Valet Linux+

Isolating PHP versions

Valet Linux+ lets you isolate specific sites to run on a different PHP version without changing the global PHP version. This is useful to keep older projects running or to test against several PHP versions.

Isolation supports PHP 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5.

Isolating a site

bash 
valet isolate {phpVersion} --site={siteName} --secure
  • {phpVersion} — The PHP version to use (e.g. [email protected], [email protected], or simply 7.4).
  • --site= (optional) — The site to isolate. Defaults to the current working directory.
  • --secure (optional) — Serve the isolated site over HTTPS.

Example — isolate a site to PHP 7.4 and secure it:

bash 
valet isolate [email protected] --site=example --secure

From inside the site's directory:

bash 
valet isolate [email protected] --secure

Using a .valetphprc file

Add a .valetphprc file to the project root containing the PHP version (e.g. [email protected]). When you run valet isolate without a version, Valet reads it from that file:

bash 
echo "[email protected]" > .valetphprc
valet isolate

Listing isolated sites

bash 
valet isolated

Displays every isolated site, whether it is secured, and the PHP version it uses.

Removing isolation

bash 
valet unisolate --site={siteName}
  • --site= (optional) — The site to remove isolation from. Defaults to the current working directory.

Example:

bash 
valet unisolate --site=example

From inside the site's directory:

bash 
valet unisolate

Running PHP and Composer with the isolated version

When you accepted linking Valet's PHP helper during valet install, the php command (/usr/local/bin/php) automatically uses the isolated PHP version inside an isolated site's directory, and the default version anywhere else.

You can also be explicit:

bash 
valet php -v                         # PHP of the current directory's site
valet php --site=example artisan     # PHP of a given site
valet composer install               # Composer with the site's PHP
valet composer --site=example update
valet which-php                      # Print the PHP executable path for the current site
valet which-php example