PHP 7.3 now available!

The latest version of PHP is now available! PHP 7.3 comes with a number of improvements to the previous versions and offers even more security and performance. FireStorm therefore recommends that you update to the latest version as soon as possible. PHP 7.3 Hosting will be available from now on for all customers for Linux as well as for Windows Server. Customers with Rootserver – if they own Plesk – can easily install the update via the admin interface.

What has improved?

With the release of the new update, users are offered relevant improvements. New in PHP 7.3 is the more flexible use of the Heredoc and Nowdoc syntax. The new feature is the elimination of indenting of end markers in case of a line break.
Additionally a new flag “JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR” is available for error handling of JSON extensions. The function “is_countable” is also new. This function returns the “true”, which occurs with a variable of the array type or a countable variable.
The function image2wbmp() is now obsolete and has been replaced by imagewbmp().

Why is PHP 7.3 so important?

The latest PHP version will be important, as the official support of PHP version 5.6 ended on December 31, 2018. It shows you again clearly that the change to the 7.3. version is urgently necessary. In the event of errors, you will have extensive support available.

How do I do the important update to PHP 7.3 via Plesk?

Updating Plesk is pretty easy. To update to PHP 7.3, you must first log in to Plesk with your credentials.
Under Websites & Domains then PHP Settings you can change the PHP version by dropdown. After saving, it will take a few minutes until the whole thing is done. It is best to check again in the same menu whether the changes have been applied. If successful, PHP 7.3. should now be installed and your website is now up to date.

Customers with their own Plesk rootserver can activate PHP 7.3 under ‘Tools & Settings => Updates and Upgrade’.