Install PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu 22.04 with PHP-FPM

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is an open-source, server-side scripting language widely used in web development. Although PHP 5.6 has reached end of life, some teams still install PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu to power dynamic sites, handle forms, manage sessions, and connect to MySQL or PostgreSQL. Many organizations retain this release due to legacy apps or compatibility requirements. PHP also offers a rich set of extensions, keeping it adaptable for modern scenarios.

This guide shows how to install PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu 22.04. You will add the required repositories, install PHP modules, configure PHP-FPM, and integrate it into your applications via PHP-FPM.

Prerequisites

Have access to an Ubuntu 22.04 instance as a non-root sudo user.

Install the PHP PPA Repository

PHP 5.6 is deprecated and not available in Ubuntu’s default repositories. You must add a Personal Package Archive (PPA) that maintains older PHP builds. The Ondřej Surý PPA is commonly used for installing legacy PHP versions. Follow these steps to add the PHP PPA.

Update the APT package index

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$ sudo apt update

Add the ondrej/php PPA

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$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Press Enter to proceed with adding the repository to your system.

…

WARNING: add-apt-repository is broken with non-UTF-8 locales, see
https://github.com/oerdnj/deb.sury.org/issues/56 for workaround:

# LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

More info: https://launchpad.net/~ondrej/+archive/ubuntu/php
Adding repository.
Press [ENTER] to continue or Ctrl-c to cancel.

If you hit non-UTF-8 locale errors

Run the following to add the repository with a UTF-8 locale.

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$ sudo LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Refresh APT indexes

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$ sudo apt update

Install PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu

Use the following steps to install PHP 5.6 and essential modules commonly required by web applications.

Install PHP 5.6

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$ sudo apt install -y php5.6

Install common PHP 5.6 modules

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$ sudo apt install -y php5.6-mysql php5.6-xml php5.6-curl php5.6-cli

When asked to restart services, use Tab to select <Ok> and press Enter.

Verify the installed PHP version

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$ php -v

Your output should resemble the following.

PHP 5.6.40-81+ubuntu22.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 (cli) Copyright (c) 1997-2016 The PHP Group Zend Engine v2.6.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2016 Zend Technologies with Zend OPcache v7.0.6-dev, Copyright (c) 1999-2016, by Zend Technologies

Install PHP 5.6 FPM

PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) is a FastCGI implementation that handles PHP requests efficiently. It offers better resource usage and performance than traditional methods. PHP-FPM runs PHP processes independently, improving memory management, concurrency handling, and integration capabilities. Follow these steps to install PHP 5.6 FPM.

Install the PHP 5.6 FPM package

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$ sudo apt install php5.6-fpm

When prompted to restart services, use Tab to select <Ok> and press Enter.

Start PHP 5.6 FPM

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$ sudo systemctl start php5.6-fpm

Enable PHP 5.6 FPM at boot

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$ sudo systemctl enable php5.6-fpm

Confirm PHP 5.6 FPM status

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$ sudo systemctl status php5.6-fpm

Your output should be similar to this.

● php5.6-fpm.service - The PHP 5.6 FastCGI Process Manager Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/php5.6-fpm.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-03-20 22:54:20 UTC; 3min 27s ago Docs: man:php-fpm5.6(8) Main PID: 16489 (php-fpm5.6) Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 2, Requests: 0, slow: 0, Traffic: 0req/sec" Tasks: 3 (limit: 2217) Memory: 11.9M CPU: 42ms CGroup: /system.slice/php5.6-fpm.service ├─16489 "php-fpm: master process (/etc/php/5.6/fpm/php-fpm.conf)" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ├─16490 "php-fpm: pool www" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""> └─16491 "php-fpm: pool www" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""> Mar 20 22:54:20 test-server systemd[1]: php5.6-fpm.service: Deactivated successfully. Mar 20 22:54:20 test-server systemd[1]: Stopped The PHP 5.6 FastCGI Process Manager. Mar 20 22:54:20 test-server systemd[1]: Starting The PHP 5.6 FastCGI Process Manager... Mar 20 22:54:20 test-server systemd[1]: Started The PHP 5.6 FastCGI Process Manager.

Test and Use PHP 5.6

Use the following steps to create a PHP test file, configure your web server, and wire PHP-FPM to handle PHP requests for dynamic applications.

Create a PHP info file

Create a PHP information file using any editor such as nano.

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$ sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

Add the PHP info snippet

Add the following PHP code to display configuration details.

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<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Save and close the file.

Enable required Apache modules

Enable the proxy_fcgi module so Apache can communicate with PHP-FPM and the setenvif module for managing environment variables.

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$ sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif

Your output should look like this:

Considering dependency proxy for proxy_fcgi: Enabling module proxy. Enabling module proxy_fcgi. Module setenvif already enabled To activate the new configuration, you need to run: systemctl restart apache2

Restart Apache to apply modules

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$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Configure Apache to use PHP-FPM

Edit the default site to process PHP via PHP-FPM.

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$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Add the following block inside the <VirtualHost *:80> section.

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<FilesMatch \.php$> SetHandler "proxy:unix:/var/run/php/php5.6-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost/" </FilesMatch>

Save and close the file.

Test the Apache configuration

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$ sudo apache2ctl -t

Your output should be similar to the following:

Syntax OK

If you see Syntax OK, your configuration is valid.

Restart Apache to apply changes

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$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Allow HTTP through the firewall

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$ sudo ufw allow 80

Reload the firewall

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$ sudo ufw reload

Access the PHP info page

Open the /info.php path using your server IP in a browser such as Chrome.

http://<SERVER-IP>/info.php
PHP information page

Warning

PHP 5.6 no longer receives security updates. For stronger security and performance, upgrade to a newer PHP release. Use PHP 5.6 only when required for legacy software.

Conclusion

You have installed PHP 5.6 on Ubuntu 22.04 and configured PHP-FPM to serve web requests efficiently. You installed PHP 5.6 from a custom PPA, set up PHP-FPM for performance, and configured PHP-FPM to handle PHP traffic on the server. Visit the official PHP documentation for additional details on PHP 5.6 security best practices and configuration options.