Different PHP versions per directories using mod_lsapi

Here is an easy instruction of how to setup different PHP versions per directories when using mod_lsapi.

Environment

• ALT-PHP
• CageFS
• mod_lsapi
• Apache

Solution

Assuming that you already have CageFS, PHP Selector and mod_lsapi installed, perform the following steps:

1. Setup mod_lsapi (globally or per domain).

2. For EasyApache 4 servers - you should already have a /etc/container/php.handler file with content inside:

# cat /etc/container/php.handler
...
application/x-httpd-alt-php74___lsphp /opt/cloudlinux/alt-php74/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-alt-php80___lsphp /opt/cloudlinux/alt-php80/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-alt-php81___lsphp /opt/cloudlinux/alt-php81/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-alt-php82___lsphp /opt/cloudlinux/alt-php82/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-alt-php83___lsphp /opt/cloudlinux/alt-php83/root/usr/bin/lsphp
...
application/x-httpd-ea-php74-lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php80-lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php80/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php81-lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php81/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php82-lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php82/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php83-lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php83/root/usr/bin/lsphp
...
application/x-httpd-ea-php74___lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php80___lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php80/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php81___lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php81/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php82___lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php82/root/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-httpd-ea-php83___lsphp /opt/cpanel/ea-php83/root/usr/bin/lsphp

For non-cPanel servers:

# cat /etc/container/php.handler
...
application/x-lsphp74 /opt/alt/php74/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-lsphp80 /opt/alt/php80/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-lsphp81 /opt/alt/php81/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-lsphp82 /opt/alt/php82/usr/bin/lsphp
application/x-lsphp83 /opt/alt/php83/usr/bin/lsphp

3. Create a .htaccess file in the desired directory where you want to have a different version from the default with the proper handler.

For cPanel with EasyApache4:

<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-httpd-ea-php81-lsphp
</FilesMatch>

Or to load the alt-php versions:

<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-httpd-alt-php81___lsphp
</FilesMatch>

For non-cPanel servers it's:

<FilesMatch "\.(php4|php5|php3|php2|php|phtml)$">
SetHandler application/x-lsphp81
</FilesMatch>

As a result, sub-directories will use the same PHP version as the parent unless you overwrite it with another .htaccess entry in that sub-directory.

To match PHP extensions selection with extensions selected by the end-user for that PHP version in PHP Selector, please follow this article.

This way the main website can use native PHP handler (suphp/fcgi) while a sub-directory is using mod_lsapi with the desired PHP version.

Note! There is one little trick that can be confusing. It applies only if you have PHP Selector enabled and you have a non-native version selected there for a user. In that case, if the version that you assign through .htaccess is the same as ea-php version selected as the system default version in WHM -> MultiPHP Manager -> System Default version, that version will not be applied, the version that you'll actually get will be the same as selected in PHP Selector.