verify PHP 8.1 is Active in Apache:

Create a PHP file in your web server’s document root (usually /opt/homebrew/var/www/ or similar). Create a file called info.php with the following content:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Visit http://localhost/info.php in your browser, and you should see the PHP 8.1 information page.

This will make Apache use PHP 8.1 for handling .php files! Let me know if you run into any issues.

Script: switch_php.sh