How To Install PHP 8 on Debian 11

Introduction

PHP is a popular server-side scripting language. This guide explains how to install PHP 8 on Debian 11.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide:

• Deploy a Debian 11 cloud server at Vultr.

• Update the server.

• Create a non-root user with sudo privileges.

Install PHP 8 on Debian 11

To install PHP 8 on Debian, you must set up the deb.sury.org repository.

1. Add the repository key.

   $ wget -qO - https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
   

2. Add the repository.

   $ echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sury-php.list
   

3. Update the package index.

   $ sudo apt update
   

4. Install PHP 8.0 from the deb.sury.org repository.

   $ sudo apt install php8.0
   

5. Verify the PHP 8 installation.

   $ php -v
   

Extensions

PHP extensions add new functionality to PHP.

• To check the list of installed extensions:

  $ php -m
  

• To find available extensions, see the extension list.

• Use apt to install extensions:

  $ sudo apt install php8.0-{extension name}
  

  For example, to install the MySQL extension:

  $ sudo apt install -y php8.0-mysql
  

More Information

For more information on PHP 8, please see the official documentation