Need a little advice :)

[Dayanara09]

Hello everyone!

I'd like to ask a little advice for our website. Recently, we requested HostGator to upgrade our website to PHP 8.1 version as we have already pre-paid for it. For now, we are on CentOS 06 and they already updated our MySQL server to 5.7 and also fixed our C-Panel, but just left PHP not updated. Could you recommend possible ways or techniques on how can I possibly get HostGator to upgrade our website to PHP 8.1 version that comes with CentOS 07 so we can have it run smoothly? Could you recommend on how to explain to them that we have already pre-paid for it? We have already contacted their customer service a few times by now.

Could you also suggest another hosting site that has minimal issues and can help us get our website up and running smoothly? Thanks!

 

[bigredseo]

There are a few things that need to be determined about your hosting contract with Hostgator.

Are you using a shared hosting plan, Virtual Server, Dedicated Server, or Cloud?
Are you paying for managed services if you're on a server/cloud?
When you say that you've paid them, was this a separate ticket/invoice from your normal hosting invoice?

One of the things you're going to run into is that CentOS 6 reached End of Life (EOL) in November 2020.
CentOS 7 was released, but that will reach EOL in June 2024 and stop receiving updates.
While CentOS 8 was released, the lifecycle ended in 2021 as Red Hat changed how everything would be released in the future - a "CentOS Stream" - where there was no new version number as such, it would just be a continuous patch, and feature release system.

A system admin can run a YUM update to get the latest release information for CentOS 7, but with that can come with various "what if" scenarios - particularly, what if the patch/update fails?

A cleaner process is usually to end the contract on the server that you have and create a new contract with the latest operating system - this way you're not patching older files. You'd want to purchase the new server, get everything configured, and then migrate your files for the sites over to the new server. Then cancel the old server and receive the remaining refund (depending on your agreements with them).

I can't find anything on the HostGator site regarding servers that state which OS they're running other than saying "Linux" or "Windows". I'm not seeing version numbers.

PHP 8 does not work on CentOS 6, from what I understand. You must migrate to CentOS 7 to run PHP 8

With all that said, the only place that will be able to assist you with the existing server is HostGator support directly. I would request from them that they upgrade the server to CentOS 7 - but please be sure to have a backup before they do anything. Some hosts may not upgrade the OS as the hardware is out of date too and will recommend moving to a new machine (as described above) - but your best bet is to open a new ticket with them to discuss the upgrade to CentOS 7.

Failing that, your next bet is to look for a new host. I'm not in a position to recommend one, but there are plenty here on the forum if you check the marketplace.

 

[scottweb]

If you are on shared hosting plan, you can ask them to migrate your website to newer server. If you have dedicated server/vps/cloud you can deploy new server with latest version of OS like AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux because CentOS has come to EOL and migrate your website from current server to new server. If you don't have technical background, ask them to provide you service they might charge you additionally. You can upgrade your current server but it is bit complex task to do and it required high technical knowledge. PHP 8.0 and above doesn't work with CentOS 6.

 

[asiadev]

You should use managed hosting like wordpress hosting or dedicated hosting. Managed mean you can request technical help for upgrade software incuding php. But not for script.

 

[John @ S4]

I think that it's important to note that CentOS 6 was end of life more than 3 years ago, so really that should be updated if possible rather than just a newer PHP version, so that you are actually getting security patches, etc.

As @bigredseo and @scottweb said you also are going to have trouble installing the latest version of a lot of things, including PHP 8+ on CentOS 6, yes it can be done in hacky ways with alternative repositories but it's not a great idea at all and Hostgator definitely won't do it for you.

One more thought is that PHP 8.1 is also pretty old now, it was declared end of life a couple of weeks ago, so it won't receive any more updates apart from security patches and it will only get those until the end of 2024, so it makes a lot more sense to skip over it and use PHP 8.2 already (or 8.3 if you are feeling brave, it was only released 12 days ago).

 

[Greenhost.cloud]

Hello everyone!

I'd like to ask a little advice for our website. Recently, we requested HostGator to upgrade our website to PHP 8.1 version as we have already pre-paid for it. For now, we are on CentOS 06 and they already updated our MySQL server to 5.7 and also fixed our C-Panel, but just left PHP not updated. Could you recommend possible ways or techniques on how can I possibly get HostGator to upgrade our website to PHP 8.1 version that comes with CentOS 07 so we can have it run smoothly? Could you recommend on how to explain to them that we have already pre-paid for it? We have already contacted their customer service a few times by now.

Could you also suggest another hosting site that has minimal issues and can help us get our website up and running smoothly? Thanks!

Based on the explanation you provided regarding the status of your operating system, it appears that you are utilizing services like VPS hosting. If you opt for managed services, you have the option to request a replacement of your operating system with an updated version, all while creating a backup copy. To avoid any potential downtime during this process, you can prepare and configure a new service and then transfer it by creating a backup copy to minimize any disruptions. In such a scenario, it is advisable to contact your service support for suitable solutions.