Is it possible to downgrade PHP 8.X to 7.X within Azure App Service for Wordpress?

Question

Hello everyone,

I need to downgrade from PHP 8.X to 7.X in Azure App Service for WordPress. I'm currently experiencing critical errors after migrating from one WordPress multisite to another and believe the PHP version could be the cause. Although I've tried identifying the problem with plugins, I'd like to test the PHP version to be sure.

Thanks for your time.

Best regards,

Jim

Answer 1

Hello @James A. Cummings thanks for the question

Yes, it is possible to downgrade PHP 8.X to 7.X within Azure App Service for Wordpress. You can use the Azure Cloud Shell to set the version of PHP to 7.4 by running the following command:

az webapp config set --resource-group <ResourceGroupName> --name <WebAppName> --linux-fx-version "PHP|7.4"

This will set the PHP version of your app to 7.4

This can also been done in the Azure portal: In your App Service click Setting > Configuration > General Settings > Major Version > Choose PHP 7.4.

Please keep in mind that extended support for PHP 7.4 will ended on November 28, 2022. Your applications will continue to run, however any application hosted in App Service targeting PHP 7.4 will be out of support and at risk of security vulnerabilities that remain unpatched.

Hope that helps,

Grace