What is PHP?

What is PHP? 

PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. In an HTML document, PHP script (similar syntax to that of Perl or C ) is enclosed within special PHP tags. Because PHP is embedded within tags, the author can jump between HTML and PHP (similar to ASP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. And, because PHP is executed on the server, the clientcannot view the PHP code.

PHP can perform any task that any CGI program can do, but its strength lies in its compatibility with many types of databases. Also, PHP can talk across networks using IMAP, SNMP, NNTP, POP3, or HTTP.

How to update  PHP version? 

1) To update Apache’s instance of PHP, run the /usr/local/cPanel/scripts/phpup script from the command line.
2) To change the version of Apache’s instance of PHP, run EasyApache in WHM (Home >> Software >> EasyApache (Apache Update)) or run the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/easyapache script on the command line.
How do I update the instance of PHP that cPanel uses?

1) The system uses RPM to update PHP. For more information, read the rpm.versions documentation.

If I install a custom instance of PHP, will it work with cPanel & WHM?

The system uses RPM to update PHP. For more information, read the rpm.versions documentation.