As many of you may already know, PHP versions 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 have reached end of life (EOL).
This means PHP authors will no longer support these versions with patches for security vulnerabilities and bugs found in the software (https://secure.php.net/supported-versions.php). Our servers feature third party backported code patches that resolved security issues with versions beyond the EOL. Unfortunately, the patches for these older versions have been discontinued. Without backported patches or official security updates from PHP.net; we can no longer support these deprecated versions and will be removing PHP 5.3 and PHP 5.2 from our servers. We are committed to improving the security, stability, and performance of your servers. As part of that commitment; we will be upgrading MySQL and PHP from EOL versions to PHP 5.6 starting on May 14, 2016. As with all our upgrades, best practices will be used to ensure a smooth and seamless transition to the new PHP versions.
Why Upgrade?
PHP 5.5 - 7.0 provides extensive improvements in performance and security over previous versions. Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, all support these versions. We will be taking every precaution you can imagine to ensure your service continues to run smoothly without a glitch. Although it is highly unlikely the upgrade will break things, it is wise to be ready.
Prepare for the Upgrade
To prepare for the PHP and MySQL upgrade, we recommend you take the following steps:
Although we backup your servers, it is a wise practice to keep a backup for yourself. If you do not have an automatic backup solution in place then now is the time to install one or at least create a manual backup of your website.
Confirm you are running the latest stable version of Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal or whatever application your site uses. In Wordpress just go to the updates screen and install any updates available. Wordpress has an auto-update feature you can select to give you that extra peace of mind knowing you're always up to date.
Make sure all your plugins and themes are up-to-date. Wordpress and its most popular plugins will not be affected by our upgrades. However, it is possible that some plugins or themes may stop working. If a plugin on your site has stopped working due to a PHP update, then you need to contact the plugin author for support or find an alternative.
Web Maintenance Agreement with Cid Systems
If you're site is currently hosted with www.cidhosting.net and have an active maintenance agreement for your website with Cid Systems, your site will be updated accordingly to make sure it still runs as smoothly as before.
You may also contact us at support@cid-systems.com or your account manager if you have any questions
Friday, April 8, 2016
