DDEV PHP 8.5 Add-on

This add-on provides experimental PHP 8.5 support for DDEV projects using pre-release PHP 8.5 images.

Installation
Usage
Drupal 11 Quick Start
Limitations
Contributing

What is ddev-php85?

This add-on allows DDEV users to experiment with PHP 8.5 while it’s in Release Candidate (RC) status. PHP 8.5 is expected to be released in November 2024, and you can track its progress at PHP 8.5.0 Release.

This add-on provides a separate PHP 8.5 service that can be used alongside the main web service.

Since PHP 8.5 is not yet available from the official deb.sury.org repository, this add-on uses the official PHP Docker images to provide early access to PHP 8.5 features.

Note: This is a temporary solution. Once PHP 8.5 becomes stable and is available through official repositories, DDEV will provide native PHP 8.5 support, making this add-on obsolete.

Installation

ddev add-on get ddev/ddev-php85
ddev restart

Quick Test

To quickly test this add-on, create a new DDEV project and try PHP 8.5:

# Create a test project
mkdir testphp85 && cd testphp85

# Initialize DDEV project
ddev config --auto

# Install the PHP 8.5 add-on
ddev add-on get ddev/ddev-php85

# Start the project
ddev start

# Test PHP 8.5 is working
ddev php85 --version

# Create a simple PHP file to test web functionality
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > index.php

# Launch in browser to see PHP 8.5 info page
ddev launch

Usage

After installation, you can access PHP 8.5 several ways:

Using the php85 service directly:

# Check PHP 8.5 version
ddev exec -s php85 php --version

# Run PHP 8.5 scripts
ddev exec -s php85 php -r "echo 'Hello from PHP 8.5!';"

# Use Composer with PHP 8.5
ddev exec -s php85 composer install

# Access the php85 container directly
ddev ssh -s php85

Using the convenience commands:

This add-on provides ddev php85 , ddev composer85, and ddev drush85 commands for easier access:

# Check PHP 8.5 version (shorthand)
ddev php85 --version

# Run PHP 8.5 scripts (shorthand)
ddev php85 -r "echo 'Hello from PHP 8.5!';"

# Use with any PHP flags or arguments
ddev php85 -i  # Show phpinfo

The PHP 8.5 service has the same codebase mounted at /var/www/html as the main web container.

Limitations

This add-on has several important limitations:

Release Candidate: PHP 8.5 is in Release Candidate status and may have bugs or compatibility issues
No Xdebug: The current setup does not include Xdebug support
Limited Extensions: Only includes basic PHP extensions (see php85-build/Dockerfile for the full list)
No Development Tools: Some development tools that integrate with DDEV’s main web service may not work with the PHP 8.5 service
Performance: Building the custom PHP 8.5 image may take additional time during project startup
Stability: Release Candidate PHP versions may have unexpected behavior
PHP Version Setting: The php_version setting in DDEV configuration has no effect when using this add-on, as it provides a separate PHP 8.5 service alongside the main web container
Performance Mode: This add-on sets performance_mode: none to avoid conflicts between mutagen (used by the main web container) and bind-mounts (used by the PHP 8.5 container). This may impact file sync performance.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

Update tests in tests/test.bats for new functionality
Update this README if you add new features or change behavior
Follow the existing code style and patterns

Contributed and maintained by the DDEV team