EasyApache4 Announcement
Over the past several months, we have been working on the next generation of EasyApache. In EasyApache 4, we will make quite a few major changes to the way cPanel & WHM utilizes Apache HTTPd & PHP. This will initially be an opt-in update so that users can choose when to move to the new ecosystem, but at some point, this will be a required change. The major changes that we plan to introduce are:
[LIST]
Improved Operating System Integration and migrating to OS standard paths for services
EasyApache will use the system package manager
Full binary distribution of Apache HTTPd and PHP via RPM & yum
Use of Modern Apache releases (2.4)
Automatic updates of Apache HTTPd & PHP
Ability to set different PHP versions on a per-vhost basis
As you can tell, there are many changes compared to what EA3 has delivered over the years. The purpose of this article is to solicit feedback about what is being planned for EasyApache 4 delivery. We absolutely want to know what our customers think of this plan! Please use this thread for posting comments.
Improved Operating System Distribution Integration
In order to align cPanel & WHM better with the operating system that the server runs, we will move the various Apache assets to match the file system paths that CentOS and RHEL provide. This will allow better customizations to Apache and make the deployment of new Apache modules a rapid process. Symlinks will be left behind in /usr/local/apache to help old scripts work with the new paths.
With these changes, porting most Apache modules that already have an RPM built for CentOS/RHEL should be relatively easy: tweak the spec file, ensure proper dependencies are provided, and recompile the RPM. Alternatively, it means that the existing resources for building RPMs for Apache modules will remain relevant and follow the process used by RHEL Administrators.
EasyApache Interface to move to Package Manager
With the initial release of EasyApache 4, we will move the EasyApache interface to the Package Manager, which will provide an interface for yum. cPanel will create yum repositories that hold the EasyApache4 RPMs, which includes Apache, PHP, and friends. Using yum will also allow your own customized repositories.
To shorten processing time and provide better quality control over the packages, EasyApache will begin utilizing RPMs. This will meet one of our project goals of cPanel & WHM becoming a better member of the Operating System"s ecosystem.
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The purpose of this UI is to provide a general-purpose interface into the packages and repositories available on a system.
Multi-PHP Domain Support
The release of EasyApache 4 will include Multi-PHP support at the VirtualHost level. We will utilize Red Hat"s Software Collections to allow the installation of multiple PHP versions simultaneously. WHM and cPanel Interfaces will allow users and administrators to select system level and per-domain default PHP versions. This will be achieved by using AddHandler entries in .htaccess files.
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Modern Apache only (2.4)
EasyApache 4 will only provide RPMs for Apache 2.4. This allows us to provide better support for Apache and simplifies the process of rolling out customizations.
Automatic Updates
We plan to automatically update Apache & PHP by default. This will be an opt-out process so that hosts can easily put updates of Apache & PHP under their control.
Feedback
We absolutely want to hear what you think of our plans for EasyApache4! Please comment below.
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Hello, Will you intend to support in EasyApache4 Apache's MPM Event and mod Proxy for using PHP-FPM? (Apache HTTPD 2.4.9+ required) I've been maintaining for years with this servers and it's the best performance and lowest memory consumption possible. 0 -
Hello, Will you intend to support in EasyApache4 Apache's MPM Event and mod Proxy for using PHP-FPM? (Apache HTTPD 2.4.9+ required) I've been maintaining for years with this servers and it's the best performance and lowest memory consumption possible.
I am very anxious to have PHP-FPM in my Cpanel box, but it's taking years for this...0 -
FYI there are third party apps that can get php-fpm in your cPanel box . Check out the cPanel app catalog 0 -
Is there an ETA for EasyApache4? 0 -
Is there an ETA for EasyApache4?
EA4 is planned for 11.52 which should be coming to EDGE very soon :)0 -
Hello, Will you intend to support in EasyApache4 Apache's MPM Event and mod Proxy for using PHP-FPM? (Apache HTTPD 2.4.9+ required) I've been maintaining for years with this servers and it's the best performance and lowest memory consumption possible.
Hi! Yep, you'll be able to achieve this setup with EA 4, however please note that in regards to PHP-FPM, we're only releasing an RPM with no API / UI support yet. Any user and pooling setup will need to be done manually.0 -
Phusion Passenger 5 (Raptor) is a huge must for this release of EasyApache. We need the ability to run Ruby, Python, and JS (Node and Meteor) apps in a seamless fashion. This has to be figured out with this release. I have been running Passenger 5 now for 6 months on cPanel and it is a dream and works well with virtual hosts, but it is a serious hassle that it's not supported right out of the box. A lot of folks would be excited to see this introduced and would see cPanel as a viable option if this were the case.
Phusion Passenger isn't something we've talked about yet. One of the first additional web servers I want to get support for is Nginx. After that, additional language support is a must. You note that it's a serious hassle to get working / setup. What type of difficulties did you encounter?0 -
EA4 is planned for 11.52 which should be coming to EDGE very soon :)
Maybe in September then? How quickly do releases typically move from EGDE to RELEASE?0 -
I read that, but it only describes the release process - not the timing. 0 -
Nope. I didn't even know that existed until now. I might sign up. 0 -
Hello, The EDGE release will be out FAR before September as far as when it moves to RELEASE it really depends on how "smooth" things go. 0 -
Many customizations will still be possible, just done differently. In general these are:
One problem I'm currently facing in my test cloudlinux install is the ability to set PHP version on sub-domains. Their documentation would require me to rename all php files to .php53 and that's just not possible. Web apps like osCommerce insert require statements to specific files. All of which is looking for a specific .php file. Can you help with that or take it into consideration when you make your feature stable?0 -
One problem I'm currently facing in my test cloudlinux install is the ability to set PHP version on sub-domains. Their documentation would require me to rename all php files to .php53 and that's just not possible. Web apps like osCommerce insert require statements to specific files. All of which is looking for a specific .php file. Can you help with that or take it into consideration when you make your feature stable?
Hi! MultiPHP support in EasyApache 4 will provide access to update addon, sub and primary domains to different PHP versions without renaming files. It's currently in EDGE, feel free to try it out and let us know how it works!0 -
I tried opening up the EasyApache 4 link on my sidebar a while back, and all it said was "EasyApache 4 is not available when EasyApache 3 is active." Then I tried it again some time later, and found that slightly more detail had been added, "If you would like to use EasyApache 4, the following url contains instructions on how to convert to EasyApache 4." That would be nice to know, since I'm eager to move away from recompiling everything every time there's a PHP point release, but the URL it provides - go.cpanel.net/installEA4 - points to another URL - 0 -
Hi! My apologies. This is not yet a public documentation link as 11.52 hasn't technically been released. I'll see if I can get those documents published a bit early. I've done a quick and dirty copy/pasta of the installation document below. I hope this helps! Warning: You must activate rpm_up if you install EasyApache 4 onto your system. Overview This document discusses how to install or uninstall EasyApache 4 (EA4). You can install or remove EasyApache 4 with the /scripts/migrate_ea3_to_ea4 script. Important: To run this script, you must log in as the root user via SSH on a cPanel & WHM server that runs one of the following operating systems: [LIST] - CentOS 6
- CentOS 7
- Red Hat" Enterprise Linux" 6 How to Install EasyApache 4 To install EasyApache 4, perform the following steps:
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- Run the following command: /scripts/migrate_ea3_to_ea4 --run
- A prompt will display all of the changes that you will make. To continue, follow the system's instructions.
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- To revert to EasyApache 3 from EasyApache 4, run the following command: /scripts/migrate_ea3_to_ea4 --revert --run Notes: [LIST]
- This command reverts the system to your previous EasyApache 3 installation and configuration.
- This command attempts to move the previous Apache files to a new location and revert the server to the previous state. You can upgrade and downgrade as many times as you wish.
- The chance of errors dramatically increases the more that you migrate back and forth. If you revert several times, you must manually delete the previous/usr/local/apache.ea3.1/ backup directory to continue. The system automatically preserves the /usr/local/apache/ directory.
- If the /usr/local/apache.3 directory exists, the system moves the /usr/local/apache/ directory to the /usr/local/apache.3.1 directory.
- If a migration runs with the /usr/local/apache.3.1 directory in place, the migration will fail in order to prevent loss of data.
- Follow the system's instructions. Note: The system will prompt you to pass the --run flag to indicate that you wish to proceed.
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Understood, but my point is that it is very disappointing that the valuable improvements coming in EA4 are being denied to those servers running an older but still officially supported OS version. I'd much rather see EA4 included for EL5 OS versions through the use of a separate OpenSSL package which is easy enough to provide for Apache while leaving the outdated version for the OS. 0 -
So this practically means that Cpanel will end EA3 support at the end of 2017? If yes - will there be a possibility for those that use Cloudlinux to continue using EA3 with the Cloudlinux PHP Selector updates or EA3 will be completely depricated and CPanel won't update until EA4 update is made? I am asking this because entire servers with old websites that are counting on the Apache 2.2 .htaccess rules should be migrated to EA4 new apache 2.4 only .htaccess syntax. Thanks. 0 -
So this practically means that Cpanel will end EA3 support at the end of 2017? If yes - will there be a possibility for those that use Cloudlinux to continue using EA3 with the Cloudlinux PHP Selector updates or EA3 will be completely depricated and CPanel won't update until EA4 update is made?
Yes, EasyApache 3 will become deprecated in 2017. There won't be a possibility for CL or any other cPanel systems to continue to use EasyApache 3. There will be no further updates to EA3 once it's deprecated.I am asking this because entire servers with old websites that are counting on the Apache 2.2 .htaccess rules should be migrated to EA4 new apache 2.4 only .htaccess syntax.
I would recommend upgrading these servers to Apache 2.4 soon. Apache 2.4 by default includes mod_access_compat, which provides compatibility for Apache 2.2 htaccess rules.0 -
Items like this that require adjustment of files after the installation of the RPM would likely be handled by pre and post scripts within the RPM itself. However, this hasn't been fully defined yet, so this might change.
Jacob, will a cp update get the feature going? I just got notice in the feature manager portal that it has been released to stable branch.0 -
Hi, EA4 has been released to the CURRENT tier. Enjoy! 0 -
They Hi, EA4 has been released to the CURRENT tier. Enjoy!
I did a forced CP update and a recompile. No feature. [LIST]- CENTOS 6.7 x86_64 standard " xxxxxx [LIST]
- WHM 11.50.1 (build 3)
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Hi, EasyApache 4 is not in 11.50, it's in 11.52, which just hit the CURRENT tier as of yesterday. You can upgrade to 11.52 from WHM -> Updates. I hope this helps! 0 -
I can't get the upgrade to EA4, my system is CLOUDLINUX 6.7 x86_64 standard, very funnny... If I read your cPanel documents here CloudLinux" 6
And if I see here
So which one is correct? If I read the /script/migrate_ea3_to_ea4 Its says: # Only available for CentOS 6 and 7 my $os_ver = Cpanel::Sys::OS::getreleaseversion(); my $os_fla = Cpanel::GenSysInfo::get_rpm_distro(); if ( ( $os_ver < 6 ) || ( $os_fla eq 'cloudlinux' ) ) { die "EasyApache 4 is not supported on this Operating System\n"; }
So CloudLinux is supported or not???0 -
When do you think will be EasyApache 4 compatible with Cloudlinux 7 ? 0 -
When do you think will be EasyApache 4 compatible with Cloudlinux 7 ?
This is answered on the following thread: Easy Apache 4 with CL Thank you.0
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