Drupal VM defaults to PHP 7.4, but you can also install and use 7.2 or 7.3.

## Ubuntu

Ondřej Surý's PPA for PHP is used to install PHP 7.4, but you can switch versions by changing `php_version` inside `config.yml` to `"7.2"` or `"7.3"`.

If you're using Apache with `mod_php` you should also add `libapache2-mod-php{{ php_version }}` to the `extra_packages` list.

_Note: XHProf does currently not work with PHP 7.1+, make sure you don't have it listed in `installed_extras`._

## RedHat/CentOS 8

Remi's RPM repository is included with Drupal VM, and you can make the following changes to use it to install a different version of PHP than 7.4:

  1. Make sure you've followed the directions for switching to CentOS 8 in the [use a different base OS](base-os.md) guide.
  2. Change `php_version` inside `config.yml` to `"7.2"` or `"7.3"`.

## PHP 5.6 EOL

PHP 5.6 was end-of-lifed (meaning no more community support or security fixes) at the end of 2018, and is not supported by Drupal VM.

## Using default distribution packages

If you want parity with your production environment and wish to install the default distribution packages, set `php_version: ''` inside your `config.yml` to avoid adding Remi's or Ondřej's repositories. Doing this will use the default packages set in the [`geerlingguy.php`](https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-php) Ansible role.

_Note: If you're using a base OS with a PHP version older than what's assumed in the `geerlingguy.php` role, you will also need to override some of the default variables set by that role in your `config.yml`. See the [`geerlingguy.php` Ansible role's README](https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-role-php#readme) for more information._