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PHP

This guide covers configuring PHP projects on Semaphore. If you are new to Semaphore we recommend taking our Guided tour first.

Hello world

# .semaphore/semaphore.yml
version: v1.0
name: PHP example
agent:
  machine:
    type: e1-standard-2
    os_image: ubuntu2004
blocks:
  - name: Hello world
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: Run some code
          commands:
            - echo '<?php print "Hello World!\n"; ?>' > hello.php && php hello.php

Laravel example

Semaphore provides a tutorial and a demo Laravel application with a working CI pipeline that you can use to get started quickly:

• Laravel Continuous Integration tutorial
• Demo project on GitHub

Supported PHP versions

Semaphore supports all versions of PHP. You have the following options:

• Linux: PHP and related tools are available out-of-the-box in the Ubuntu 20.04 VM image and Ubuntu 22.04 VM image.
• Docker: Use your own Docker image with the version of PHP and other packages that you want.

Follow the links above for details on available language versions and additional tools.

Selecting a PHP version on Linux

Semaphore uses phpbrew to manage PHP versions. Any version installable with phpbrew is supported on Semaphore. Version 7.2 comes pre-installed. You can install and switch versions using sem-version, as shown below:

blocks:
  - name: Tests
    task:
      prologue:
        commands:
          - sem-version php 8.2.20
      jobs:
        - name: Tests
          commands:
            - php --version

We recommend this approach as sem-version will use a precompiled version if available and fall back on phpbrew otherwise. This usually leads to shorter job setup.

You can still use phpbrew directly but it will always compile the target version, which is a slow process:

blocks:
  - name: Tests
    task:
      prologue:
        commands:
          - phpbrew --no-progress install 8.2.20
      jobs:
        - name: Tests
          commands:
            - php --version

If the version of PHP that you want is not available in the Linux VM, we recommend running your jobs in a custom Docker image.

Dependency caching

Composer is preinstalled, so you can use the cache command to store and restore the vendor directory. In the following configuration example, we install dependencies and warm the cache in the first block, then use the cache in subsequent blocks.

version: "v1.0"
name: PHP Example
agent:
  machine:
    type: e1-standard-2
    os_image: ubuntu2004

blocks:
  - name: Install dependencies
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: Composer install
          commands:
            - checkout
            - cache restore
            - composer install
            - cache store

  - name: Tests
    task:
      prologue:
        commands:
          - checkout
          - cache restore
          # Prepend vendor/bin to the path so you can use dependency executables
          - export "PATH=./vendor/bin:${PATH}"
      jobs:
        - name: Everything
          commands:
            - codecept test

Environment variables

Semaphore does not set specific environment variables, like APP_ENV. You can set these at the task level.

blocks:
  - name: Tests
    task:
      env_vars:
        - name: APP_ENV
          value: test
      jobs:
        - name: Everything
          commands:
            - codecept run

System dependencies

Projects may need system packages to install libraries for things like database drivers. Semaphore provides full sudo access so you can install all required packages. Here's an example:

blocks:
  - name: Tests
    task:
      prologue:
        commands:
          - sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libpq-dev
          - composer install
      jobs:
        - name: Everything
          commands:
            - codecept run