DirectAdmin PHP Version Not Changing? Fix PHP Selector Per Domain

# Create a temporary phpinfo file in the domain's document root
echo "" > /home/USERNAME/domains/DOMAIN.COM/public_html/phptest.php

Visit https://yourdomain.com/phptest.php in a browser. Look for the PHP Version line at the top. Delete the file immediately after checking.

php -v
# Check all installed PHP binaries:
ls /usr/local/php*/bin/php 2>/dev/null || ls /usr/bin/php* 2>/dev/null

grep "php" /usr/local/directadmin/data/users/USERNAME/domains/DOMAIN.COM.conf

Look for the php1_select field. Valid values are php1, php2, php3, etc., corresponding to the PHP versions defined in CustomBuild's options.conf.

# View the current PHP slot assignments in CustomBuild
cat /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/options.conf | grep -E "^php[0-9]_release"

Example output:

php1_release=8.2
php2_release=8.1
php3_release=7.4

Now edit the domain conf:

vi /usr/local/directadmin/data/users/USERNAME/domains/DOMAIN.COM.conf

Change php1_select=php1 to the slot matching your target version (e.g., php1_select=php3 for PHP 7.4).

echo "action=rewrite&value=httpd" >> /usr/local/directadmin/data/task.queue
/usr/local/directadmin/dataskq d380 --custombuild

Or trigger a full vhost rewrite:

echo "action=rewrite&value=all" >> /usr/local/directadmin/data/task.queue

DirectAdmin's task queue processor picks this up within a few seconds and rewrites all virtual host configurations. Check /var/log/directadmin/errortaskq.log if the change doesn't take effect.

cd /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild
./build rewrite_confs

This rewrites all Apache, nginx, and PHP-FPM configuration files from scratch based on the current options.conf and domain assignments.

# For PHP 8.2 (adjust version number):
systemctl restart php-fpm82
# or
/etc/init.d/php82-fpm restart

# List running PHP-FPM processes to confirm:
ps aux | grep php-fpm | grep -v grep

ls -la /var/run/php-fpm/
# Expected: one socket per installed PHP version
# e.g.: php-fpm82.sock, php-fpm81.sock, php-fpm74.sock

If a socket is missing, the corresponding PHP-FPM service is not running. Start it:

systemctl start php-fpm82
systemctl enable php-fpm82

In DirectAdmin admin panel, go to Admin Level → PHP Versions and set the default version. Alternatively, edit the DirectAdmin config directly:

grep "php_default_version" /usr/local/directadmin/conf/directadmin.conf
# Set it:
echo "php_default_version=php1" >> /usr/local/directadmin/conf/directadmin.conf

grep "php_version_selector" /usr/local/directadmin/conf/directadmin.conf

It must be set to 1. If the key is missing, add it:

echo "php_version_selector=1" >> /usr/local/directadmin/conf/directadmin.conf
service directadmin restart

# View available PHP binaries:
ls /usr/local/php*/bin/php

# Point the system php symlink to the desired version (e.g., 8.2):
ln -sf /usr/local/php82/bin/php /usr/bin/php
php -v  # Verify

For a specific cPanel or hosting user rather than system-wide:

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/php82/bin:$PATH"' >> /home/USERNAME/.bashrc
source /home/USERNAME/.bashrc
php -v

Cron jobs that call php use the system symlink. Specify the full path to the correct PHP binary in cron entries:

# Wrong — uses system default which may be wrong version:
* * * * * php /home/user/artisan schedule:run

# Right — explicit binary path:
* * * * * /usr/local/php82/bin/php /home/user/artisan schedule:run