PHP 5.2 and PHP 5.3 on mod_php (apache) on Ubuntu 11.04

Question

I have to develop both on php 5.2 and on php 5.3. I need those two versions installed on my system and ability to switch fast between them.

One solution I found is to upgrade/downgrade everytime I need other PHP, but I would like solution that I could only switch one apache config file.

Answer 1

You could very easily do this with PHP-FPM. Use two instances of it with different PHP versions.

Answer 2

The best thing to do would be to modify the apache configuration so that either special file extensions or special paths get executed by the different version modules.

You will likely not be able to install both separately using APT. I would install the most up to date php packages with apt, and compile the older version of php you want into a different path prefix, and a different apache module name.