PHP Version Compatibility Assessment
In WHMCS 7.5 and above, Utilities > System > PHP Version Compatibility displays a report of ionCube-encoded files in your WHMCS installation directory that may not properly decode under certain versions of PHP. This utility only inspects decoding compatibility and does not assert PHP syntax compatibility.
This provides transparency for files that you may have deployed over the lifespan of your installation, namely files belonging to custom or third-party code. While WHMCS does not control these files, if their encoding is incompatible with your environment they may negatively affect WHMCS.
Managing Unknown Compatibility Files
If you have files marked as Encoding Compatibility Unknown, this does not immediately indicate a problem. Instead, it indicates that the utility has been unable to accurately determine the PHP versions the file's encoding may support.
The recommended course of action is to check with the vendor of the code to confirm whether it is compatible with the desired target PHP version. In many cases, you may find that updates have already been released to provide compatibility with newer PHP versions.
If you can confirm it is compatible, no further action is needed. If there is no update available for compatibility with your target PHP version, perform one of the following actions:
- Stop using the module and remove the module from your WHMCS installation.
- Wait for the vendor to issue an update that provides compatibility for your desired PHP version before upgrading PHP.
Support for multiple PHP environments will vary between vendors. The latest WHMCS releases utilize the ionCube Bundled Encoding feature to generate files that are compatible within multiple PHP environments simultaneously. For more information, see System Environment Guide.
- If a vendor chooses to use the same approach as WHMCS, this utility can concisely determine what support is embedded for decoding in their software.
- If a vendor opts to provide different encodings for different PHP environments, the encoding may not be descriptive enough for the utility to accurately confirm compatibility.