Select Page
Welcome to our Support Center
< All Topics

How to Install PHP 8.4 on Ubuntu 24.04

How to Install PHP 8.4 on Ubuntu 24.04: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

PHP 8.4 brings exciting new features and performance improvements to the PHP ecosystem. In this comprehensive tutorial, we’ll walk you through installing PHP 8.4 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, covering multiple installation methods and essential configurations for optimal performance.

What’s New in PHP 8.4?

PHP 8.4 introduces several groundbreaking features including property hooks, asymmetric visibility, lazy objects, and significant performance enhancements. This latest version offers improved memory usage, better JIT compilation, and enhanced security features that make it essential for modern web development.

Prerequisites

Before installing PHP 8.4 on Ubuntu 24.04, ensure you have:

  • Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server or desktop
  • Root or sudo privileges
  • Basic command-line knowledge
  • Stable internet connection

Enable the PHP PPA Repository

Ubuntu’s default repositories may not always provide the latest or specific PHP 8.x versions. To get access to PHP 8.4 and its associated extensions, add the trusted third-party source maintained by Ondřej Surý. Use the Personal Package Archive: ppa:ondrej/php. This PPA is widely used and actively maintained by the PHP community.

Step 1: Update Your Ubuntu System

bash 
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

bash 
sudo apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https ca-certificates -y

Step 3: Add PHP PPA Repository

bash 
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Hit Enter to confirm adding the PPA when prompted. Then, refresh your package list to load the latest information from the newly added repository.
bash 
sudo apt update

Step 4: Install PHP 8.4

bash 
sudo apt install php8.4 -y

Step 5: Verify PHP Installation

bash 
php -v

The output will look something like:

Output
PHP 8.4.8 (cli) (built: Jun  9 2025 13:49:53) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.4.8, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.4.8, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Step 6: Install PHP 8.4 Common Extensions

The following PHP 8.4 extensions are commonly used across modern web applications, including content management systems, frameworks, and RESTful APIs:

php8.4-common: Includes core PHP files required by other modules

php8.4-cli: Enables PHP to run from the command line

php8.4-opcache: Improves performance by caching precompiled script bytecode

php8.4-mysql: Provides integration with MySQL and MariaDB databases

php8.4-xml: Supports XML parsing and DOM manipulation

php8.4-curl: Enables communication with external APIs and services using cURL

php8.4-zip: Allows reading and writing of ZIP-compressed files

php8.4-mbstring: Handles multibyte character encodings such as UTF-8

php8.4-gd: Provides image processing capabilities

php8.4-intl: Adds support for internationalization and localization

php8.4-bcmath: Enables arbitrary precision mathematics operations

php8.4-json: Provides JSON encoding and decoding support, commonly used in APIs and web applications

php8.4-fpm: FastCGI Process Manager for PHP, optimized for high-performance web servers like Nginx

bash 
sudo apt install php8.4 php8.4-cli php8.4-common php8.4-mysql php8.4-zip php8.4-gd php8.4-mbstring php8.4-curl php8.4-xml php8.4-bcmath php8.4-intl php8.4-fpm -y

After installation, you can verify all installed modules with:

bash 
php -m

Install PHP 8 FPM

PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) runs PHP as an independent background service, allowing it to handle dynamic content more efficiently than standard CGI methods. It offers better performance, enhanced resource management, and is well-suited for handling high-concurrency web applications.

Step 1: Install PHP 8.4 FPM

bash 
sudo apt install php8.4-fpm -y

Step 2: Start the PHP-FPM service to begin handling requests:

bash 
sudo systemctl start php8.4-fpm

Step 3: Enable it to launch automatically at system startup:

bash 
sudo systemctl enable php8.4-fpm

Step 4: Verify that the service is active and running properly:

bash 
sudo systemctl status php8.4-fpm

Essential PHP 8.4 Configuration

Configure PHP.ini Settings; Edit the PHP configuration file:

bash 
sudo nano /etc/php/8.4/cli/php.ini

Recommended settings for optimal performance:

ini 
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M
max_execution_time = 300
max_input_vars = 3000

Configure PHP-FPM Socket for Apache Integration

To integrate PHP-FPM with Apache efficiently, it’s best to use a Unix socket instead of a TCP connection. Unix sockets offer lower latency and enhanced security for inter-process communication.

1. Open the PHP-FPM pool configuration file for the default user pool

bash 
sudo nano /etc/php/8.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf

2. Modify or ensure the following directives are set:

www.conf 
listen = /run/php/php8.4-fpm.sock
listen.owner = www-data
listen.group = www-data
listen.mode = 0660
These settings ensure Apache, running as the www-data user, has permission to communicate with PHP-FPM via the socket.

Why this matters?

PHP-FPM enables Apache to offload PHP processing to a dedicated service, enhancing performance and scalability. With the help of modules like proxy_fcgi and configurations enabled via a2enconf, the integration is seamless and production-ready.

Testing PHP 8.4 Installation

Before proceeding, ensure that Apache is installed and running on your server.
If you haven’t set up Apache yet, follow the installation guide available at the link below:

For a step-by-step Apache installation guide, please click here

Create a test PHP file:

bash 
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php
Visit http://your-server-ip/info.php to verify the installation.

Installing Composer with PHP 8.4

Composer is the dependency manager for PHP, widely used in modern PHP development to manage packages and libraries. This guide explains how to install Composer globally on Ubuntu with PHP 8.4, ensuring a secure and clean setup for your development environment.

1. Install required dependencies

bash 
sudo apt install curl unzip -y

2. Download Composer Installer

bash 
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php
This will download a PHP script composer-setup.php that installs Composer securely.

3. Verify Installer Signature (Recommended)
To protect against corrupted or tampered downloads, validate the installer’s signature.

To ensure the integrity of the downloaded installer, we’ll compare its SHA-384 hash against the official value published on Composer’s Public Keys / Signatures page.

You can use the following command to automatically fetch the latest hash and store it in a shell variable for verification:

bash 
HASH=`curl -sS https://composer.github.io/installer.sig`

4. Next, run the following PHP code—directly sourced from the official Composer download page—to verify that the installer script is authentic and secure before executing it:

bash 
php -r "if (hash_file('SHA384', 'composer-setup.php') === '$HASH') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"

You should see:

Output
Installer verified

5. Install Composer Globally

bash 
sudo php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
This creates a composer binary in /usr/local/bin/.
Output
All settings correct for using Composer
Downloading...

Composer (version 2.8.9) successfully installed to: /usr/local/bin/composer
Use it: php /usr/local/bin/composer

6. Verify Composer Installation

bash 
composer --version
Output
Composer version 2.8.9 2025-05-13 14:01:37
PHP version 8.4.8 (/usr/bin/php8.4)
Run the "diagnose" command to get more detailed diagnostics output.

Managing Multiple PHP Versions

Ubuntu allows running multiple PHP versions simultaneously. Use update-alternatives to switch between versions:

1. Set PHP 8.4 as Default

bash 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/php php /usr/bin/php8.4 84

2. Run a command to Configure PHP Alternative

bash 
sudo update-alternatives --config php

Performance Optimization Tips

These OPcache settings optimize PHP performance by caching compiled script bytecode in memory, reducing the need for repeated parsing and compilation:

1. Enable OPcache; OPcache significantly improves PHP performance:

bash 
sudo nano /etc/php/8.4/cli/conf.d/10-opcache.ini

2.Add these optimizations:

php.ini 
opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=256
opcache.max_accelerated_files=20000
opcache.revalidate_freq=0
opcache.enable=1 Enables the OPcache extension. When set to 1, OPcache actively caches PHP scripts to improve performance.

opcache.memory_consumption=256 Allocates 256 MB of memory for storing precompiled PHP code in shared memory. This value can be increased for large applications.

opcache.max_accelerated_files=20000 Specifies the maximum number of PHP files that OPcache can store. A higher number allows for larger codebases to be fully cached.

opcache.revalidate_freq=0 Forces OPcache to check for script updates on every request. This ensures changes are picked up immediately, ideal for development environments (set higher for production).

Configure PHP-FPM for High Performance

These PHP-FPM directives control how child processes are managed to handle incoming PHP requests. Tuning these values is important for performance, especially under high traffic:

1. Open the PHP-FPM pool configuration file for the default user pool

bash 
sudo nano /etc/php/8.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf

2. Add / Modify these configurations

www.conf 
pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 50
pm.start_servers = 10
pm.min_spare_servers = 5
pm.max_spare_servers = 35
pm = dynamic Sets the process manager mode to dynamic, which allows PHP-FPM to automatically adjust the number of child processes based on demand.

pm.max_children = 50 Defines the maximum number of child processes that can be alive at the same time. This limits concurrency and memory usage.

pm.start_servers = 10 Sets how many child processes are created when PHP-FPM starts. Adjust based on expected load at startup.

pm.min_spare_servers = 5 Minimum number of idle (waiting) child processes to keep available. Helps handle sudden traffic spikes without delay.

pm.max_spare_servers = 35 Maximum number of idle child processes. Prevents resource waste by limiting how many idle processes can remain active.

After adding these to your /etc/php/8.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf, restart PHP-FPM:
bash 
sudo systemctl restart php8.4-fpm

Security Best Practices

Disable Dangerous Functions

1. In php.ini, disable potentially harmful functions:

php.ini 
disable_functions = exec,passthru,shell_exec,system,proc_open,popen

2. Hide PHP Version

php.ini 
expose_php = Off

3. Enable Error Logging

php.ini 
log_errors = On
error_log = /var/log/php_errors.log

Conclusion

Installing PHP 8.4 on Ubuntu 24.04 brings significant performance improvements and new features to your web development environment. Whether you’re running WordPress, Laravel, Symfony, or custom PHP applications, PHP 8.4 offers enhanced security, better memory management, and improved execution speed.

At HostingHome, we provide optimized hosting solutions with the latest PHP versions, ensuring your websites run at peak performance. Our Ubuntu 24.04 hosting plans come with PHP 8.4 pre-configured and ready for your applications.

For production environments, always test thoroughly before upgrading, maintain proper backups, and monitor your applications post-upgrade to ensure optimal performance.