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Question Plesk on Ubuntu 20.04: Can PHP 5.6 from Ondřej Surý PPA be installed safely as a custom PHP handler?

L

Lordvardus

New Pleskian
Hello,

I am running Plesk on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal) and would like to add PHP 5.6 as an additional PHP handler, so that I can select it for legacy websites in Plesk.

Plesk currently offers PHP versions from 7.0 to 8.5, but PHP 5.6 is not available in the Plesk installer.

I found PHP 5.6.40 packages in the Ondřej Surý PHP PPA:

5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1

However, when I simulate installing the packages, APT wants to upgrade libpcre3 from the Ubuntu version 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1 to the PPA version 2:8.45-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1.

The PHP packages require libpcre3 >= 2:8.41, so keeping the currently installed Ubuntu version results in unmet dependencies.

The simulation shows no packages being removed, but I am concerned about compatibility with Plesk and its components, which also use libpcre3.

My questions are:

  1. Is it safe to upgrade libpcre3 to the version from the Ondřej Surý PPA on a Plesk server running Ubuntu 20.04?
  2. Could this break Plesk components, Apache, ModSecurity, or other system services?
  3. Is there a recommended way to install PHP 5.6 as a custom PHP-FPM handler in Plesk without replacing system libraries?
  4. Is there an officially supported or community-tested alternative for running PHP 5.6 with Plesk?
I understand that PHP 5.6 is end-of-life and intend to use it only for legacy applications.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has tested this setup.

Plesk Obsidian 18.0.82.1
OS version: Ubuntu 20.04 x86_64
Build date: 2026/10/27 17:00

Thank you!
 
Code: 
 sudo apt-get -s install \
> php5.6-cli php5.6-fpm php5.6-cgi \
> php5.6-mysql php5.6-curl php5.6-gd \
php5.6-mbstring php5.6-xml php5.6-zip php5.6-intl
Paketlisten werden gelesen... Fertig
Abhängigkeitsbaum erstellen
Informationen zum Bundesstaat werden gelesen... Fertig.
Die folgenden Pakete wurden automatisch installiert und werden nicht mehr benötigt:
  dconf-gsettings-backend dconf-service gir1.2-packagekitglib-1.0 glib-networking glib-networking-common glib-networking-services
  gsettings-desktop-schemas libappstream4 libdconf1 libglib2.0-bin libgstreamer1.0-0 libpackagekit-glib2-18 libproxy1v5 libsoup2.4-1
  libstemmer0d packagekit packagekit-tools python3-requests-unixsocket python3-software-properties unattended-upgrades
Verwenden Sie 'sudo apt autoremove', um sie zu entfernen.
Folgende zusätzliche Pakete werden installiert:
  libpcre3 libzip4 php5.6-common php5.6-json php5.6-opcache php5.6-readline
Folgende NEUE Pakete werden installiert:
  libzip4 php5.6-cgi php5.6-cli php5.6-common php5.6-curl php5.6-fpm php5.6-gd php5.6-intl php5.6-json php5.6-mbstring php5.6-mysql
  php5.6-opcache php5.6-readline php5.6-xml php5.6-zip
Folgende Pakete werden aktualisiert:
  libpcre3
1 aktualisiert, 15 neu installiert, 0 zu entfernen und 39 nicht aktualisiert.
Inst libpcre3 [2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1] (2:8.45-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf libpcre3 (2:8.45-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst libzip4 (1.7.3-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+2 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-common (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-json (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-opcache (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-readline (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-cli (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-cgi (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-curl (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-fpm (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-gd (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-intl (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-mbstring (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-mysql (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-xml (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Inst php5.6-zip (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf libzip4 (1.7.3-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+2 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-common (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-json (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-opcache (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-readline (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-cli (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-cgi (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-curl (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-fpm (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-gd (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-intl (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-mbstring (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-mysql (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-xml (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])
Conf php5.6-zip (5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 PPA für PHP:20.04/focal [amd64])

Code: 
apt-cache show php5.6-cli php5.6-fpm php5.6-cgi \
> | grep -E '^(Package|Version|Depends):'
Paket: php5.6-cli
Version: 5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1
Abhängigkeiten: libedit2 (>= 2.11-20080614-4), libpcre3 (>= 2:8.41), media-types | mime-support, php5.6-common (= 5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1), php5.6-json, php5.6-opcache, php5.6-readline, tzdata, ucf, libc6 (>= 2.29), libssl1.1 (>= 1.1.0), libxml2 (>= 2.8.0), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)
Paket: php5.6-fpm
Version: 5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1
Abhängigkeiten: libpcre3 (>= 2:8.41), media-types | mime-support, php5.6-cli, php5.6-common (= 5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1), php5.6-json, php5.6-opcache, procps, systemd | systemd-tmpfiles, tzdata, ucf, libacl1 (>= 2.2.23), libapparmor1 (>= 2.7.0~beta1+bzr1772), libc6 (>= 2.29), libssl1.1 (>= 1.1.0), libsystemd0, libxml2 (>= 2.8.0), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)
Paket: php5.6-cgi
Version: 5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1
Abhängigkeiten: libpcre3 (>= 2:8.41), media-types | mime-support, php5.6-cli, php5.6-common (= 5.6.40-81+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1), php5.6-json, php5.6-opcache, tzdata, ucf, libc6 (>= 2.29), libssl1.1 (>= 1.1.0), libxml2 (>= 2.8.0), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)

Code: 
apt-cache policy libpcre3
libpcre3:
  Installiert: 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1
  Kandidat: 2:8.45-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1
  Versionstabelle:
     2:8.45-1+ubuntu20.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 500
        500 https://ondrej-ppa-php.program-language.mirror.naxonet.net/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Pakete
 *** 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Pakete
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 Pakete
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2:8.39-12build1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Packages
 
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