Build and manage multiple PHP versions in your home directory without root permissions.
PHPBrew is a command-line tool that builds, installs, and manages multiple PHP versions locally in a user's home directory. It solves the problem of needing to test applications across different PHP versions without requiring system-wide installations or root permissions. By simplifying compile-time configuration through variants, it allows developers to easily create custom PHP environments tailored to their project needs.
PHP developers who need to test applications across multiple PHP versions, work on projects with different PHP requirements, or manage custom PHP builds without affecting the system-wide installation.
Developers choose PHPBrew because it provides a pure-PHP, permission-friendly way to manage complex PHP environments. Its variant system abstracts away tedious configuration, and its home-directory installation avoids conflicts with system packages, making it ideal for local development and CI environments.
Brew & manage PHP versions in pure PHP at HOME
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Installs PHP in the user's home directory, eliminating the need for root permissions and avoiding system-wide conflicts, as highlighted in the README's home directory focus.
Uses predefined variant sets like +default and +dbs to abstract complex compile options, making custom PHP builds straightforward without manual path worries.
Integrates with bash, zsh, and fish shells to easily switch between installed PHP versions, ideal for testing applications across multiple releases.
Provides commands to install and enable PHP extensions into the current environment, simplifying extension handling compared to manual compilation.
Requires installing development packages and can fail due to system-specific issues, such as GD extension needing manual library paths, as noted in the Known Issues section.
The README explicitly states no guarantees for building older, unsupported PHP versions (below 5.4), which may not work and won't be fixed.
Building PHP from source is time-consuming and prone to errors depending on system configurations, requiring troubleshooting that isn't always straightforward.