Kolab 16 and newer version of php than 5.4

Post by Thomas Black
Hi there,

Hi,

Post by Thomas Black
I have installed Kolab 16 on CentOS 7.
Version of PHP is 5.4. I would like to update PHP to version 5.6,
because of security and also other web apps need that version. But it
seems that is impossible, because packages php-kolab and php-kolabformat
has dependency on php-common version 5.4.
Is there any possibility to update PHP to version 5.6 when I have Kolab
16 installed?
Really is Kolab 16 - latest stable version depended on php version 5.4
which end active support in 2014 and security fixes in 2015?

You might have misunderstood how things work in rhel7/centos7.
Versions of packages that are shipped in the distro are supported by the upstream vendor.

So even if PHP project doesn't support 5.4 anymore, redhat does.

Also you can install PHP 5.6 to centos7 by using the official SCL repos.

-- Pasi

Post by Thomas Black
Thanks for any advice.
Thomas

Thomas Black

2017-03-19 21:58:50 UTC

Hi,

thanks for answer.

I'm sorry, I forgot that redhat has still supporting php 5.4 because it
has in it's base repos. But even if the php 5.4 is supported by redhat,
I need for other applications on same server php version 5.6.

I know I can install php 5.6 on centos 7. I have remi repos installed.
But because of Kolab 16 and packages php-kolab and php-kolabformat,
there is dependency problem.
These packages are dependent on 5.4.

For example this is part of output from yum update php after I added
remi repos.
--------------------
Error: Package: php-kolab-2.0-1.11.el7.kolab_16.x86_64 (@Kolab_16)
Requires: php(api) = 20100412-64
Removing: php-common-5.4.16-42.el7.x86_64 (@base)
php(api) = 20100412-64
Updated By: php-common-5.6.30-1.el7.remi.x86_64 (remi-php56)
php(api) = 20131106-64
Available: php-common-5.4.45-13.el7.remi.x86_64 (remi)
php(api) = 20100412-64
Available: php-common-5.6.29-1.el7.remi.x86_64 (remi-php56)
php(api) = 20131106-64
--------------------

If can't figure out how to solve this.
When I try to update php package a get these errors (same for
php-kolabformat).
When I try to swap packages php and php56 then it would uninstall kolab.

Is it possible to upgrade to php 5.6 with Kolab 16?

I hope I describe it well to be understood.
Thanks

Thomas

Post by Thomas Black
Hi there,

Hi,

You might have misunderstood how things work in rhel7/centos7.
Versions of packages that are shipped in the distro are supported by the upstream vendor.
So even if PHP project doesn't support 5.4 anymore, redhat does.
Also you can install PHP 5.6 to centos7 by using the official SCL repos.
-- Pasi

Post by Thomas Black
Thanks for any advice.
Thomas

Pasi Kärkkäinen

2017-03-20 07:29:30 UTC

Post by Thomas Black
Hi,
thanks for answer.
I'm sorry, I forgot that redhat has still supporting php 5.4 because it
has in it's base repos. But even if the php 5.4 is supported by redhat,
I need for other applications on same server php version 5.6.
I know I can install php 5.6 on centos 7. I have remi repos installed.
But because of Kolab 16 and packages php-kolab and php-kolabformat,
there is dependency problem.
These packages are dependent on 5.4.
For example this is part of output from yum update php after I added
remi repos.

There's no need to use remi.

You can use the official redhat/centos SCL packages.

-- Pasi

Post by Thomas Black
--------------------
Requires: php(api) = 20100412-64
php(api) = 20100412-64
Updated By: php-common-5.6.30-1.el7.remi.x86_64 (remi-php56)
php(api) = 20131106-64
Available: php-common-5.4.45-13.el7.remi.x86_64 (remi)
php(api) = 20100412-64
Available: php-common-5.6.29-1.el7.remi.x86_64 (remi-php56)
php(api) = 20131106-64
--------------------
If can't figure out how to solve this.
When I try to update php package a get these errors (same for
php-kolabformat).
When I try to swap packages php and php56 then it would uninstall kolab.
Is it possible to upgrade to php 5.6 with Kolab 16?
I hope I describe it well to be understood.
Thanks
Thomas

Thomas Black

2017-03-21 13:46:30 UTC

Hi,

thanks for hint. I didn't know about SCL packages.
I will try to search more but I didn't find some "how to" run apache for
one VH with standard php distro packages and at the same time run same
apache but another VH with SCL php packages.

When I searched i find also docker, so maybe this is good solution how
to run multiple apps with different versions of software packages.

So I'm expecting that there is no possibility how to change dependency
of php-kolab and phph-kolabformat from php 5.4 to php 5.6. Am I right?

Thanks
Thomas

There's no need to use remi.
You can use the official redhat/centos SCL packages.
-- Pasi

Olivier Boucard

2017-03-21 14:22:20 UTC

Hi,

I don't understand why Kolab keeps forcing a specific version of PHP.
Anyhow, I came across this website: https://ius.io/. I don't have any
experience with it, but it is sure worth your time to check if it can
fits your needs.

Olivier

Post by Thomas Black
Hi,
thanks for hint. I didn't know about SCL packages.
I will try to search more but I didn't find some "how to" run apache for
one VH with standard php distro packages and at the same time run same
apache but another VH with SCL php packages.
When I searched i find also docker, so maybe this is good solution how
to run multiple apps with different versions of software packages.
So I'm expecting that there is no possibility how to change dependency
of php-kolab and phph-kolabformat from php 5.4 to php 5.6. Am I right?
Thanks
Thomas

There's no need to use remi.
You can use the official redhat/centos SCL packages.
-- Pasi

_______________________________________________
users mailing list
https://lists.kolab.org/mailman/listinfo/users

Thomas Black

2017-03-22 22:18:16 UTC

Hi Olivier,

thanks for your answer. I don't understand the same. Is it php 5.6 too
much different that Kolab 16 will not work with php 5.6?

Thanks for hint about ius.io website. I will take closer look probably
on weekend.

Cheers
Thomas

Post by Olivier Boucard
Hi,
I don't understand why Kolab keeps forcing a specific version of PHP.
Anyhow, I came across this website: https://ius.io/. I don't have any
experience with it, but it is sure worth your time to check if it can
fits your needs.
Olivier

There's no need to use remi.
You can use the official redhat/centos SCL packages.
-- Pasi

_______________________________________________
users mailing list
https://lists.kolab.org/mailman/listinfo/users

Aleksander Machniak

2017-03-23 07:16:15 UTC

Post by Thomas Black
thanks for your answer. I don't understand the same. Is it php 5.6 too
much different that Kolab 16 will not work with php 5.6?

It should work without issues. I think it might be a bug in packaging or
Swig limitation, but I've heard only about problems with PHP7.

I can't help you on packaging.

--
Aleksander Machniak
Software Developer, Kolab Systems AG
-------------------------------------------------------
PGP:19359DC1 - http://kolabsys.com - http://alec.pl

Rickard Osser

2017-03-23 08:14:15 UTC

Hi,

the way RedHat (CentOS) works is to support the initial version of a
software included in the distribution and back-patch them to meet
security needs. So, for php the initital version was 5.4 and for RHEL7
and CentOS7 that will always stay the current version. Kolab is
packaged with the dependency for php and the version included in
CentOS7 is v5.4. They also give the possibility to do side load later
versions of PHP and other software with SCL but they have different
names and thus aren't automatically tied into dependency resolution.

You can install both versions of PHP and Apache (2.4 in SCL) and then
turn off the regular older version and configure the newer package to
be used instead. You just can't uninstall the dependency version.

I hope this was a clear description of how RH maintains it's
compatibility for enterprises.

Best regards,

Rickard

Post by Thomas Black
thanks for your answer. I don't understand the same. Is it php 5.6 too
much different that Kolab 16 will not work with php 5.6?

It should work without issues. I think it might be a bug in packaging or
Swig limitation, but I've heard only about problems with PHP7.
I can't help you on packaging.

Daniel Hoffend

2017-03-24 13:52:49 UTC

Hi

The best way to maintain multiple php version is to configure your
apache/nginx/whatever to use php via cgi or php-fpm. Then you can
switch between php versions per hosting/virtualdomain. Of course
you've to maintain your own webserver configuration but that's
the best way to seperate php versions.

1) I personally prefer php-fpm over mod-php due to memory consumtion
speed and such

2) I also prefer to keep applications/services seperate on servers
or vms. If someone breaks into some random webapplication your
hopefully mission critical mail infrastructure isn't at risk. It
also makes upgrades easier because you don't have too many side
effects.

--
Regards
Daniel

Post by Rickard Osser
Hi,
the way RedHat (CentOS) works is to support the initial version of a
software included in the distribution and back-patch them to meet
security needs. So, for php the initital version was 5.4 and for RHEL7
and CentOS7 that will always stay the current version. Kolab is
packaged with the dependency for php and the version included in
CentOS7 is v5.4. They also give the possibility to do side load later
versions of PHP and other software with SCL but they have different
names and thus aren't automatically tied into dependency resolution.
You can install both versions of PHP and Apache (2.4 in SCL) and then
turn off the regular older version and configure the newer package to
be used instead. You just can't uninstall the dependency version.
I hope this was a clear description of how RH maintains it's
compatibility for enterprises.
Best regards,
Rickard

Post by Thomas Black
thanks for your answer. I don't understand the same. Is it php 5.6 too
much different that Kolab 16 will not work with php 5.6?

It should work without issues. I think it might be a bug in packaging or
Swig limitation, but I've heard only about problems with PHP7.
I can't help you on packaging.

_______________________________________________
users mailing list
https://lists.kolab.org/mailman/listinfo/users

Thomas Black

2017-03-24 22:28:30 UTC

Hi all,

thanks guys for the answers.

Thanks Rickard for the description how works packaging.
I understand that. I didn't came to my mind before that when I install
php56 within SCL I can leave php 5.4 from distro repo installed so
dependencies are met, but run all apps with php56.
I wil try tomorrow to install php56 from SCL and configure apache to use
this PHP version.

Thanks Daniel for hint about using CGI to use multiple versions of PHP.
I will try fisrt to switch apache completely to php56 from SCL.
If i fail or Kolab will not work on php56 then I will try to use CGI and
use php 5.4 from distro repo for Kolab and php56 for other applications.

Regards
Thomas

Post by Daniel Hoffend
Hi
The best way to maintain multiple php version is to configure your
apache/nginx/whatever to use php via cgi or php-fpm. Then you can
switch between php versions per hosting/virtualdomain. Of course
you've to maintain your own webserver configuration but that's
the best way to seperate php versions.
1) I personally prefer php-fpm over mod-php due to memory consumtion
speed and such
2) I also prefer to keep applications/services seperate on servers
or vms. If someone breaks into some random webapplication your
hopefully mission critical mail infrastructure isn't at risk. It
also makes upgrades easier because you don't have too many side
effects.
--
Regards
Daniel

Post by Thomas Black
thanks for your answer. I don't understand the same. Is it php 5.6 too
much different that Kolab 16 will not work with php 5.6?

It should work without issues. I think it might be a bug in packaging or
Swig limitation, but I've heard only about problems with PHP7.
I can't help you on packaging.

_______________________________________________
users mailing list
https://lists.kolab.org/mailman/listinfo/users

Thomas Black

2017-03-26 10:49:13 UTC

Hi,

so I end up with FastCGI.
I install php-fpm from distro repo and start a service to listen on unix
socket /var/run/php54-fpm.sock.
Also I install rh-php56-php-fpm from RH SCL and start a service to
listen on unix socket /var/run/php56-fpm.sock.

In Apache I can now configure different FastCGI server (firrst one is
php 5.4, second one is php 5.6) for any virtual host using:
<FilesMatch \.php$>
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/var/run/php54-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost"
</FilesMatch>
That is perfect.

For Kolab and all the stuff around Kolab I used /var/run/php54-fpm.sock
- php 5.4.

Almost everything working except:
- KolabDAV - iRony
- kolab-synchrotron - Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync

To be more specific - I can't login to one of these two services. When I
try it, the dialog window still show up again and again.
I try to login using mobile, browser, thunderbird (CalDAV or CardDAV
protocol). Still the same.
I found no errors in:
- httpd logs
- kolab-synchrotron logs
- dirsrv logs

What is strange, when I try to login it doesn't show up in dirsrv log.
So the service of Kolab don't ask LDAP server.
Whe I try to log into Kolab using IMAP or webmail (roundcubemail) it is
working as expected - I get in the mailbox. Using roundcube I can access
address book and calendar too.

These two things we are using pretty much. I need them to get working.

I am out of ideas. I spent several hours with that problem now and I
didn't find any clue.

Any hint will be appreciated.

Regards
Thomas

Post by Thomas Black
Hi all,
thanks guys for the answers.
Thanks Rickard for the description how works packaging.
I understand that. I didn't came to my mind before that when I install
php56 within SCL I can leave php 5.4 from distro repo installed so
dependencies are met, but run all apps with php56.
I wil try tomorrow to install php56 from SCL and configure apache to use
this PHP version.
Thanks Daniel for hint about using CGI to use multiple versions of PHP.
I will try fisrt to switch apache completely to php56 from SCL.
If i fail or Kolab will not work on php56 then I will try to use CGI and
use php 5.4 from distro repo for Kolab and php56 for other applications.
Regards
Thomas

Post by Thomas Black
thanks for your answer. I don't understand the same. Is it php 5.6 too
much different that Kolab 16 will not work with php 5.6?

It should work without issues. I think it might be a bug in packaging or
Swig limitation, but I've heard only about problems with PHP7.
I can't help you on packaging.

_______________________________________________
users mailing list
https://lists.kolab.org/mailman/listinfo/users

Thomas Black

2017-03-26 21:19:39 UTC

Hi,

just want to inform that after few more hours of doing detective work a
came across one post in forum that was telling something about that
apache basic auth is not passed to fastcgi scripts in default and has to
be allowed.

Because I can't found any error and my tries to authenticate was not in
any log (iRony, kola-syncrhotron or dirsrv). It was lost somewhere and I
didn't know where. And that was it.

So I googled more info about that one thing is needed.
Add to the apache config file of iRony and kolab-synchrotron to
Directory section:

|SetEnvIfAuthorization"(.*)"HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=$1|

Now everything is working!

Once again thanks to pointing me to RH SCL and FastCGI.

If anyone would like to configure Kolab using CGI don't forget to add
this to apache config.

Regards
Thomas

Post by Thomas Black
Hi,
so I end up with FastCGI.
I install php-fpm from distro repo and start a service to listen on unix
socket /var/run/php54-fpm.sock.
Also I install rh-php56-php-fpm from RH SCL and start a service to
listen on unix socket /var/run/php56-fpm.sock.
In Apache I can now configure different FastCGI server (firrst one is
<FilesMatch \.php$>
SetHandler "proxy:unix:/var/run/php54-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost"
</FilesMatch>
That is perfect.
For Kolab and all the stuff around Kolab I used /var/run/php54-fpm.sock
- php 5.4.
- KolabDAV - iRony
- kolab-synchrotron - Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
To be more specific - I can't login to one of these two services. When I
try it, the dialog window still show up again and again.
I try to login using mobile, browser, thunderbird (CalDAV or CardDAV
protocol). Still the same.
- httpd logs
- kolab-synchrotron logs
- dirsrv logs
What is strange, when I try to login it doesn't show up in dirsrv log.
So the service of Kolab don't ask LDAP server.
Whe I try to log into Kolab using IMAP or webmail (roundcubemail) it is
working as expected - I get in the mailbox. Using roundcube I can access
address book and calendar too.
These two things we are using pretty much. I need them to get working.
I am out of ideas. I spent several hours with that problem now and I
didn't find any clue.
Any hint will be appreciated.
Regards
Thomas