Warning Message: "PHP Not Recommended"

[LettuceFarm]

Hi,

I'm taking a web development class and we were asked to download XAMPP. In order to download the right version, we were asked to check our PHP versions in terminal, to which I got the following warning message:

"Warning: PHP is not recommended. PHP is included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. Future versions of macOS will not include PHP. PHP 7.3.24-(to be removed in future macOS)..."

I'm new to all of this, so I'm not even sure what to make of this message. Is it warning me not to install PHP?

I've attached screen shots of the versions available on XAMPP's website for download. I don't know which one is compatible to me, and if in fact, it's okay for me to download XAMPP in this case?

Just needed to double check. My final is near approaching and I really need some fast feedback.

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[osx'r]

I'm not an authority on this, but seeing you're pressed for time, I thought I would chime in with a couple of things that might help.

You already seem to have PHP installed. Version is reported as 7.3.24. The rest is mostly a warning that it will disappear if you ever choose to upgrade to a newer OS version (i.e. on my Monterey installation on the M1, php doesn't exist at all).

As far as the safety of PHP is concerned, many frown upon PHP because it's easy to introduce security vulnerabilities in web applications. However, that's really possible with any programming language. If this is just a PoC that will run temporarily as part of an assignment, I think you'd be ok.

If you ever need to install (i.e. after updating the OS version), I think it's also possible to install PHP via homebrew (but have never done it myself). However, I think I'd be most inclined to suggest turning up a virtual machine with a linux distribution, and use PHP within that environment (if that's something you're comfortable with).

 

[osx'r]

One more thing to add. I just had a better look at the screenshots you posted. It looks like XAMPP will actually install a whole bunch of tools; many of which you might not need (like FTP which is a file transfer protocol to support sending and receiving files over the network, and Apache which is a web server). However, if that's what was recommended by your prof, I can only guess they want you to set up a whole web based environment. In such a case, I'd lean even more to setting up a virtual environment if that's an option for you.

You might even look into using a cloud-based provider that provides hosted machines (i.e. linux installations). Usually it only takes a few clicks to turn up a new virtual machine with everything you need. Shouldn't be too costly, and does all the heavy lifting for you.

 

[LettuceFarm]

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and reply.

Correct, we are asked to create a website (on Wordpress) from scratch. We have been using Dreamweaver and now we're going to transfer everything to Wordpress.

The thing is, I'm working on my work computer. Although, I work from home, I'm not really keen now on proceeding with using the same computer after you explained things to me.

All this information feels very overwhelming for me. I don't want to make any big changes, because (1) I don't know what changes I'm making and (2) I don't know how to uninstall these changes later when I'm done.

Instead of setting up a virtual machine, would it be effective if I used an old computer that I have to set this all up? I won't log into the Mac with my current Apple ID.

Also once I'm done with this project, what do I need to do in order to delete everything to the way it was before?

I'm so if my questions are somehow weird. I just feel very stressed and overwhelmed, because for the entire course we mainly worked a certain way and now the final is near approaching and I didn't expect that we needed to install new softwares and set up new things

 

[yitwail]

You already seem to have PHP installed. Version is reported as 7.3.24. The rest is mostly a warning that it will disappear if you ever choose to upgrade to a newer OS version (i.e. on my Monterey installation on the M1, php doesn't exist at all).

As far as the safety of PHP is concerned, many frown upon PHP because it's easy to introduce security vulnerabilities in web applications. However, that's really possible with any programming language. If this is just a PoC that will run temporarily as part of an assignment, I think you'd be ok.

Only things I use it for is to test PHP syntax (because I work on PHP web sites), and run a few scripts I wrote myself to parse log files I download from a web server. So now Apple will make me install PHP when I upgrade to Monterey, which won't happen until Universal Control is implemented. Either way, it has zero effect on my security. ?‍♂️

 

[MacCheetah3]

One more thing to add. I just had a better look at the screenshots you posted. It looks like XAMPP will actually install a whole bunch of tools; many of which you might not need (like FTP which is a file transfer protocol to support sending and receiving files over the network, and Apache which is a web server). However, if that's what was recommended by your prof, I can only guess they want you to set up a whole web based environment.

The recommendation/requirement is for simplicity. By using a software package like AMPPS, it’s the same experience for every student, including cross platform. Additionally, AMPPS has a control panel system to configure/adjust everything from one spot.

I no longer have AMPPS installed on my Mac to verify, but it may contain isolated versions of Apache, PHP, etc. Additionally, if I recall correctly, the installation contains an uninstaller app.

@LettuceFarm You should be okay to install now then uninstall when the course is complete.

 

[LettuceFarm]

The recommendation/requirement is for simplicity. By using a software package like AMPPS, it’s the same experience for every student, including cross platform. Additionally, AMPPS has a control panel system to configure/adjust everything from one spot.

I no longer have AMPPS installed on my Mac to verify, but it may contain isolated versions of Apache, PHP, etc. Additionally, if I recall correctly, the installation contains an uninstaller app.

@LettuceFarm You should be okay to install now then uninstall when the course is complete.

Hi MacCheetah, thank you so much for replying. Do I just uninstall the app itself like any other app once I'm done, or do I need to do anything else?

 

[MacCheetah3]

Unless I’m overlooking something, there’s only the virtual machine version for the latest versions.

Download XAMPP

Download XAMPP for Windows, Linux, and OS X. Older versions of Solaris are also available.

www.apachefriends.org

In which, these apply:

XAMPP FAQs for XAMPP-VM

Instructions on how to install XAMPP for OSX distributions.

www.apachefriends.org

P.S. I’m primarily familiar with the AMPPS package by Softaculous.

 

[LettuceFarm]

Ok, I went ahead and downloaded XAMPP. It took forever to install. Like 10 minutes straight. After installing it, our professor told us to go to https://localhost/phpmyadmin/ and then on her screen it showed in red, so she said, "I have a warning because it's not secure, but I went ahead anyway".

Will this really be okay for me to do?
And how do I bypass the security gateway that my Safari browser has? It won't let me view the website.

I'm nervous now

 

[MacCheetah3]

It’s because that URL is trying to create a secure connection (HTTPS), but your machine (i.e., local) isn’t going to have a certificate. It’s not a problem in this case, when you are testing websites hosted by a local machine. Have you tried http://localhost/phpmyadmin (standard HTTP)?

If you’re curious, here are some materials to read over:

https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-an-ssl-certificate/

What Is SSL? Understanding Secure Sockets Layer and How It Works

SSL or Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol that uses encryption to secure a website. Read more about what is SSL, how it works, and find out if you need it.

www.hostinger.com

 

[LettuceFarm]

Thank you so much MacCheeta. I really really appreciate this!

 

[LettuceFarm]

Hi guys. I finished my project and now I'm trying to delete XAMPP like everyone suggested I would do, but I want to delete Wordpress first from XAMPP and then delete XAMPP. Every time I check the Wordpress database and click on drop or try to use the command "drop database Wordpress" from the SQL, I get errors.

This is the error I get when I try to check the database and then click on drop. I don't know what it means. How do I delete this thing?

 

[LettuceFarm]

The only thing I can think of that caused this is that I deleted XAMPP before I deleted Wordpress, then realized I need XAMPP to delete Wordpress so I reinstalled it again :/ But when I reinstalled it, the Wordpress database showed up on the list so I'm assuming the Wordpress files were on my computer even though I deleted XAMPP? I'm so confused now. This is all so overwhelming. I just want to get rid of these files and finish

 

[MacCheetah3]

MYSQL error (1547): Column count of mysql.proc is wrong

MYSQL error (1547): Column count of mysql.proc is wrong is a common MySQL error. Find the cause and solution here. Read more.

nixcp.com

Column count of mysql.proc is wrong. Expected 20, found 16. The table is probably corrupted

I am using 000webhost.com and I am using phpMyAdmin there. I am getting this error from MySQL when I run my PHP script as the title says: Column count of mysql.proc is wrong. Expected 20, found 16...

stackoverflow.com

1. Launch XAMPP
2. Start the services
3. Open Terminal
4. Enter

sudo /opt/lampp/bin/mysql_upgrade -u root -p

If you didn’t set/change the password, just press Return / Enter
4b. Allow the upgrade(s) to finish
5. Stop the services
6. Start the services
7. Try to do your WP stuff

That’s what I’m interpreting.