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What is EasyApache 4?

EasyApache 4 enhances cPanel and WHM's Apache and PHP management with RPM packaging, faster updates, multi-PHP support, and improved path organization.
LAMP Stack
3 min read

Warning:

Version 63 of cPanel & WHM is the last version to support EasyApache 3. This version is scheduled for end-of-life in December 2018. Once WHM 64 is released, EasyApache 3 will no longer receive updates and will be fully deprecated. For more information on the deprecation schedule for EasyApache 3, check out the cPanel Blog. Not sure what end-of-life is? Check out our article What Does End-of-life (EOL) Mean for Me? to learn more.

Overview

EasyApache 4 is an overhaul of how cPanel and WHM maintains your Apache and PHP distribution, and is RPM/Package based. This means no more long recompile of Apache and PHP every time a module is needed. MultiPHP support allows for a different PHP version for each virtual host and also allows different PHP handlers to be used for those versions.

EasyApache 4 offers many improvements over EasyApache 3. Using binary packages allows for quicker updates and installations. EasyApache 4 uses Software Collections Library (SCL) for PHP packages, allowing installation of multiple versions of PHP on the file system. Additionally, paths have been reorganized to allow EasyApache 4 to function more efficiently and allow multiple directories to store data.

Supported PHP Versions and Handlers

EasyApache 4 supports PHP 5.4 and newer and should be run with CentOS 6 or 7, CloudLinux 6 or 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 or 7 and run cPanel and WHM version 11.52 or higher. It is recommended that you update your cPanel and WHM version before you run EasyApache. Learn how in our article Updating WHM/cPanel.

EasyApache 4 and FCGI

Currently EasyApache 4 does not support FCGI. 

The current PHP handlers available for EasyApache 4 are:

  • SuPHP
  • CGI
  • DSO – can only be installed on a single PHP version and requires prefork MPM.
  • PHP-FPM – must be set up manually per cPanel user and manually restarted.

Yum Installs

Warning:

Before upgrading to EasyApache 4, it is important that you take a backup of your server. If you do not have backups configured, you can take a manual backup. See how to do this in our article Taking a Manual Backup in cPanel.

Because EasyApache 4 uses RPM’s rather than compiling Apache every time something needs to be changed, packages will need to be managed. EasyApache 4 usually has a package for installation that starts with ea- and then list either Apache or PHP version, i.e. ea-apache24-mod_mpm_event.x86_64 or ea-php54-php-soap.x86_64. With these packages, there are post hooks and post install actions that will need to happen, like restarting Apache. Always make sure Apache and your website are up after the installation of a new module.

Warning:

When using Yum, do not use yum -y install or yum -y remove, because of the configuration of EasyApache packages, you run the risk of accidentally removing something important like Apache by automatically answering yes before reviewing the package by using -y with these commands.

If you’ve updated to the most current version of WHM/cPanel, taken a backup of your server, and are ready to upgrade to EasyApache 4, you can contact our Support team and they will be more than happy to upgrade you to EasyApache 4. If you are unsure how to open a support case, you can see the instructions in our article Creating a Support Case.

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