PHP versions

Valet serves sites with one default PHP version. You can switch it, and you can isolate single sites on another version.

Where PHP versions come from

Valet installs PHP through your package manager, so it can only use versions your repositories offer. For versions your distribution doesn’t ship, add a repository first:

• Ubuntu and Debian: Ondřej Surý’s PPA or repository, for example sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php on Ubuntu.
• Fedora and RHEL: the Remi repository.
• Arch Linux: the version in the official repositories works directly. Install other versions, such as php83, from the AUR with your AUR helper before using them with Valet.

Switching the default version

valet use accepts PHP 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5:

valet use 8.4

Valet installs PHP-FPM and the extensions Valet needs for that version if they are missing, and restarts its services. Options:

Option	Effect
--update-cli	Also make this the php version on the command line.
--ignore-ext	Don’t install the extensions, only PHP-FPM.

Isolating a site

To run one site on a different version, from PHP 7.0 to 8.5, isolate it. Run this in the site’s directory, or name the site with --site:

valet isolate 7.4
valet isolate php@8.1 --site=legacy-shop --secure

--secure serves the isolated site over HTTPS. Instead of passing a version, you can put it in a .valetphprc file in the site’s directory, and run valet isolate without arguments.

Command	Effect
valet isolated	List isolated sites and their PHP versions.
valet unisolate [--site=name]	Return a site to the default version.
valet which-php [site]	Print the PHP binary a site uses.

Running PHP and Composer with a site’s version

valet php and valet composer run the PHP version of the site in the current directory:

valet php artisan migrate
valet composer install

If you linked Valet’s helper to /usr/local/bin/php during valet install, plain php does the same: inside an isolated site it runs that site’s version, everywhere else the default.