There are times when you log into the shell only to find out that the version of PHP WP CLI is outdated. Most common with cPanel mass hosting, they use a newer version of PHP for web and an outdated version for the CLI. Who uses CLI anyway? Well the pros do.
Applications of WP CLI
WP CLI is a command line interface for WordPress. It is efficiently used for managing a WordPress site without a web browser. There are commands to backup a site, update plugins, themes & WordPress core, search and replace WordPress database, etc. It is an effective tool for fixing a hacked WordPress site. For example, you can:
Reinstall infected WordPress Core via WP CLI
Step-by-Step guide to efficiently reinstalling infected WordPress Core using WP CLI
Reinstall infected WordPress Plugins via WP CLI
Step-by-Step guide to efficiently reinstalling infected WordPress Plugins using WP CLI
Download WP CLI
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar
Test WP CLI
php wp-cli.phar --info
Make it easier to call
sudo mv wp-cli.phar wp
chmod +x wp
Remember the directory where you downloaded CLI.
Add WP-CLI to the path.
export PATH=</path/to/wp-cli/directory>:$PATH
Test WP-CLI again
wp --info
Output:
OS: Linux e43.ehosts.com 3.10.0-693.11.6.1.ELK.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Jan 23 10:30:30 MST 2018 x86_64 Shell: /usr/local/cpanel/bin/jailshell PHP binary: /opt/cpanel/ea-php56/root/usr/bin/php PHP version: 5.6.40 php.ini used: /opt/cpanel/ea-php56/root/etc/php.ini WP-CLI root dir: phar://wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli WP-CLI vendor dir: phar://wp-cli.phar/vendor WP_CLI phar path: /home2/me/public_html/cgi-bin WP-CLI packages dir: WP-CLI global config: WP-CLI project config: /home2/me/public_html/wp-cli.yml WP-CLI version: 2.0.0
Want to use a custom version of PHP with CLI? Newer PHP versions are typically faster and way faster than PHP 5.6.
With phpinfo(); you can find the Configure Command options. Look for bindir. It will be something like:
bindir=/opt/cpanel/ea-php72/root/usr/bin
Set the WP_CLI_PHP environment variable to use your chosen php version.
export WP_CLI_PHP=/opt/php71/bin
If that doesn’t work, add this directory to your path and WP-CLI will use the newer PHP as long as you are in the same shell session.
export PATH=/opt/php71/bin:$PATH