How to Install PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu 24.04

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is an open-source server-side scripting language widely used for web development. It enables developers to build dynamic websites, process form data, manage sessions, and integrate with databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL. PHP is highly extensible and supports multiple extensions you can use to build modern web applications.

This article explains how to install PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu 24.04. While PHP 5.6 has reached end-of-life, multiple applications still depend on it. You will install PHP 5.6 and configure PHP-FPM to integrate it with applications such as web servers.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to:

• Have access to an Ubuntu 24.04 instance as a non-root user with sudo privileges.
• Create a domain A record pointing to your instance's public IP address.

Add the PHP PPA Repository

PHP 5.6 reached its end of life (EOL), and it's not available in the official Ubuntu repositories by default. However, you can still install it through the Ondřej Surý Personal Package Archive (PPA) source.

1. Add PHP PPA to the APT package repository sources.

   console Copy

   $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
   

2. Update the APT package index.

   console Copy

   $ sudo apt update
   

Install PHP 5.6

Follow the steps below to install PHP 5.6 and all necessary dependencies.

1. Install PHP 5.6, along with the command-line interface (CLI) and common PHP modules.

   console Copy

   $ sudo apt install php5.6 php5.6-cli php5.6-common -y
   

2. Verify the installed PHP version.

   console Copy

   $ php -v
   

   Your output should be similar to the one below.

   PHP 5.6.40-81+ubuntu24.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 (cli)
   Copyright (c) 1997-2016 The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v2.6.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2016 Zend Technologies
       with Zend OPcache v7.0.6-dev, Copyright (c) 1999-2016, by Zend Technologies

   Note

   If multiple PHP versions are installed on your workstation, use sudo update-alternatives --config php to set PHP 5.6 as the default version.

Install PHP 5.6 FPM

PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) handles PHP script execution efficiently when integrating it with web servers like Apache or Nginx. PHP-FPM is a process manager that runs PHP as a separate background service, handling requests independently from the web server, resulting in improved performance. Follow the steps below to install PHP 5.6 FPM to use it with other applications like web servers.

1. Install PHP-FPM for PHP 5.6.

   console Copy

   $ sudo apt install php5.6-fpm -y
   

2. Start the PHP-FPM service.

   console Copy

   $ sudo systemctl start php5.6-fpm
   

3. Enable the PHP-FPM service to automatically start at boot.

   console Copy

   $ sudo systemctl enable php5.6-fpm
   

4. View the PHP-FPM service status and verify that it's running.

   console Copy

   $ sudo systemctl status php5.6-fpm
   

   Your output should be similar to the one below.

   ● php5.6-fpm.service - The PHP 5.6 FastCGI Process Manager
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/php5.6-fpm.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-03-20 12:35:08 UTC; 33min ago
      Docs: man:php-fpm5.6(8)
   Main PID: 47045 (php-fpm5.6)
    Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 2, Requests: 0, slow: 0, Traffic: 0req/sec"
     Tasks: 3 (limit: 2265)
    Memory: 10.2M (peak: 11.4M)
       CPU: 260ms
    CGroup: /system.slice/php5.6-fpm.service
            ├─47045 "php-fpm: master process (/etc/php/5.6/fpm/php-fpm.conf)"
            ├─47047 "php-fpm: pool www"
            └─47048 "php-fpm: pool www"

Test and Use PHP 5.6

You can use PHP in different environments, such as the command line, interactive shells, and web server applications. Follow the steps below to test and verify the PHP installation on your server.

1. Create a new test.php file in your web root directory, such as /var/www/html.

   console Copy

   $ sudo nano /var/www/html/test.php
   

2. Add the following PHP code to the file.

   php Copy

   <?php
   echo "Greetings from Vultr! \n";
   ?>
   

   Save and close the file.

3. Execute the PHP script.

   console Copy

   $ php /var/www/html/test.php
   

   Output:

   Greetings from Vultr!

Test PHP 5.6 with a Web Server

Follow the steps below to run PHP 5.6 with a web server such as Apache.

1. Create a new phpinfo.php file in your web root directory, such as /var/www/html.

   console Copy

   $ sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
   

2. Add the following PHP code to the file.

   php Copy

   <?php
   phpinfo();
   ?>
   

   Save and close the file.

3. Enable the proxy_fcgi module for Apache to communicate with PHP-FPM and the setenvif module to manage environment variables.

   console Copy

   $ sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
   

4. Restart the Apache service to apply the module changes.

   console Copy

   $ sudo systemctl restart apache2
   

5. Open the 000-default.conf Apache virtual host configuration.

   console Copy

   $ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf
   

6. Add the following configuration block within the <VirtualHost *:80> section to enable Apache to process PHP requests using the PHP 5.6 FPM socket.

   apacheconf Copy

   <FilesMatch \.php$>
       SetHandler "proxy:unix:/var/run/php/php5.6-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost/"
   </FilesMatch>
   

   Save and close the file.

7. Test the Apache configuration for syntax errors.

   console Copy

   $ sudo apache2ctl -t
   

   Output:

   ...
   Syntax OK

8. Restart the Apache web server to apply the changes.

   console Copy

   $ sudo systemctl restart apache2
   

9. Allow HTTP connections through the firewall.

   console Copy

   $ sudo ufw allow 80
   

10. Reload the firewall configuration.

    console Copy

    $ sudo ufw reload
    

11. Access the /phpinfo.php path using your server's IP address in a web browser such as Chrome.

    http://app.example.com/phpinfo.php

12. Verify that your PHP 5.6 information displays in the web browser and all installed extensions.

    

Conclusion

You have installed PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu 24.04 and configured it to run with PHP-FPM. You can execute PHP scripts from the command line, the PHP shell, or serve applications on your web server using Apache or Nginx. Visit the PHP 5 Documentation for more information.